Fruitcake cookies are a fun, tasty spin on the beloved Christmas recipe

Fruitcake: Love ‘em or leave ‘em?

Probably a majority would pick choice No. 2. Just the thought of fruitcake-anything makes them turn up their nose. The “love ‘ems” enjoy the sweet, perhaps liquor laced cake.

My grandmother was a teetotaler, who would not even a smidgen of bourbon or rum in her fruitcakes. Hers were the old-timey dark fruit cakes loaded with everything from candied cherries to citron. The addition of citron was not my favorite. I did like the cherries.

My late husband’s grandmother did not drink either, but she soaked those cheesecloth-wrapped cakes in either rum or bourbon.

Some Christmases past, I discovered a fruitcake cookie that fit my tastebuds, and my husband liked them, too. We munched on those all the holiday season. Most of our friends declined to try them, but that was OK. We had more for us to enjoy until my late mother hit our stash. They were her favorite.

Naomi Judd, yes, the singer, is the creator of my fruitcake cookies. I stumbled on the recipe in an old Woman’s World magazine. It is a keeper for those who like candied cherries and do not care for citron.

Since there is still time to bake before Christmas, I thought I would share these two cookie recipes with you readers. They do not require much time to make. The hardest part of Judd’s and my recipe is mixing the stiff dough. I recommend using a stand mixer. Having a cooling rack set up for the cookies will help circulate air around them and cool them faster.

Even if fruitcake is not a favorite, this cookie recipe may surprise you. It’s just a different versions of old-time fruitcakes. Yes, the recipe calls for a bit of whiskey in the cookies. Not much, just for flavor.