Shortbread Fruitcake Cookies
Happy holidayyyyyyyyys!
I have a cookie recipe for you. A shortbread cookie recipe. A fruitcake shortbread cookie recipe, i.e. a shortbread cookie filled with additions you’d normally find in an actual holiday fruitcake. Because if it can go in a cake, heck, imma put it in a cookie. Because cookies have my heart.
Time to get festive, peoples.
These shortbread fruitcake cookies.
To start with, they’re not the typa shortbread cookies that you gotta roll into a log and refrigerate for hours before slicing and baking ‘em off. NA.
These shortbread cookies are the quick and easy kind. All you gotta do is mix together the five basic ingredients (butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, flour, and salt) that comprise this dough before stirring in your fruitcake add-ins. And then you shape the dough into balls, flatten the balls, and send the trays off to the oven.
No fridge chill. No rolling and cutting business. Just good ‘ole shape and bake cookie business.
And that’s a business I can deal with (get it? like a business deal? anyway).
Here are the fruitcake add-ins:
Chopped nuts. Pecans or pistachios. Or a mixture of both. I used both. And my pistachios were roasted AND salted, because I’m cray like that, and subtle salty kicks in my cookies are always welcome.
Dried cranberries. Or Craisins, as we call them around here.
Dried, candied citrus fruits. You know, like candied oranges or lemons or grapefruits and such. I actually used some dried, candied ginger in these cookies, cuz yusssss.
The nutty crunch, the chewy and soft and sweet and tart dried cranberries and candied citrus fruits - they are the best additions to these shortbread fruitcake cookies.
And the actual cookies. They are so tender. And also crispy and crunchy. And also melt-in-your-mouth. And also flaky. And also rich. And buttery. And nutty. And fruity. And addictive.
And so quick and easy, as mentioned.
I prefer confectioners sugar in my shortbread cookies, as it lends a more tender texture to them. But if it’s a crispier cookie you’re after, go ahead with some granulated sugar instead.
Festive. Unique. Holidayesque. Quick and easy. Tender and crunchy and crispy. Nutty and fruity and perfectly sweetened and buttery.
Let’s just say I’ve had upwards of five cookies shortly before I began typing this post. It’s cookie season, I had to partake in the festivities. You understand.
Shortbread Fruitcake Cookies
Yield: 25-30 cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners sugar (sub granulated sugar if you want crispier cookies)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups packed flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans or pistachios
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped candied citrus fruit (orange, lemon etc.)
-Confectioners sugar, for dusting
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for a few minutes until mixture is smooth and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add in vanilla extract and cream till fluffy again.
3. Add in the flour and salt and mix until just incorporated. Stir in nuts and dried fruit. Dough will be crumbly and dry but should stick together when pressed between fingers. Compact dough by hand into a mound.
4. Round medium-large pieces of dough between palms and space out onto baking sheets. Use palm, fork, or potato masher to flatten balls into disks.
6. Bake cookies for 11-14 minutes, until bottoms are golden. Let cool on sheets before dusting with confectioners sugar and transferring. Cookies will last up to a week at room temperature.
