How To Bake Christmassy Pineapple Cherry Nut Cookies
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Fruitcake cookies intense with mixed fruits and nuts, Christmassy Pineapple Cherry Nut Cookies are for gifting as well as enjoying on your own!
Toward the end of my holiday baking, I am inevitably left with overages of ingredients. Ingredients I do not want necessarily hanging around in my pantry until who knows when.
Pineapple Cherry Nut Cookies are kind of the like the ‘kitchen sink of cookies’ in that many of those remaining baking ingredients find a clever and tasty way of making themselves useful. This is a fast drop cookie recipe that bakes up right around 4 dozen.
So yeah, Pineapple Cherry Nut Cookies. I always bake these up last because they shine when first pulled from the oven. If I plan to gift cookie tins or entertain, these are the last to be added so they are the first and PRETTIEST to see.
A traditional fruitcake cookie chock full of glacé and dried fruits, buttermilk, and two kinds of nuts, Christmassy Pineapple Cherry Nut Cookies are meant to both gift to others and to enjoy on your own!
How This Recipe Came About…
Unique Christmas cookie recipes begin popularizing come October. This old-fashioned cookie recipe yields four dozen traditional yuletide treats.
I am sure I am not the only person who has ever baked some version or another of this cookie. I’d like to tell you I invented it, but really it is simply the skeleton of a drop sugar cookie recipe with all of the leftover fruits and nuts that remain after my holiday baking added for good measure.
What always strikes me is the feedback I receive about these. Funny enough mainly from folks who despise fruitcake. They are surprised when they bite into these and don’t “get that yucky taste in their mouth.”
This is because fruitcake mix contains citron, a semi-tropical fruit that the peel of which is candied and used in fruitcakes and confections. Citron is notoriously STRONG, and I have observed that people either love it or they don’t. For this reason, I NEVER buy fruitcake mix, rather individual containers of glacé fruits to mix into my cakes, breads, and this cookie.
How To Bake Christmassy Pineapple Cherry Nut Cookies
Do You Have The Ingredients Needed To Bake Pineapple Cherry Nut Cookies? Check The List!
- glacé pineapple
- glacé cherries
- dried cherries
- pecans
- walnuts
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- an egg
- buttermilk
- vanilla extract
- almond extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- salt
Are These Pineapple Cherry Cookies Soft or Crispy?
When first pulled from the oven and allowed to cool, the cookies are the firmest they will be. I would not describe them as crispy, but also not chewy, rather somewhere deliciously in between.
That said, be sure NOT TO UNDERBAKE. The moisture in the fruits will soften these to a mildly chewy texture after about one day.
I prefer their texture on day one, my family on day two. Either way, and for this reason alone, I make them the LAST cookie I bake just before gifting or serving.
What Can I Substitute If I Cannot Find Dried Cherries?
So, the dried cherries specified in this recipe are different from the glacé cherries. These photos should help clear up ambiguity.
Glacé cherries on the left, and dried cherries on the right
Here’s the thing though, I cannot always find dried cherries among the million packs of dried fruits in my grocery store. If you are hunting and having trouble locating, just substitute.
My go-to replacement for dried cherries are dried Medjool dates. They are meaty like a cherry and do the work of the cherry very nicely in this bake.
Raisins (sultanas UK) or Zante currants (black currants UK) are also quite fabulous here, but if using raisins, choose golden raisins. They are sweet, colorful, and moister.
How To Make Pineapple Cherry Nut Cookies?
A pro tip before embarking. Gather as many cookie sheets as you have. Why? These cookies will spread. I want perfect cookies, so I allow for the spread by spacing several inches apart.
I scoop them and place onto the sheets only eight to a sheet to bake at a time. And yes, this means five prepared cookie sheets or recycling one after it’s come out of the oven and had time to cool.
Speaking of prepared baking sheets, line yours with parchment or with silpats. I go parchment and after I tear a sheet, I crumble the heck out of it, then smooth it out to prevent curling.
Be sure to adequately preheat oven. Even by as little as 1 minute in a not-quite-to-temp oven can cause these cookies to be underbaked. You do not want underbaked.
And toss your well chopped glacé and dried cherries, glacé pineapple, and the nuts with just a bit of flour in a large bowl and really give it a good toss. You want no pieces of fruit are sticking to one another.
I use my stand mixer (you may also use a handheld electric mixer and large mixing bowl) to cream some butter and sugar before adding an egg, some buttermilk, and a half teaspoon vanilla extract AND almond extract. In go the floured fruits and nuts, all purpose flour, a half teaspoon baking soda, and some salt.
Use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to ensure all of the cookies are the same in size. Drop each scoop of dough on the prepared baking sheets and bake.
I allow them to go anywhere from 12 to 14 minutes and remember not to underbake. A batch comes out and another goes in, and the completed bakes are allowed to cool for 20 minutes directly on the cookie sheets.
Modifying The Norm To Make It Not Entirely Average…
These ingredients are forgiving. For this reason, and to make things not entirely average, try adding unsweetened flaked coconut for cherry pineapple coconut cookies.
If pineapple is not a fruit your eaters will eat, eliminate and make these a cherry cookies recipe. And of course, vice versa for all pineapple cookies.
Can I Substitute Crushed Pineapple or Maraschino Cherries For The Glacé Fruits?
No, not in this method. And those ingredients are excellent in cookie recipes mind you, just not in conjunction with the ingredients or measurement thereof specified THIS COOKIE RECIPE.
How Long Do Pineapple Cherry Nut Cookies Take To Make?
Really, this all comes down to how many cookie sheets you have to work with and their size. I bake on this cookie sheet because of its size and accuracy of the heat distribution.
I use five sheets, pre-scoop my dough balls onto the sheets, and bake one at a time for an all in all just over 2 hours. This is not all active time though, so I am busy doing other tasks between each baked batch.
How Far Ahead Can I Make These Cookies For Gifting Or Serving?
One day. And if I am honest, BAKE THEM AND GIFT THEM ON THE SAME DAY. After one day, the crumb begins to moisten, and by day three or four, are deliciously gooey…
If You Like This Recipe…
No, there is a definite and distinct difference. Glacé fruit or fruit peel is fruit that is drained from a sweet syrupy bath and used for snacking or baking, whereas candied or crystallized fruit is dried fruit coated with sugar, kind of like a gum drop.
…you might also like:
- Insanely Delicious Cinnamon Roll Cake with Apples and Pecans
- Rum Soaked Southern Coconut Pecan Cake
- Pumpkin Pecan Bread Pudding
How To Bake Christmassy Pineapple Cherry Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup glace cherries red or green or gold or a combination, chopped
- 1 cup glace pineapple chopped
- ¾ cup dried cherries chopped
- ½ cup pecans chopped
- ¼ cup walnuts chopped
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour divided
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. NOTE, the cookies need to cool for 20 minutes directly on the baking sheets after they emerge from the oven, so having more than a couple baking sheets is ideal to allow each batch of cookies enough time to cool, the baking sheet itself time to fully cool, and new dough to be scooped and arranged on the sheets before being baked again. I use 5 baking sheets in rotation for this recipe.
- Combine chopped glacé cherries, glacé pineapple, dried chopped cherries, pecans, and walnuts in a bowl. Toss with 1/4 cup of the flour. Use your hands to mix well and coat all pieces completely. Set the floured fruits and nutmeats aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a handheld electric mixer with a large mixing bowl), cream the softened butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat on medium speed until well combined, light, and very, very creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the fruits and nutmeats mixture, remaining flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined.
- Use a 1 tablespoon measure cookie scoop to drop the dough approximately dough 21/2-inches apart onto each baking sheet. Bake at 350℉ for 12-14 minutes until the edges and centers are baked and slightly golden.
- Cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes before using a wide metal spatula to remove to wire cooling racks to cool completely.
Notes
The nutrition value can vary depending on what product(s) you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use a calorie counter you are familiar with.
Please note that table salt and iodized salt are NOT substitutions for Kosher salt. Do not deviate unless otherwise specified.
Can these be frozen ?
Heather, I have not yet tried freezing these because they don’t seem to last that long. I will say this. If you do try to freeze, freeze prior to baking. These are seriously moist cookies and I feel like they would break/crumble if frozen post bake, then thawed.
In my post, you will notice that I mention a couple of times that I assemble this dough and bake it last. It’s because of the tender crumb and the moisture from the fruit. They do best baked and eaten within two to three days, stored at room temperature in a metal tin.
Made these last weekend for company coming. Husband ate them all. Made a second batch the same day and they were gone by that evening. These are THE BEST cookie you did not know you needed to bake. Fantastic recipe.
These look absolutely delicious! I make a slice and bake cookie every year with glacé cherries and nuts, but I like the idea of these chunky, delicious, pineapple laced drop cookies too! Thank you for sharing and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul community!
April! Thank you, and thank you for allowing me to participate! These cookies are oldies but goodies for sure – would love to know how you enjoyed them should you eventually bake them up 🙂 Jenny
The flavor is unique for me, but sounds really nice! Very festive, too! Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday party!
Merry Christmas Jhuls!