Hello festive season: any excuse to eat sweets, Christmas cookies, and decadent treats for the next 2 weeks.
I went into this recipe thinking I was going to be giving most of these away and it wouldn’t be a problem keeping them around because I generally do not like fruit mince and even candied fruit hurts my teeth.
Living in South Africa, I’m faced with fruit mince, fruit mince pies, and fruitcakes throughout December on a more regular basis than I wish was actually so. And because I taste everything I’m offered, people look at me with big eyes asking for my opinion. I let them down gently informing them that Americans aren’t used to the spiciness of this beloved festive dish.
‘We like our fruit fried.’ I suggest, and then my joke about my nations gluttony and their nations terrible Christmas tradition falls flat.
In rare cases, the fruitcake or fruit mince-pie is remarkable and surprising. This is why I say yes, in hopes for another exceptional opportunity to see what other people see in this traditional holiday treat. I can see the sparkling Brandy soaked fruity stars up above, but I am still not yet drunk among them.
This festive treat, however, is a compromise of buttery, chewy, soft and creamy cookie appeal with the spices and the traditional filling of a fruitcake.
This recipe will fast become irresistible for those of you who love the Christmas fruitcake flavour. And, for those of you who harbour the same unfortunate feelings towards the most popular gifted dessert of the season, you will be very pleased to know that these cookies are your bridge of peace between your past disgust and your future love of fruitcake.
Recipe: Christmas cookies with fruitcake filling
Cooking time: prep 20 min cooking 18 – 20 min
Servings: 20 – 24
Ingredients:
- eggs | 2
- butter | 1/2 cup
- white sugar | 1 cup
- brown sugar or treacle sugar | 1 cup
- good vanilla | 1 tbsp
- flour | 2 1/4 cups
- baking powder | 1 tsp
- nutmeg | 2 tbsp
- cinnamon | 1 tbsp
- fruit mince | 2 cups
- icing sugar | sprinkling
Cooking:
- Pre-heat oven to 170˚C | 375˚F
- Cream together butter and sugars.
- Add vanilla then eggs and mix until smooth.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon into a separate bowl.
- Add the flour mixture slowly to the wet mixture.
- Mix well.
- Add the fruit mince or candied fruit to the batter and mix in.
- Roll golf ball sized cookies and flatten them a bit between your hands.
- Leave couple of cm or an inch space between them.
- Bake for 16 minutes and check for browning of the edges. Bake for another 2- 4 minutes.
- Cool and sift icing powder over the top.
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