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So, you’re probably not a fan of fruit cake. Neither am I. True confession. I’m sure you’ve heard all of the jokes about fruit cake–you know the ones: there has only ever been one fruit cake and it just keeps circulating from person to person–ultimate re-gifting. Yadda, yadda, yadda. So, when you look at this cookie, you may think that I am so weird to be posting what seems to be a cookie version of fruit cake. Banish that thought.
This little Merry Christmas Cookie stole my heart when I was a child. While I could not bear eating fruit cake (blech, yuk, revolting shiver, spit-it-out-when-no one-was-looking nasty), I could make these cookies disappear one after the other. They are light and tender, with a bit of crunch from pecans and just the right amount of sweet. For my Granny and me, these cookies were nectar.
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This is my grandmother’s recipe and I cherish it. I have only made ooooone little, itsy, bitsy change–I added some rum flavoring. I suspect that Granny would think I’m a genius. The original recipe made 8 dozen cookies, so the recipe presented here has been halved to make 4 dozen cookies.
Merry Christmas Cookies
Tender and lightly sweet, Merry Christmas Cookies are full of chopped nuts and candied fruits. This recipe makes 48 cookies.
Servings: 24 (2 cookies per serving)
Calories: 112kcal
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
- 3 slices crystallized pineapple, chopped
- 1 cup crystallized cherries (mixture of red and green), chopped
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon rum flavoring
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour spooned into cup, then leveled
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250-degrees F. Slightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper; set aside.
- Cream together the butter and brown sugar. Stir in the pecans, pineapple, cherries and raisins. Add the beaten eggs and milk and mix well.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir into wet ingredients.
- Drop from spoon onto prepared cookie sheet. I used an approximate rounded teaspoonful for each cookie. These are not supposed to be large cookies.
- Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes. Do not over-bake or else you will have rocks instead of cookies. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Store in a covered container in a cool, dry place.
Nutrition
Calories: 112kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 32mg | Potassium: 52mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 75IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg
Tutorial and Tips
Chop the nuts into small pieces.
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I wonder how long this type of candied fruit has been around? Here we have pineapple and red and green cherries.
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Chop the fruit into small pieces, too. You don’t have to mince it, just make small pieces. Hint: Periodically rinse your knife and leave it wet. This will help to keep the fruit from sticking to knife.
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As for the fruit sticking to your fingers, you may be sorry out of luck. It’s just the nature of the beast.
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Beat the butter and sugar together well.
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Add the fruit and nuts (don’t forget the raisins) to the butter/sugar mixture and mix well.
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Beat the two eggs together with a fork…or a whisk, it really doesn’t matter.
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Add the milk to the eggs and mix together./
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Add the milk/egg mixture to the cookie dough.
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Now add the rum flavoring.
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Mix everything together.
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Put the flour in a sifter or strainer–whatever you use to sift ingredients.
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Add the baking soda to the flour.
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Put the cinnamon in with the flour, too.
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Sift the ingredients together.
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Makes a nice fluffy pile.
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Add the flour mixture to the cookie dough.
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Either stir together by hand or turn the mixer on low and mix just long enough to incorporate the ingredients well.
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Using a heaping teaspoonful of dough for each cookie. Place the dough on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. If you don’t have parchment paper, no worries, just lightly grease your cookie pans before adding the dough. Cook at 250-degrees for 30-35 minutes. Don’t over cook. The cookies ought to be light golden brown and soft. When baked, move to a rack to cool. To store, place cookies in an airtight container and keep in a cool, dry place.
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Merry Christmas!
okay, i just have nothing to say about fruitcake, or cookies that resemble it.
but thank you for the butterscotch bread pudding inspiration! my jiggly belly thanks you, too.
Wan–in retrospect, I ought not to have mentioned fruitcake–eating it takes a far more discerning palette than mine. These cookies, on the other hand, snub their prim little noses at all things fruitcake.
I am so happy to find this recipe. I have a lot of extra candied cherries and now I have a use for them! I want to add that I am glad you are back blogging as I kept checking back all summer/fall hoping you would. I have a friend who deals with the same health problem and it is difficult.
Hi Tracey. I’m glad that you found this recipe, too!
It’s one of my Christmas cookie favorites. Thank you for your sweet comment about me returning to blogging; I’m glad to be back.
I’m sorry about your friend. My heart totally goes out to her. Any illness that is autoimmune in nature is tough — there are no cures for any of them.
Anyway, I hope that you have a Happy Christmas (Ever since Harry Potter, I love saying “Happy Christmas”). Now go make lots of goodies! ~Terri