Fruitcake Cookies

Name: Fruitcake Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 36 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1 (18 1/2 ounce) package yellow cake mix; 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed; 1 large egg; 4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick); 1/4 cup butter flavor shortening; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/4 teaspoon almond extract; 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional); 3/4 cup unsalted pecans, chopped (or mix of pecans,walnuts, and pistachios or any you prefer); 1/4 cup dried cherries or 1/4 cup cranberries, chopped; 1/4 cup dried apricot, chopped; 1/4 cup raisins or 1/4 cup sultana

Submitted by HeatherFeather

"I saw a lady make a similar version of these on a Food Network holiday special. However, when I checked out the recipe, it appeared to have some major errors in it. I did some research and came up with my own version of these yummy, very rich, very buttery cookies. You will want some milk with these for sure!"

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photo by HeatherFeather

Ready In:: 45mins
Ingredients:: 12
Serves:: 36

ingredients

1 (18 1/2 ounce) package yellow cake mix
¹⁄₄ cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick)
¹⁄₄ cup butter flavor shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¹⁄₄ teaspoon almond extract
¹⁄₄ - ¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
³⁄₄ cup unsalted pecans, chopped (or mix of pecans,walnuts, and pistachios or any you prefer)
¹⁄₄ cup dried cherries or 1/4 cup cranberries, chopped
¹⁄₄ cup dried apricot, chopped
¹⁄₄ cup raisins or 1/4 cup sultana

directions

Preheat oven to 350 F and have ready some ungreased baking sheets.
Cream together the butter, shortening, brown sugar.
Add egg, vanilla, almond extract and beat to combine.
Add cake mix (and if you like, a bit of cinnamon), beating on lowest setting just enough to blend together with no dry bits (overmixing will toughen the dough); dough will be stiff.
Using a wooden spoon, stir in the nuts and dried fruits to blend well.
Using a small meatball scoop, drop blobs of dough onto cookie sheets, spacing them out a bit as they will spread; I get 12 blobs per cookie sheet.
Bake in preheated oven for about 12-14 minutes or until slightly golden; do not overbake.
Let cool 1 minute on baking sheets, then remove carefully to wire racks to cool completely.
Store in cookie tins; these won't keep terribly long, only a few days and no longer than 1 week, so if making in advance you might want to freeze them.