Fruitcake Cookies, also known as Christmas Lizzies, are little fruitcake-like cookies that blend candied fruit and Louisiana Pecans with a touch of Brandy held together with a little spiced batter. I’m lucky to have these delicious, holiday cookies as part of my family traditions, as the entire family (as well as friends and neighbors) all look forward to Grammie’s Fruitcake Cookies, an adaptation of her sister's recipe for Christmas Lizzies. These fruitcake cookies are so flavorful, you won’t believe how simple they are to make. If you only make one kind of cookie for the holidays, Grammie’s Fruitcake Cookies are the one!
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Here’s What You Need
These cookies are mostly fruit and nuts held together with a little batter, almost mini-fruitcakes.
The batter
- Butter (Salted butter is fine and margarine is a good substitute)
- Light brown sugar
- Whole eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
The spices
- Cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Ground allspice (ground cloves is a good substitute)
Here's what you need for the batter
The fruit and nuts
- Dark raisins
- Glazed fruit mix
- Candied red cherries
- Candied green cherries
- Candied pineapples
- Pecan halves
- Cherry brandy (see Hints and Tips for substitutes)
Candies cherries, pinannple and glazed fruit mix
Equipment-wise, a stand mixer with a mixing bowl works well for this, but a handheld mixer could be used. Various prep and mixing bowls, cutting boards, cookie sheets and parchment paper are needed.
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Here’s What You Do
First...you have a beer. The fun part of these traditional recipes is making them with friends and family. Grab a beer or a glass of wine, and put on some Holiday music. Read the recipe from start to finish and make sure you have everything you need and know what you’re going to do with them. Next, divide the tasks and start the preparation.
Preparation
Place the butter in a bowl to soften and set aside.
Chop the candied cherries in half and dice the candied pineapple. Place these, along with the Glazed Fruit Mix (which should already be diced) in a bowl and mix them all together. 
In a separate bowl, soak the raisins in the cherry brandy until plump. This should be done for at least an hour but can go as long as overnight.
Place the all-purpose flour in a prep bowl and mix in the spices and baking soda. Run all of this through a sifter.
Set out the eggs and measure the pecans and set them aside. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and prepare cooking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
Mix the batter
Using a stand mixer on medium speed, perform the following steps in order.
Place the softened butter into the mixing bowl and cream until it is fluffy.
Once the butter is fluffy, gradually add the brown sugar until it is completely blended.
Next add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
When the eggs are blended in completely, add the spiced flour a little at a time until it is completely mixed in.
Next, turn off the stand mixer and clean the batter from the paddle. The rest will be mixed by hand.
Add the fruit and nuts
Add the marinated raisins (along with any residual cherry brandy) and the pecans into the bowl with the cut candied fruit and mix together completely.
In batches, add some of the raisin, nut and fruit mixture to the batter and mix with a spatula by hand until all the ingredients are completely blended before adding more. This will get pretty thick so take your time.
Depending on the size of your mixer bowl, you may want to do this in a separate, larger bowl. Don’t add batter to the bowl with the fruit and nuts as this will be very hard to mix-add the fruit to the batter, a little at a time.
Bake at 325 degrees
Using a kitchen teaspoon, drop the cookie batter onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets, keeping each cookie about 1 inch apart.
Once all the cookies are laid out, place the baking sheets in a moderate oven (325 degrees) for 10 to 15 minutes until they are browned on top.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let cool for five minutes, then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow to completely cool for at least 3 hours. Transferring to the cooling rack after a few minutes out of the oven will help to crisp the bottoms, which would be too soft if left on the baking sheets.
That’s it, all there is to it.
Hints and Tips
- Due to the high sugar content in the candied fruit, as well as the brandy, these cookies are very shelf-stable and can be stored in air-tight containers for about 6 months. These cookies can be frozen, if desired, by wrapping tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and placed in a freezer bag. Likewise, a vacuum sealer can be used. The fruit cookies will last in the freezer beyond 12 months.
- When these fruitcake cookies come out of the oven they are soft and somewhat sticky. Leave them on the cookie sheet for no more than five minutes, then move them to a cooling rack. Leave them on the cooling rack for at least three hours, maybe as much as five. The fruitcake cookies will still be a little tacky, but should not stick together when you put them on a serving plate or cookie jar.
- Cherry Brandy emphasizes the natural sweetness of candied fruit. Bourbon, Dark Rum, Brandy or Cognac could be substituted for the Cherry Brandy if desired. For a non-alcoholic substitute, try orange juice, pineapple juice or peach (or other fruit) syrup.
- The history of fruitcakes goes back to the Middle Ages when they were developed as a preserved food for traveling soldiers and have been present in all cultures in one form or another since that time. Learn more than you need to know about this quirky and much-maligned food. reading my article What You Need to Know about Fruitcake.
Fruitcake Cookies...mini-fruitcakes? Why would you want that? Its because they are delicious. The bricks-in-a-can sold at Walmarts and grocery stores are not fair representatives of the delicious, moist traditional fruitcakes have been embraced by diverse cultures for centuries. If you haven't tried one, check this out, I'm sure it will be your new Holiday tradition:
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Fruitcake Cookies (Christmas Lizzies)
Here's What You Need
- ¼ cup softened butter or margarine
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cup flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ pound raisins
- ¼ cup cherry brandy See Recipe Notes
- 1 pound pecan halves
- ½ pound glazed fruit mix diced
- 1 pound candied cherries sliced in half
- ½ pound candied pineapples diced
Here's What You Do
Preparation
- Set the butter or margarine out to soften.
- Slice the candied cherries in half and dice the candied pineapple. Place these along with the glazed fruit mix, which should already be diced, in a bowl.
- Soak the raisins in the cherry brandy until plump, at least an hour or up to overnight.
- Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and baking soda to the flour and sift.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper.
Mix the batter
- Set a stand mixer to medium speed.
- Place the softened butter in the mixing bowl and cream until fluffy.
- Once the butter is fluffy, gradually add the brown sugar until completely blended.
- Add the eggs one at a time, completely blending each egg before adding the next.
- When the eggs are completely blended, add the sifted flour and spices slowly to the butter, eggs and sugar mix. Completely blend each addition before adding the next.
- Turn off the mixer, clean off the blade. The next steps will be mixed by hand.
Add the fruit and nuts
- Combine the soaked raisins, pecans and cut candied fruit in a bowl and mix together completely.
- In batches, add some of the raisin, nut and fruit mixture to the batter and mix with a spatula by hand until all the ingredients are completely blended before adding more.
- Continue until all the fruit and nut mixture is thoroughly combined with the batter.
Bake at 325 degrees
- Using a kitchen teaspoon, drop the cookie batter onto the cookie sheets, keeping each cookie about 1 inch apart. The cookies should be approximately 1 inch in diameter.
- Bake in a moderate oven (325 degrees) for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned on top.
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven and cool the cookies for five minutes on the cookie sheets, then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow to completely cool for at least 3 hours. Don't rush the cooling rack time of the cookie bottoms will be soggy and the cookies will be sticky.
- Enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container.
- Makes about 10 dozen cookies.
Wanda
Great cookies - true fruit cake taste. They are FULL of fruits and nuts. I used all candied fruit without the raisins and poured the brandy over the fruit and nut mixture. There is about three times the volume of fruits and nuts to dough. It doesn’t look like there’s enough dough but it works! I got about 150 small cookies.
Wanda
I also broke the pecans in half and cut the cherries is quarters which seemed better for the size of the cookies.
Sweet Daddy D
Great to hear from you, Wanda, I am so glad you like this recipe. The first time I ever made these I was concerned there was not enough dough, but once they are baked you have the perfect combination of fruits, nuts, brandy, and dough. Thanks for giving these a try!
Janice Miller
Ive made these or years. I use bourbon and soak them overnight. Then I put bourbon in a spray bottle and lightly spray them every few days. You would be surprised how much they will soak up.
Sweet Daddy D
Bourbon sounds good! These Lizzies and the fruit cake recipe love to soak up the alcohol, for sure. Bourbon would be a great fit, as would some rums. Cherry Brandy works pretty well too! Thanks for reaching out, Janice!
Bonnie
In recipe you say baking soda. In directions it says baking powder. Is it baking powder?
Sweet Daddy D
Hey Bonnie, thanks for the question. I can't believe I haven't caught that mistake before this. It is Baking SODA, not powder. I will go back and make that correction and I appreciate you calling it out.
k
Is one inch in diameter a typo? That’s less than one bite!
Sweet Daddy D
Hey, k. Not a typo but an estimation. The raw cookies will not be very uniform in shape when you lay them out on the baking sheet. They will spread a little while baking but I don't like to make them too big. If you go with 1 to 2 inches in diameter when laying them out, you will have a nice cookie that is bite-size or maybe 2 bites in size. If you like your fruitcake cookies a little larger, lay them out a little large. Thanks for the question.
Avis
Do you think I could make this in little loaf pans?
Sweet Daddy D
Hi Avis. There really isn't much dough involved here, which may cause a problem; it's mostly fruit with just enough dough to coat the fruit. Take a look at the Fruitcake Recipe...they are basically the same except the ratio of batter to fruit is different so that it bakes perfectly in little pans. However, I'm a fan of giving things a try so maybe increase the batter portion of the recipe somewhat and leave the fruit quantities the same. If you do it in a shallow pan, it may come out like a fruitcake bar which sounds great to me. Good luck, I'd love to know what you do.
Terry
My MIL used to make these for Christmas every year! She gave me the recipe years ago, which I somehow lost in moves. She's in a care home now, but my DH begs for these every year. Can I make these without a stand mixer? She never had one. I seem to remember that she only used egg whites. Any thoughts and help would be so appreciated! I'd love to surprise him this year, as well as being able to surprise her with some, too!
Sweet Daddy D
Hey Terry! I think it's great to resurrect family traditions. This recipe is just that for my family, something my MIL makes every year and the family cannot wait to get them. You should be able to substitute egg whites for whole eggs but it may affect how much the cookies rise. Since these don't normally rise a great deal while baking (as opposed to a cake) it may not matter much. Use two egg whites for each egg, so that would be a total of four egg whites. Here is a great article I found on substituting egg whites. You can certainly make these without a stand mixer. I only use the stand mixer for mixing the batter, that's the butter, eggs, flour and spices, which is the easy part. When adding the fruit I mix by hand anyway, which is a lot more work but so worth it. Just take your time when mixing the batter, a little at a time and mix it thoroughly before adding more ingredients. Good luck, thanks for the questions and I would love to hear how they turn out.
Karen
Yes, you can make them without a stand mixer. That's just for convenience. Its a heavy dough. Just take your time. K