Darcy's Christmas Cake Cookies

Darcey’s Christmas cake cookies

Ingredients

1 lb Golden raisins

½ cup Jack Daniel's Whiskey - see note below

½ cup Unsalted butter room temperature

½ cup Dark brown sugar

3 Large eggs

1 ½ cups All purpose flour

½ tsp. Baking soda

1 ½ tsp. Ground cinnamon

½ tsp. Ground cloves

½ tsp. Ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon Salt

1 ½ lb. Candied fruit*8

1 lb. Mixture Chopped pecans and hazlenuts

Directions

A day or two before baking the cookies, place raisins in a container, cover with Jack Daniels, and cover. NOTE.  I used 1 cup of rum and soaked the raisins, fruit and nuts.

Preheat oven to 325F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, or coat well with baking spray.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add eggs, continue beating until eggs are fully incorporated and mixture is once again smooth and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. 

Add most of it (reserve about ½ cup) to the butter & sugar mixture, beat gently until well combined.

Add candied fruit to the remaining flour mixture, toss well to coat the pieces (to separate them a bit). 

Add candied fruit, pecans, and soaked raisins to the cookie batter.

Use a tablespoon, cookie scoop, or small ice cream scoop to drop rounded spoonfuls of the batter onto prepared baking sheets. NOTE I used a cookie scoop. I pushed the mixture into the scoop by pressing it against the side of the mixing bowl so the dough mixture was well packed.  This helps the cookies retain their shape while baking

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Allow to cool on sheets for 5 minutes or so, before gently transferring to baking racks to finish cooling.

Once cookies are cool, keep them stored in airtight containers. 

Much like actual fruitcake, these tend to get even better with age!