Trisha Yearwood’s fruitcake cookies hold six and a half cups of pecans, candied cherries, pineapple and raisins together with barely any batter. That makes them a fast way to get fruitcake flavor onto a Christmas cookie tray, with none of the aging. Two dozen cookies.
Put the fruit and nuts in the big bowl and pour the batter over them, not the other way round. There is only a cup and a half of flour against six and a half cups of mix-ins, so nothing else gets everything coated.
A tablespoon of this batter will not give you two dozen. The bowl holds about 1.4 kilos, so tablespoon scoops make seventy or eighty cookies. Use about three tablespoons each, roughly a quarter cup scoop.
Trisha Yearwood Fruitcake Cookies
Course: DessertCuisine: American, SouthernDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalA thin cinnamon batter poured over pecans, candied cherries, pineapple and raisins and folded by hand. Dropped in mounds and baked slowly so the fruit cooks without scorching.
Ingredients
- For the Batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup whole milk
- For the Fruit and Nuts:
3 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup candied cherries, chopped
3 slices candied pineapple, chopped
Half of a 15-ounce box golden raisins, about 1 1/2 cups, chopped
Directions
- Heat the oven: Heat the oven to 300 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment. The low temperature matters, because candied fruit scorches fast at higher heat.
- Make the batter: Sift the flour, baking soda and cinnamon together. Cream the butter and brown sugar in a separate bowl, then add the beaten eggs gradually. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, blending well between additions.
- Fruit first, batter after: Put the pecans, cherries, pineapple and chopped raisins in a large bowl and pour the batter over them. Fold it through by hand until everything is coated. Doing it this way round is the only way a cup and a half of flour reaches six and a half cups of fruit and nuts.
- Scoop generously: Drop mounds of about three tablespoons onto the lined sheets, which is roughly a quarter cup scoop. A single tablespoon, as the original says, gives you seventy or eighty small cookies rather than two dozen.
- Bake slowly: Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and set. Leave them on the sheets a minute or two to firm up, then move them to a rack to cool completely.
Notes
- The original lists 15 minutes of cooking against a method that bakes 20 to 25. It also calls for tablespoon scoops for 2 dozen, but the bowl holds about 1.4 kilos, so that gives seventy or eighty cookies instead.
FAQs
Why does the card say 15 minutes of cooking?
The method itself says 20 to 25 minutes, so the cooking field is wrong by nearly ten minutes. Trust the method and start checking at 20. They are done when the tops are golden and the cookie no longer looks wet between the nuts.
Do I really have to chop the raisins?
Whole raisins clump and sink, and chopped ones spread through the batter and sit flat in the cookie. It is the dullest job in the recipe and it does make a difference. Oil the knife and they stop sticking to the blade.
How much is half a box of golden raisins?
Half a 15 ounce box is 7 1/2 ounces, which is about a cup and a half. Weigh it if you can, since raisin boxes come in several sizes now. The same weight of chopped dates works if you prefer them.
Why such a low oven?
At 300 degrees the fruit heats through without the candied sugar scorching, which it does fast at 350. A low oven also keeps the cookies pale so the red and green cherries still show. The same slow bake suits these pan banging pecan snickerdoodle cookies.
How long do they keep?
A week in an airtight tin at room temperature, and the fruit keeps them moist longer than a plain cookie. They also freeze for three months. Keep them away from crisp cookies like these Trisha Yearwood snickerdoodles.
