Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Fruitcake Cookies

I had been dreaming of making these cookies ever since I came across them in Ina Garten's book. These are really really rich cookies, do not spread much but taste oh so yummy !!!. These remind me of the very famous biscuits from Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad. As usual, I made some tweaks, used what I had on hand and used flax-seed meal instead of the one egg called for. For the original recipe please see Ina's recipe. Here's my version of this fruit and nut treat.

Ingredients
8-10 Pitted Dates chopped very fine
1/4 Cup Tutti Fruti (Crystallized candied fruit, usually papaya bits colored red, orange, green)
1/4 Cup Raisins + Dried Cherries
1/4 Cup Salted Cashews chopped in pieces
3-4 Crystallized Ginger pieces chopped very fine
1 Tbsp Honey
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp Sherry / Wine (Optional)
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/4 tsp Nutmeg Powder
1/2 tsp Dried Orange Peel Powder ( can substitute with Orange Zest)
1/3 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Butter at room temperature
2 & 2/3 Cups All-purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Flax-seed Meal mixed with 3 Tbsp Water

Method
1. Mix together all the dried fruits and nuts, honey, lemon juice and vanilla extract and Sherry / wine if using. Add cinnamon pdr, nutmeg pdr and dried orange peel powder and some salt. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and leave it aside overnight or atleast for 4-5 hours.
2. Cream butter and sugar till smooth. Add in the flax-seed meal mixed in water and then slowly add flour and mix till just combined. Do not OVERMIX as it will result in hard cookies.
3. Now mix in the fruit-mixture from step 1 along with any liquid residue and mix lightly till incorporated.
4. Divide the dough into two and roll them out in the shape of logs about 1&a/2 inch in diameter and approximately 18 inches in length. Wrap with cling-wrap or wax paper and refrigerate for 3-4 hours
5. Pre-heat oven to 350 F
6. Slice the cookies from the log, set on ungreased baking tray and bake for 15-20 mins until lightly golden.
7. Wait to cool and serve with coffee or tea or gobble them up just like that. I betcha u can't eat just one ;)



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