Gluten-Free Fruitcake Cookies

I’m not a fan of fruitcake, but these Gluten-Free Fruitcake Cookies are fabulous. The secret? Soaking dried fruit in Southern Comfort!

Note: This recipe was first posted on my original blog, Celebration Generation, on December 14, 2011. It was transferred over to this blog - existing comments and all - on Feb 25, 2021

The fact that this Gluten-Free Fruitcake Cookies recipe even exists... it's sort of a miracle.

You see, I'm one of those people that hate fruitcake. It's not that I buy into mass "ew!" hysteria (I love broccoli and Brussels sprouts, for instance!), it's that I find glaceed / candied fruit to be one of the nastiest things on the planet. I mean, right up there with Velveeta. Gross.

Then, there is the "gluten-free" issue.

As I mentioned in my recipe for an Easy way to make French Macarons, I was NOT a fan of anything that uses fake flours to make a regular recipe into a gluten free recipe.

I’ve always been a major "Gluten Free" Snob, and - at the time I developed this recipe in 2011 - pretty much stuck to treats that are inherently gluten free, such as coconut macaroons, Pavlova, and French Macarons.

This was in the days before I really started playing with gluten-free flours, and just always found anything made with the fake flours to be nasty, both in taste and texture.

(Spoilers: I would come to realize that it was a matter of avoiding “all-purpose” mixes, and using the RIGHT flours, in the right proportions to each recipe!)

You may be asking yourself, right about now, WHY I created this recipe. Well, I'll tell you - painkillers!

I really hate taking painkillers, as they make me feel really gross. I have to be in really rough shape to even consider it - and making tamales that weekend really beat me up. When I couldn't move my arm/shoulder without screaming pain for a few hours, I finally caved in.

45 minutes later, I was sorta woozy and craving fruitcake. Yes, I know - I *HATE* the stuff.

So, I did what one would expect an ADD, creative baker with gluten allergies to do when high as a kite - I designed a gluten-free fruitcake cookies recipe, and demanded nicely asked my husband to drive me shopping for the ingredients I would require.

I chopped the fruit and soaked them in booze overnight, looking forward to baking them the next day.

OH. WOW. These are amazing! I mean, amazing-amazing, not "amazing - for a gluten-free cookie". The substitution of dried fruits for glaceed, the Southern Comfort... it just created this vivid palette of flavor, and texture.

These gluten-free fruitcake cookies are so fabulous, my not-stuck-in-gluten-free-hell husband LOVES them. A few days after creating them, I was already putting on a second batch! So good!

We used a mix of raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots, and pineapple, but you can use a combination of whatever dried fruit you love.

Oh, and don't worry about buying too much - not only will you want to put on another batch once you try these... but I’ve also posted a recipe for Gluten-Free Fruitcake!

Now, on to that Gluten-Free Fruitcake Cookies recipe!

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5 from 4 votes

Gluten-Free Fruitcake Cookies

I’m not a fan of fruitcake in general, but these Gluten-Free Fruitcake Cookies are fabulous. Soaking dried fruit in booze makes ALL the difference!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Soaking time2 days d

Total Time2 days d 35 minutes mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American, British, Gluten-free

Servings: 24 Large cookies

Calories: 186kcal

Author: admin

Equipment

• 2 Baking Sheets
• Parchment Paper

Ingredients

• 1 lb About 3 cups mixed dried fruit*
• 1 cup Southern Comfort **
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange
• ½ cup Sorghum flour
• ¼ cup White rice flour
• ¼ cup Coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon Xanthan gum
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ lb. pecans chopped

Instructions

• A day or two before baking the cookies, chop dried fruits into pieces, mix in Southern Comfort, and cover.
• Preheat oven to 325F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, or coat well with baking spray.
• Strain dried fruit mixture, leaving it in your sieve to drain while you prepare the rest of the cookie batter.
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and zests, continue beating until eggs are fully incorporated and mixture is once again smooth and fluffy.
• In a separate bowl, combine flours, xanthan gum, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add most of it (reserve about ¼ cup) to the butter & sugar mixture, beat gently until well combined.
• Add strained fruit to the reserved flour mixture, toss well to coat the pieces (to separate them a bit). Add coated fruit and pecans to the cookie batter, mix well.
• Use a tablespoon, cookie scoop, or small ice cream scoop to drop rounded spoonfuls of the batter onto prepared baking sheets.
• 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!

Notes

* If you’re not a fan of Southern Comfort, use Jack Daniels, Rum, or Brandy. Also, add a pinch each of cloves and nutmeg – it’ll work fabulously with these other spirits.

Nutrition

Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 59mg | Potassium: 183mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 84IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 1mg

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