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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