Fruitcake Bar Cookies

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Filled with delicious flavors like dried fruit, nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon, these fruitcake bar cookies are scrumptiously moist. Fruitcake bars are the perfect holiday treats to bake with the family this Christmas.

Fruitcake Bar Cookies

We’ve never been fruit cake fans, but we do love our fruitcake bars! Dried fruit and chopped nuts layered with cinnamon, brown sugar, and just enough flour and butter to hold it all together until it reaches your mouth! Mama has made fruitcake bar cookies each year for as long as I can remember. She goes shopping for the candied fruit each year *after* Christmas, when it is on sale, and stores it in her freezer until the holidays roll around again and we all crave the brown sugar/fruity goodness of these yummy cookies.

Mama’s traditional fruitcake recipe is wonderful, but a few years back I worked up a simpler version with less fuss. I sent a platter of them to my mother’s house for her approval and she called this morning to get the recipe. She said she’s gonna make my version instead of hers this year to give herself a little break because “they taste every bit as good and sure are a lot easier!”.

So here is my easier version of fruitcake bars. No dropping dough on cookie sheets. Just pat it all into one pan, cook, and let it cool and rest overnight, then cut into little bites and enjoy. Because we all have Christmases when we really want the fruitcake bar cookies, but a little break would be nice, too!

Ingredients for Fruitcake Bar Cookies.

Recipe Ingredients

  • Baking mix
  • Butter (or margarine)
  • Chopped pecans or walnuts
  • Sliced almonds
  • Raisins
  • Dark brown sugar (if you only have light brown sugar on hand that’ll work just fine)
  • Vanilla
  • Cinnamon
  • Egg
  • Dried candied fruit mix or chopped candied dried fruits of your choice

Add ingredients to mixing bowl.

Place melted butter in a large bowl.

Add in baking mix, brown sugar, cinnamon, egg, and vanilla. Stir that up with a large spoon until well combined.

Add fruit and nuts to ingredients in mixing bowl.

Now add in all of your nuts and dried fruit. Stir again until incorporated.

This will take some elbow grease (just a little bit) to get it all incorporated because your batter will be absolutely filled with chunky goodness but that’s what is going to make it taste so stinking good!

Press batter into baking dish.

Now spray an 8×8 pan really well with cooking spray.

Yes, this recipe for fruitcake bar cookies only makes one 8×8 pan, lol. We’re going to cut them in little squares though so it will end up with a lot.

Dump all of your cookie dough into the prepared pan and pat it out a bit with your hands to fill the pan.

Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes.

Allow to cool completely and let it rest overnight before cutting.

Stack of Fruitcake Bar Cookies.

Enjoy these fruitcake bar cookies!

Storage

  • Store your fruit cake bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. Yep, if you’re looking for a Christmas treat you can make in advance, this is it!
  • You can also freeze the fruitcake bars for up to 3 months. 

Recipe Notes

  • Some folks aren’t familiar with baking mix. However, Bisquick is a brand of baking mix and that usually strikes that note of recognition with them. I prefer Pioneer to Bisquick, but you can also make your own homemade baking mix by using one of the gazillion recipes found on the internet.
  • Speaking of, don’t pack your baking mix. Measure it out light and fluffy by spooning it into your measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife so you don’t end up with too much.
  • I’m using chopped walnuts in these fruitcake bars because they are so much cheaper than pecan halves. But feel free to use whatever nuts you have on hand.
  • My mother doesn’t like the fruit cake blend of candied fruit as much as I do so she uses only candied cherries in her fruitcake bar cookies. I love the added citrus fruits in the candied fruit mix, so please tailor this to your own preferences and taste. I also recommend dates, apricots, and candied pineapple.
  • You can substitute margarine for butter in this recipe. I recommend this if shipping them, as these cookies have a longer shelf life and ship very well thanks to the margarine. Note: if shipping, be sure and let them sit for at least a day before cutting and package in a single layer so they have less chance of being smooshed.
  • For something different, you can drizzle your fruitcake bar cookies with an orange glaze. Simply heat 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of orange juice over medium heat until slightly thickened and pour over the cooled bars. You could also simply dust your bars with powdered sugar.
  • For an adults-only version, add 3/4 cup of rum or brandy to your cookie dough.
  • If you can’t resist the addition of chocolate, add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to your batter.

You might enjoy these other Christmas treats:

Southern Plate’s Must Make Christmas Cookies

Homemade Christmas Candies

Christmas Tie-Dyed Cheesecake Brownies

Holiday Popcorn Crunch

Festive Holiday Fruit Salad

Recipe For Spritz Cookies

Fruitcake Bar Cookies

Filled with delicious flavors like dried fruit, nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon, these fruitcake bar cookies are scrumptiously moist and the perfect holiday treats to bake with the family this Christmas.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: bars, cookies, fruit
Servings: 4
Calories: 87kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup brown sugar packed (I use dark or whatever I have on hand)
  • 2 cups baking mix I prefer Pioneer, but Bisquick will work
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine melted and cooled
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups diced candied fruit mix or diced candied fruit of your choice
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds the almonds add a GREAT texture
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Instructions

  • Combine the first six ingredients in a large bowl.
    1 cup brown sugar, 2 cups baking mix, 1 egg, 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Mix until well blended and then stir in the nuts and fruit mixture.
    1 1/2 cups diced candied fruit mix, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  • Pat the cookie batter into a well-greased 8×8 baking pan and bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes.
  • Allow to cool completely and then cover. Allow cookies to rest overnight before cutting into fruitcake bars.
  • Makes 16 to 25 fruitcake bar cookies, depending on how small you cut them.

Notes

Don't pack your baking mix. Measure it out light and fluffy by spooning it into your measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife so you don't end up with too much.

Nutrition

Calories: 87kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

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123 Comments

  1. I am very allergic to pineapple; therefore, when we make fruitcake cookies or bars, I use only the candied cherries. Yum! I also make my own baking mix; therefore my ingredient list is much shorter…and its simple too!

  2. As kids, my brother and I would NEVER eat fruit cake, so my mom baked us a really dark spicey prune cake (I wish I had the recipe). I still don’t care much for the candied fruit, but I bet I could substitute other dried fruit (cherries, blueberries and apricots). I could probably eat the cookies then, you know force myself…Ha Ha….I think everyone else in my family would eat them, too.

    1. 5 stars
      These should be good, I made drop fruit cake cookies when my 3 boys were young, now they have pushed 60 over the hill. We liked them. I do like your creative thinking, I will try both ways . I have the dried fruits available. My grandma made dad a raised cake for his birthday, used lard and no eggs or leavening. It was good. Memories!

  3. I really wish I liked fruit cake because you make these bar cookies look so good! I might have to make them anyway and pass them out to friends and neighbors.

  4. Would you please include the original recipe without the baking mix.
    I know i would appreciate it and probably some others as well.
    These sound good, but i dislike baking mixes.
    Thanks in advance !

  5. Christy – these sound delicious! I used to make a Kentucky Bourbon Cake every Christmas that people loved, but you had to bake it on Thanksgiving, wrap it in cheesecloth, and douse it every day with bourbon. It was a big pain in the neck, but the end result was worth it! Do you think it would change the consistency of these bars if you soaked your fruit in bourbon for several days before baking them? I think I could still get that yummy bourbon cake taste with the 30 days worth of aggravation! Thanks! <3

    1. Well, I’m going to give it a shot, I think! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’ll let you know how they come out!

    2. Deb – I don’t think it would hurt to soak the fruit in bourban at all – I make homemade fruitcake every year (totally awesome – I recipe I came up with by taking the best of the best from several different recipes) – and I soak my fruit in Brandy for several days before making the cakes. I don’t soak the nuts, but do soak the cherries, pineapple and raisins. I don’t like citron so don’t use that –

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