The Best Christmas Cake/Fruitcake Cookies Recipe

Who doesn’t love Christmas cookies? These fabulous fruitcake cookies have all the flavour of a Christmas cake pared down to a simple cookie. Just perfect for Santa I think.

I know it’s only November but this strange year is flying by and for me, it’s now time to get geared up towards Christmas.

All my foodie gift ideas, Christmas baking, and much more and now going to be filling Larder Love on the run-up to Christmas.

So we are kicking off all the festive fun with these super tasty fruitcake cookies, the perfect Christmas cake cookie treat.

Christmas cake or Christmas cookies?

You might be wondering why the heck make Christmas cake cookies. Why not just make spiced Christmas cookies or go all out and make a Christmas cake.

Well, I’ve made two Christmas cakes already here on the blog over the years and thought I’d ring the changes a bit.

Actually a lot of people are daunted by the whole idea of making a Christmas cake but a cookie, well anyone will try their hand at baking a cookie. So Christmas cake cookies are the way to go!

Ingredients for fruitcake cookies

I’ve used a bag of luxury mixed fruit here. You know the sort you buy for making a Christmas pudding or Christmas cake or just a bog-standard fruit cake.

Something with the dried fruits YOU like in it. Raisins, dried apricots, sultanas, cherries, figs. Whatever takes your fancy.

I’ve also used a bag of mixed nuts. You can go for one type of nut if you like but I love the different flavours you get with a nice nutty mixture.

Sugar (brown and caster sugar), butter, egg and flour.

There is also spice. Come on a Christmas cookie (or cake) just has to have spices. Cloves, ginger and cinnamon here.

Citrus. Again there must be some lovely zingy citrus fruit. Lemon juice and that all-time Christmas favourite, the clementine!

finally whisky. Because this is Larder Love and Scotland and it would be rude not to……..

How to make Christmas cake cookies

Start by creaming together the butter and spices with the sugar till it’s smooth and well mixed.

Now add the egg and then all the other ingredients. Do not over mix. Just stir everything together.

Divide the dough into two pieces and roll into sausage shapes and wrap in clingfilm. Pop them in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

Cut out rounds about 1cm thick and set these on a lined baking sheet giving them room to spread a little.

Bake for 15-20 minutes till golden. Let them cool on a wire rack.

How long will Christmas cake cookies keep?

These tasty fruit cake biscuits will keep for up to a week if you’ve got them in an airtight box. So they make a great wee foodie gift for Christmas.

Freezing these cookies

You can freeze the baked fruitcake cookies by wrapping in clingfilm and storing in a freezer-proof box in there for up to 3 months.

You can also freeze the Christmas cookie dough and be ready to whip up a batch of these yummy fruitcake cookies any time you fancy.

Christmas foodie gifts

These Christmas cake cookies make the perfect little foodie gift. Either on their own or as part of a fabulous festive hamper.

Stack up the cookies and tie with a ribbon or string.

Pop some into a celephane baggie and tie with a pretty ribbon.

If you are presenting them in a vintage tin make sure to line the tin first with baking parchment to protect the cookies from the old metal.

Christmas cookies

The great thing about these Christmas cake cookies is that they are rustic. They look rustic and country style. They are meant to look that way.

This is perfect for those who are not handy with a piping bag and fabulous with the frosting. These cookies just speak for themselves. They are spicy and fruity. Chewy and crunchy too. All the things you love in a nice biscuit/cookie without any fuss.

These fruit cake cookies are not meant to look smooth and perfect. So cut yourself some slack and just enjoy baking something sweet, tasty and fabulously festive.

Serving these Christmas cake cookies

Of course, you can serve these cookies with the traditional glass of milk. Or with a nice cup of tea.

But because they have all that fruit in them and the spice too they rather lend themselves well to a cheeseboard.

I love having a hunk of cheese with Christmas cake, so doing the same with these fruit cake cookies is a no brainer for me.

You can also serve them alongside plain vanilla ice-cream, or a syllabub or any other simple dessert that needs a bit of crunch on the side.

Actually they would make the perfect festive ice-cream sandwich.

Looking for more Christmas bakes? Then check these out before you go;

Last-minute Christmas cake recipe

Kourabiethes (Greek Christmas cookies)

So easy Christmas cake (with chocolate!)

Old fashioned gingerbread men

Homemade vegetarian mince pies

Gluten-free Christmas cookies

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.