Leftover Mincemeat Fruitcake Cookies

Holidays are over but the spirit doesn’t seem to get over yet! The joyfulness of festival and the excitement of starting in a new year is just amazing. And life seems to be an ongoing celebration, it seems! I am happy and thankful that I am still lingering on with this feeling.

Holidays not just leave us with the happiness and excitement but with some leftovers from the loveliest of food we get to cook and eat! I baked a wonderfully moist and squidgy chocolate fruit cake on Christmas, for which I had soaked my dry fruit in excess, thinking of baking some lovely goodies, in case I am left with some mincemeat in fridge.

I wanted to bake mince pies first, one of the traditional bakes of Christmas, until I came across this amazing recipe of fruitcake cookies. They just got clicked to me, the moment I read through the recipe. All because, the fruitcake I baked was over and I was still dreaming about it.

Those flavors of soaked dry fruits and spices  just bring back happiness to me. And in the pursuit of getting that smile back on my face, I thought to give these fruitcake cookies a try. And they surprised me even better. The buttery and mellow y sweetness of cookie dough mingled with the spicy, juicy and plump dry fruit did wonders, as soon as I popped the first cookie in my mouth.

The recipe yielded more than 60 cookies, which I shared with family, friends, office mates and so on and I made every one happy by reminiscing them of the fruit cake from the season. And it brought a big happy smile to each one of us. So don’t wait, if you are left with some soaked dry fruit from the fruit cake. And even if you aren’t, I would encourage you to go soak some now! These cookies are that good.

Recipe adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

400 gm mincemeat {soaked mix of dry fruit, click here for recipe}
150 gm butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 2/3 cup all purpose flour

Directions

1. In a bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand whisk, cream the butter and both the sugars together, until smooth.
2. Add the egg and mix until incorporated well. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Add the soaked dry fruits.
3. Divide the dough in half and place each half on the long edge of a 12 by 18-inch piece of parchment or waxed paper. Refrigerate the dough until firm or for several hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degree C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. With a small, sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place the slices 1/2-inch apart on prepared baking sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden.
6. Let cool on a wire rack completely. Store in an airtight container.