Day 12 … Bourbon Fruitcake Buttons

Merry Christmas friends! Today is the last day of our little cookie project, the 2017 edition. We’re going to take the last bit of that base dough and make something incredibly festive. And boozy. Definitely boozy. At this point, we probably could use it. Today it’s Bourbon Fruitcake Buttons.

Now before you get your hackles up because I said “fruitcake”, relax. There’s no neon green and red cherries, no mystery lumps of translucent unknown fruit-like things. This one has all the baking spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice – plus a little dried and/or candied fruit. The good stuff. I like a mix of dried cherries and/or cranberries, candied pineapple, candied orange peel that I make myself (it’s easy) and candied ginger, but you can use whatever combination you like. It’s a great place for that miscellaneous stuff you’ve accumulated during the last few weeks during your holiday baking. There’s also a handful of pecans and the most important part … some bourbon. Gotta have the bourbon.

Once they’re baked they get the second but most important part: a boozy bourbon glaze. It really makes the cookie special. They are utterly delicious and very Christmas-y. Tiny Tim would love these, I’m quite sure.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: BOOZE. NEED I SAY MORE? I figured at the end of 12 kinds of cookies, we could all stand to relax a little. Though the cookies and glaze only need a few teaspoons total, it’s good to have a bottle of bourbon lying about. I highly recommend dosing up your eggnog this morning. Or your coffee. That works too.

2016 One Dough/12 Days of Cookies lineup: Butter Rum Bars, Candied Ginger Spice Buttons, Coconut Lime Sticks, Cranberry Pistacho Coins, Dark Chocolate Mocha Sandwich Cookies, Hazelnut Buttons, Jam Thumbprints, Mexican Chocolate Crinkles, Pecan Triangles, Peppermint Crisps, Rosemary Apricot Shortbread, Russian Tea Cakes
2017 One Dough/12 Days of Cookies lineup to date:
Basic Butter Cookie Dough + planning tips
Day 1 – Cream Cheese Wreaths
Day 2 – Raspberry Hazelnut Linzer
Day 3 – Lemon Poppyseed Buttons
Day 4 – Chocolate Cocoa Nib Wafers
Day 5 – Mexican Wedding Cookies
Day 6 – Orange Sandwich Cookies
Day 7 – Raspberry Chocolate Drops
Day 8 – Blueberry Lime Buttons
Day 9 – Cardamom Rose Coins
Day 10 – Banana Walnut Bars
Day 11 – PBJ Sandwich Cookies

BOURBON FRUITCAKE BUTTONS
Since this is a fruitcake inspired cookie, you need some fruit. My favorite is a Tablespoon each of finely diced candied ginger, candied orange peel, candied pineapple and dried sour cherries. Use all good fruit, nothing gross or iridescent green or neon red. Mix and match however you like.

Basic butter cookie dough – recipe here

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the room temperature cookie dough, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, baking soda and bourbon until well combined.
2. On low add the candied/dried fruit and the pecans and mix until just combined.
3. Roll the dough into Tablespoons sized balls. (if not ready to bake, freeze on a sheet pan until firm then transfer to a ziploc bag and freeze up to 3 months).
4. When ready to bake preheat the oven to 350°F and line two sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
5. Place the cookie balls 1″ apart on the prepared sheet pans.
6. Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through until lightly golden brown. The cookies will still be slightly soft but set on the outside.
7. Carefully slide the parchment or silicon sheets onto wire racks to cool completely.
8. For the glaze: in a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, bourbon and salt to form a thick glaze. Thicken with additional powdered sugar or thin with additional bourbon to achieve the correct texture.
9. Dip the rounded side of the cookie in the glaze, allowing excess to drip back into the bowl.
10. Place back on the sheet pans and allow the glaze to set at least 30 minutes.

Advertisement