A few weeks ago Paradise emailed me to ask if I wanted samples of any of their candied fruit to bake with. Never one to say no to free things, I said sure, send me some candied cherries or pineapple. They ended up being way more generous than I expected, so there will be several candied fruit recipes in the next few weeks!

Red and green cherries, regular and multicolor pineapple, and a cherry/pineapple mix.

I haven’t eaten a lot of candied fruit in the past (don’t think I’ve ever had fruitcake), so I started off with some pretty simple cookies in case it was weird/gross, but since apparently candied fruit isn’t scary, I’ve got a few more plans for the future that get a bit more interesting…

In the meantime, these cookies were surprisingly good. They have a similar texture and flavor to shortbread, but are less crumbly. I made them gluten-free, but you could do them with regular (all-purpose) flour in place of the gf flour, and just leave out the xanthan gum.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped Paradise candied cherries, measured after chopping, plus extra for decorating

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the flour and xanthan gum on low speed.

Add the vanilla and salt and beat on medium speed until combined, then add the cherries and beat in on low speed until evenly mixed.

Scoop into roughly 1″ balls and space widely on the lined sheets. If desired, gently press whole candied cherries into the tops of the dough balls.

Bake 13-15 minutes, until just beginning to brown around the bottom edges.

Let cool completely on the pans.

The cherries add a light fruity taste to the cookies. I wondered if the texture would be weird (either from being gluten-free or from having chunks of cherry), but I thought it was actually a really well textured cookie! Texture-wise, the cherries aren’t hugely noticeable as you eat the cookie, which is how I prefer it. Many thanks to Paradise for the goods!

Cherry Meltaways

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped Paradise candied cherries, measured after chopping, plus extra for decorating

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the flour and xanthan gum on low speed. Add the vanilla and salt and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the cherries and beat in on low speed until evenly mixed.

Scoop into roughly 1″ balls and space widely on the lined sheets. If desired, gently press whole candied cherries into the tops of the dough balls. Bake 13-15 minutes, until just beginning to brown around the bottom edges.

Let cool completely on the pans.