What do you think of when you hear Fruit Cake? Dense, boozy cake that has been sitting in a tin for weeks and can be used as a door stop? Crazy cat ladies who have nothing better to do than make cakes that weigh as much as their largest cat and then take them around to neighbors and watch with delight as they try to choke it down?
While this recipe does have some of the same flavors as a traditional fruit cake…nuts, candied fruit and booze…it’s not nearly as repulsive, time-consuming or have any cat hairs.
This fruit cake Christmas cookie recipe is from my grandmother’s recipe book. I remember my grandmother making these cookies when we came to visit for Christmas however, my memory is hazy. I’m pretty sure I liked them but I don’t have much of a memory other than that. My dad, on the other hand, remembers them and can confirm that he did not like them. While making these, Christine kept asking me questions about the recipe…how big they should be, how much fruit was in it, should they be so brown. unfortunately, I didn’t have any answers. Additionally, the recipe is mostly just an ingredient list with very few instructions so we were on our own to figure out how this recipe was supposed to come together.
These Christmas cookies are a great alternative to fruit cake and will appeal to most people. I say most because I gave one of these to Dear Husband’s cousin. After she took one bite she politely set the rest of the cookie down and struggled to finish the small bit she took. She’s not a fan of layers of flavors or chunky cookies.
Before we move on to the video and recipe, I want to thank everyone who has subscribed to our YouTube channel. We hit 100 subscribers last week! That isn’t a lot in the world of YouTube, in fact, it’s hardly any at all. But for us it was a milestone and we were really excited about it. Another order of business; this will be our last video for 2016. Christine and I are taking a few weeks off to look at recipes, pour over cookbooks and come up with a schedule. We already have a few recipes in mind and can’t wait to come back at you in 2017 with more crazy, gross and yummy recipes.
Now on to the recipe…if you are adventurous enough to make this.
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 4 eggs
- 3 teaspoons soda dissolved in 3 Tablespoons whole milk or half and half
- 1 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground allspice
- 3/4 cup (or 1 cheese glass) bourbon whisky
- 1 lb. pecans, chopped
- 1 lb. candied red and green cherries, chopped
- 1 lb. candied pineapple, chopped
- 1 lb. fruit cake fruit mix
- Place all of the fruit in a large bowl. Put half of the flour on the fruit and combined until all of the fruit is covered with flour. Set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients, set aside.
- In a mixer, cream brown sugar and butter. Add eggs and mix until well combined. Add soda/milk mixture. Add bourbon and mix until well combined. Gradually add dry ingredients until just combined.
- Add nuts to fruit. Pour batter over fruit and nuts and stir until well combined.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
Julia
The recipes are posted in a light blue font that is extremely hard for me to read with my old eyes. Would you mind posting anpdf in blank plain font and white background? So much easier then for us ‘in the archival age category. 🙂
Julia Trachsel
The recipes are posted in a light blue font that is extremely hard for me to read with my old eyes. Would you mind posting anpdf in blank plain font and white background? So much easier then for us ‘in the archival age category. 🙂