Not My Grandmother's Fruit Cookies

Do you have a special recipe in your family that you are hesitant to share? We do in our family. (I have sworn to take my leek and potato soup recipe with me to my grave; I won’t, but don’t tell my kids that.) In my family it is a cookie recipe that dates back to my great, possibly great-great grandmother. Initially it was just a list of ingredients on a rather yellowed piece of paper. It was later written up in a more workable form. The original recipe called for black walnuts and currants, but over the years as black walnuts became increasingly less available, and people started substituting raisins for currants, the recipe changed. I am not going to give you that recipe, but I am going to give you one that is equally as good, perhaps better, and based on one that has been in my family for generations.

Not My Grandmother's Fruit Cookies

1 c. granulated sugar
½ c. dark brown sugar
1 c. butter, room temperature
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
1 t. ground mace
1 t. ground allspice
2¼ c. flour
1 t. baking soda dissolved in ¼ c. buttermilk
1 c. raisins
½ c. golden raisins
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray cookie sheets with PAM; set aside.

Cream butter, sugar, and spices together until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk mixture. Fold in raisins and pecans. Scoop cookies into balls and bake until lightly browned, 13-15 minutes. Let cool a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to cool on a rack.

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