~Amanda~
This cookie was brand new for me this year. Conor’s mom had given me the recipe and tools to make the Scottish Shortbread cookies I posted a few days ago, so I wanted to make something for Conor to honor his Irish roots from his dad’s side of the family too. I didn’t have any family recipes from that side of the family so I took to google to find some Irish Christmas Cookie recipes and I ended up with so many. I ultimately decided to make these Irish Whiskey Cookies because they are filled with Conor’s favorite thing… Jameson Irish Whiskey! Conor LOVES Jameson Whiskey, he even wants to name our firstborn child Jameson (please talk him out of this nonsense if you ever come across him – I can’t name my child after his dad’s favorite whiskey brand haha).
Back to the cookies though… they ended up being very simple and quite similar to your traditional sugar cookie, but with a new twist with the addition of the whiskey of course, but also with the addition of candied citron, golden raisins, and almonds. It sounds a little weird, but tastes delicious. I have no idea if you can buy candied citron in your regular supermarket (I couldn’t find any and the clerk looked at me like I was speaking a different language when I asked) so I just ordered some on Amazon. The raisins and almonds can easily be found in the grocery store at least. To make the cookies is very simple; just combine all the ingredients one by one in your mixer until the dough forms. It is a pretty sticky dough, so you will not be able to roll it out or anything, you will want to use two spoons to drop it onto your baking sheets in the size of a tablespoon.
Here comes my WARNING – do not make them too big, the size of a tablespoon is all you need! I speak from experience, my first batch of these was a disaster… I thought it would be fun to make bigger cookies and I ended up with a baking sheet that was an entire layer of cookie, you couldn’t even tell there were supposed to be multiple cookies on there. Luckily I had more dough to do a second batch of smaller, more spread out ones and they turned out good enough (they could have been better though, let’s be honest, the pictures aren’t too good haha). But hey, all that matters is that they tasted delicious and all those who have tried them agree. Enjoy!
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups flour
- ¼ cup Irish whiskey (Jameson)
- ⅓ cup candied citron, chopped
- ⅓ cup golden raisins
- ⅓ cup sliced almonds
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease two cookie sheets.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar using an electric mixer (or do this in the bowl of your stand mixer if you have one).
- Add in the eggs and beat at medium speed until combined.
- Add the flour and whiskey, and combine until smooth.
- Add the fruit and nuts, and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Drop the dough from in tablespoon sized balls onto the cookie sheets (do NOT do any larger than a tablespoon and space the cookies out, they will spread a lot).
- Place in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes Until just golden around the edges.
- Remove with a spatula while still warm and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serve immediately or store in airtight container separated by parchment paper so they don’t stick together.
Followed recipe but soaked 1/3 cup candied ginger in whiskey governor. Big hit.
What an awesome idea! We’ll have to try that next time 🙂