Festive Fruit Cake Cookies

These festive fruit cake cookies pack all the candied fruit and nuts of a traditional holiday fruit cake into a quick drop cookie that bakes in 12 minutes. Candied cherries, candied pineapple, raisins, and brazil nuts fill nearly every bite, held together by just enough vanilla-almond dough to keep it all in one piece.

The almond extract alongside the vanilla gives these a warm, fragrant depth that plain vanilla alone can’t match. It’s a small amount but it bridges the sweetness of the candied fruit and the rich, earthy crunch of the brazil nuts.

These freeze beautifully, which makes them ideal for holiday baking marathons. Bake a triple batch and stash them for gifting.

Kitchen Tips

• Chop the fruit and nuts coarsely. You want visible chunks in every cookie, not a smooth batter. Pieces about the size of a raisin work well.
• Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls, not tablespoons. These are meant to be small, jewel-like cookies. Too big and the fruit-to-dough ratio gets off.
• Don’t overbake. Pull them at golden, not brown. The candied fruit scorches fast and turns bitter if you push them past 12 minutes.
• Cool on the sheet for 2 minutes before transferring. The cookies are fragile when hot and firm up as they cool.

Variations

• Rum fruit cake cookies: Soak the raisins in dark rum for an hour before adding to the dough. Drain well and pat dry first.
• Tropical version: Swap the cherries for dried mango and the brazil nuts for macadamia nuts.