Christmas Jumble Cookies

These cookies came to be a couple of years ago because I looking for a way to us up the bits and bobs left over from my Christmas baking.  I had a little mincemeat left over, a few glace cherries, and some walnuts, so I decided to mix them into one of my go-to cookie doughs.

The finished cookies had a good flavour but they were very plain and not overly sweet.  I filled the cookie jar without saying anything at all about them, not optimistic that Himself the Elf would eat them.  

Much to my surprise, the cookies "evaporated" from the jar at a rapid clip and, when Christmas rolled around the following year, my fella requested that I bake them again. They're now a regular part of my Christmas baking routine.

To make Christmas Jumble Cookies, you'll need:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mincemeat
• 1-3/4 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cups glace cherries, cut in quarters
• 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Cream together the butter and sugar.  

Beat the egg and vanilla together.  Mix them into the butter and sugar along with the mincemeat.

Stir together the flour and baking soda.  

Add in the glace cherries and walnuts.  The cherries will want to cling together in a big clump.  Use your hands to work them apart and toss them through the flour so that each piece is coated.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir them together until all the flour is moistened and a firm dough is formed.

Scoop the cookie dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets, making 1-1/2 inch balls and spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Dampen your fingers with a little water and then press each cookie to flatten it.  The cookies should be about 1/3 inch thick.

Bake the cookies at 350F for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned.  

(Insert embarrassed blush here.  I just realized I forgot to take a picture of the cookies after they came out of the oven.  Oops!)

Cool the cookies on racks and store them in an airtight container.  

Both the unbaked dough and the baked cookies freeze very well.  If you form the unbaked dough into cylinders and refrigerate it, then slice it to make thinner, flatter cookies, they make excellent cookie sandwiches.  You can fill them with plain buttercream frosting or with the orange and cream cheese frosting I used on my Cranberry Spice Bars.