Easy Christmas Fruit Cake Cookies Recipe

Get ready to cozy up with a cup of cheer, because today I’m bringing you a cookie that tastes exactly like a warm, festive hug! This Easy Christmas Fruit Cake Cookies Recipe takes all the rich, comforting flavor of traditional fruitcake and transforms it into a soft, chewy, incredibly approachable cookie. It’s sweet, spiced, packed with bright candied fruit and crunchy nuts, and ready in under 30 minutes. Trust me, these are going to be a total game-changer for your holiday cookie swap!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This cookie isn’t just baking—it’s instant holiday magic! Here’s why you’ll fall head-over-heels for this recipe:

• Holiday Nostalgia, No Fuss: We’re getting that classic, rich fruitcake flavor without the weeks of soaking, wrapping, and waiting. You get that beautiful, spiced flavor today.
• Irresistibly Chewy Texture: Because we’re using both brown and granulated sugars, these cookies come out perfectly soft and chewy in the center with those slightly crisp, golden edges we all crave.
• Naturally Bright Flavor: We’re skipping the alcohol entirely! A splash of orange juice gives these cookies that necessary bright, moist depth, perfectly replacing the traditional rum or brandy.
• Fast & Festive: With a prep time of just 15 minutes, you can whip up a batch (or two!) of these gorgeous, jewel-toned cookies even when your holiday schedule is packed.

Ingredients

All you need for this delightful Christmas cookie, and about 30 minutes! Seriously, it’s that easy. But first, gather up these key ingredients:

• Unsalted Butter: This is the foundation of our cookie, providing richness and helping to create that light, fluffy, creamy base when mixed with the sugars. Make sure it’s nicely softened!
• Granulated Sugar & Brown Sugar: The combination is key! The granulated sugar ensures spread and a slight crispness on the edge, while the brown sugar adds moisture, chewiness, and that beautiful hint of molasses flavor.
• Large Eggs: Our essential binder! They bring the dough together and add structure and richness. Add them one at a time to ensure a perfectly smooth emulsion.
• Vanilla Extract: Just a teaspoon of this elevates all the other sweet and spice flavors—it’s the backbone of any good cookie dough!
• All-Purpose Flour: The main structural element! Be careful not to overmix it once it’s added, or your cookies might become tough.
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda: These are our leaveners! They work together to give the cookies a beautiful lift and a tender crumb.
• Cinnamon & Nutmeg: The dynamic duo of Christmas spices! They bring that essential warm, cozy, and highly aromatic holiday scent and flavor to the dough.
• Salt: Don’t skip this! It balances the sweetness of the fruit and sugars and makes all the other flavors pop.
• Mixed Candied Fruit & Golden Raisins: These are the signature components! They add bursts of sweetness and those gorgeous, colorful festive ‘jewels’ throughout the cookie.
• Chopped Walnuts or Pecans: They add a necessary textural contrast—that satisfying crunch that breaks up the chewiness of the fruit and dough.
• Orange Juice: This is our secret weapon! It provides the perfect non-alcoholic moistness and bright, tangy flavor that is traditionally achieved with rum or brandy, making the cookies taste complex and deeply festive.

Note: The exact quantities and measurements for all these ingredients will be provided right under the article in the printable recipe card!

How to Make the Easy Christmas Fruit Cake Cookies

You are just a few simple steps away from the best holiday cookies you’ll bake all season. Let’s get mixing!

Step 1: Prep Your Space

Go ahead and preheat your oven to $350^\circ\text{F}$ ($175^\circ\text{C}$). While it’s warming up, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. This is a game-changer for easy cleanup and preventing sticking!

Step 2: Cream the Fats and Sugars

In a big mixing bowl, get your unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together. Beat them until the mixture looks pale, fluffy, and light—this step is crucial for incorporating air and giving your cookies a tender texture!

Step 3: Add Eggs and Vanilla

Drop in the eggs, but do it one at a time, making sure to beat thoroughly after each addition. This helps everything stay emulsified (blended perfectly!). Finish this wet mixture by stirring in your vanilla extract.

Step 4: Combine the Dry Mix

In a separate bowl, grab your flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Give them a good whisk to ensure the leaveners and spices are perfectly distributed throughout the flour.

Step 5: Mix the Dough

Gently add the dry mixture to your wet ingredients. Mix only until everything is just combined—as soon as you see no more streaks of dry flour, stop! Remember, overmixing can make your cookies tough.

Step 6: Fold in the Festive Fillings

Now for the fun part! Gently fold in your colorful candied fruit, the plump golden raisins, the crunchy chopped nuts, and that key splash of orange juice. Keep folding until all those yummy additions are evenly distributed and the dough looks thick and beautiful.

Step 7: Scoop and Bake

Use a heaping tablespoon (or a cookie scoop, which I swear by!) to drop the dough onto your prepared baking sheet, leaving about two inches of space between each cookie. Pop them into the preheated oven for 12–14 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to look beautifully golden.

Step 8: Cool and Savor

Let the cookies sit on the hot baking sheet for about five minutes after they come out—this helps them set up and prevents them from breaking. Then, move them to a wire rack to cool completely. Time to enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Pro Tips for Making the Recipe

Want to guarantee cookie perfection? Keep these little pointers in mind:

• Don’t Substitute the Fat: Only use softened butter for creaming. Oil or margarine won’t achieve the same light, fluffy texture.
• Embrace the Orange Juice: That $1/4$ cup of orange juice is non-negotiable! It gives the cookies the perfect moisture and the bright flavor that makes them truly taste like Christmas.
• Use a Cookie Scoop: This ensures every cookie is the same size, which means they all bake evenly.¹ No one wants an over-baked cookie next to a raw one!
• Toast Your Nuts (Optional): For an even deeper flavor, lightly toast your walnuts or pecans in a dry skillet before chopping and adding them to the dough.

How to Serve

These cookies are festive enough to stand alone, but here’s how you can make them an even bigger event!

• Coffee Pairing: These are absolutely divine served warm alongside a hot mug of coffee, black tea, or even a spiced cider.
• Dusting of Snow: Once they’ve cooled, give them a simple dusting of powdered sugar for a gorgeous “snowy” presentation.
• Cookie Exchange Star: Arrange them on a platter with some shortbread and thumbprint cookies—their bright colors make any cookie plate instantly more appealing!

Make Ahead and Storage

Planning ahead is the key to a stress-free holiday! Here’s how to manage your magnificent batch of cookies.

Storing Leftovers

Once the cookies are completely cool, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you place a slice of bread in the container, it can help keep them soft!

Freezing

You have two great options here! You can freeze the entire scooped, unbaked dough balls on a tray, then transfer them to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Or, you can freeze the baked, cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw frozen dough overnight in the fridge before baking.

Reheating

If you like them warm (and trust me, you should!), pop a baked cookie in the microwave for 10–15 seconds, or reheat in a $300^\circ\text{F}$ oven for about 5 minutes until warmed through.

FAQs

1. Can I use dried cranberries or cherries instead of candied fruit?Absolutely! While the classic candied mix gives it that true fruitcake profile, dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, or dried cherries work beautifully. Just make sure to soak them in the orange juice for about 10 minutes beforehand to plump them up a bit before adding them to the dough.
2. My cookies spread too much! What did I do wrong?The most common culprit is butter that was too soft (or even slightly melted), or simply not chilling the dough. If your kitchen is warm, or if you noticed your dough felt very soft, try chilling the scooped dough balls on the baking sheet for 15-20 minutes before baking.
3. Can I add a glaze to these cookies?Yes, and it’s highly recommended for extra sparkle! A simple orange zest glaze made from powdered sugar and a tiny splash of orange juice mixed together makes these cookies look bakery-worthy and adds another layer of bright flavor.
4. Is there a way to make these without nuts for an allergy concern?Of course! You can easily omit the walnuts or pecans entirely. To maintain some of the texture, you could try replacing the nuts with an equal amount of old-fashioned rolled oats, which adds a lovely chewiness without the nuts.