Nell's Fruitcake Cookies

Altho this recipe requires a lot of "cutting/chopping"... it's worth every second. I made this for a cookie exchange one time and afterwards, when the hostess' husband arrived home... he took one look at my cookies and said "My grandmother made those fruitcake cookies!" ... to which I responded... "So did mine." He loved them and requested the recipe, which I gladly shared.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Yields: 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup  Crisco
• 1  cup brown sugar
• 1  egg
• 1⁄4 cup milk
• 2  cups  sifted flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1  cup  chopped pecans or 1  cup walnuts
• 1  cup  chopped dates (the whole ones you have to cut up are better than the pre-diced one)
• 1⁄2 cup  candied red cherries, cut in quarters
• 1⁄2 cup  green glazed cherries, cut in quarters

Directions

1. Cream together crisco and sugar.
2. Stir in egg; add milk and blend well.
3. Sift dry ingredients together, stir in to batter.
4. Add nuts, dates, and cherries, stirring to distribute evenly.
5. Chill dough 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
7. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet; top w/ half cherry or walnut/pecan half.
8. Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly brown.
9. Cool on wire rack.