makes 6 dozen
I think Mom got this recipe from Val. I’m not sure where Val got it but I saw it on Martha Stewart’s message boards website. I responded to the posting and a woman got snippy with me that it had been in her family for 100 years. La de dah! It’s a delicious recipe. It makes a bunch: 6 dozen using a small ice cream scoop.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 3 cups flour
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp. baking soda dissolved in a little water
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 lb. pecans, chopped
- ½ lb. candied cherries, chopped
- 1 lb. dates, chopped (the drier kind that comes chopped in a box works great)
- ½ lb. candied pineapple
- (any mix of candied fruit works, total 2 lbs.)
Directions
Mix chopped fruit and pecans with flour in a large bowl. Stir to coat fruit.
Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs, soda mixture and spices.
Combine the two mixtures by hand. It takes some muscle.
Drop teaspoon – tablespoon size cookies onto greased or silpat lined cookie sheets.
Bake at 350°F for 15 – 20 minutes, rotating sheets half way through, until uniformly golden brown. Cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to a cooling rack.
Notes
These freeze and thaw beautifully. Microwave them fresh from the freezer for a few seconds and it’s like they’re freshly baked.