Easy Chocolate Cookies with Dried Fruit and Nuts

How to make chocolate cookies packed with chopped nuts, dried fruit and chocolate. Jump to the Fruit and Nut Chocolate Cookies Recipe or read on to see our tips for making them.

Fruit and Nut Chocolate Cookies Recipe

– This Recipe is Sponsored by Gold Medal Flour –

They were originally inspired by Joanne’s favorite chocolate bar: Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bar. Each bite is a little different. Chewy and tart from the dried fruit, crunch from nuts and lots of chocolate.

Milky Way Stuffed CookiesYOU MAY ALSO LIKE: How to make the best stuffed cookies with your favorite candy bars. Jump to the Milky Way Stuffed Cookies Recipe.

How to Make the Best Chocolate Cookies Packed with Dried Fruit and Nuts

The base of our fruit and nut cookies has been borrowed from our popular Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies. It’s one of our favorite cookies to date — the dough itself is addictive.

How to Make the Best Chocolate Cookies with Chocolate, Dried Fruit and Nuts

WATCH: How to make our Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies

There’s lots of wiggle room with these. You can add whatever you like. In fact, we’ve never really made the same cookie twice. This time we threw a bunch of things in: raisins, dried cranberries, walnuts, almonds, white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips. These are perfect for clearing out your pantry. Just throw in all the partially used bags of nuts, fruit and chocolate.

The cookie dough comes together quickly. Butter and sugars are creamed together then a combination of all-purpose flour, cocoa powder and baking soda is added. Then we throw in the dried fruit, nuts and chocolate. Easy!

Making the cookie dough

Easy Bar Cookies RecipeYOU MAY ALSO LIKE: How to make soft and chewy bar cookies with peanut butter cups (or your favorite candy) from scratch. Jump to the Easy Bar Cookie Recipe.

Recipe updated, originally posted December 2013. Since posting this in 2013, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne

Easy Chocolate Cookies with Dried Fruit and Nuts

  • PREP
  • COOK
  • TOTAL

These chocolate cookies are packed with chopped nuts, dried fruit and chocolate. They were originally inspired by Joanne’s favorite chocolate bar: Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut Milk Chocolate Bar. There is lots of wiggle room with these – love dried cranberries and white chocolate? Add them. Prefer things to be simple with walnuts and chocolate chips? Great. These are perfect for clearing out your pantry. Just throw in all the partially used bags of nuts, fruit and chocolate.

Makes 32 to 34 cookies

You Will Need

2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour, we use Gold Medal

3/4 cup (60 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

18 tablespoons (255 grams or 2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar

1 cup (200 grams) lightly packed brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups (350 grams) chocolate chips

3/4 cup (115 grams) dried fruit

3/4 cup (75 grams) nuts, toasted and chopped

Directions

  • Make Dough
  • 1Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or use silicon baking mats.

    2In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together. In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, sugars and vanilla together until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. (Or, use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Reduce speed to low. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

    3Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then add the flour mixture in three parts, just mixing until it disappears. The batter will become very thick. You may need to switch from the handheld mixer to a spatula. Stir in the chocolate, fruit and nuts.

  • Bake Cookies
  • 1Drop heaping-tablespoon-sized mounds of cookie dough 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. (Or use a medium cookie scoop). Bake the cookies until the cookies have puffed a little and the tops look dry, 9 to 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • Storing the Cookies: Baked and cooled cookies will keep, stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.
  • Freeze Cookie Dough: Keep in mind that you can freeze this cookie dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, scoop individual dough balls onto the baking sheet (they can be close together), and then place in the freezer until hard, about 30 minutes. Transfer frozen dough balls to an airtight container or plastic bag.
  • Recipe tweaked from our Double Chocolate Cookies Recipe, which was originally inspired by Food 52’s Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

AUTHOR:  Adam and Joanne Gallagher
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9 comments… Leave a Review
  • Leonie June 12, 2022, 12:39 am

    Fantastic recipe. Cookie dough hard to get off spoon so don’t let that worry you. Put extra nuts on top to finish off. Also made half the batch with white choc chips and crushed macadamia nuts (put in a small plastic bag and hit with meat tenderiser until got size I wanted). Popped extra white choc chips on top to finish off before baking. They don’t take long so stay near oven. When they aren’t wet looking on top they are done. Almost double in size.

    Reply
  • Becky McHugh December 19, 2021, 1:16 pm

    Took these to a holiday party and everyone raved about them! I used dates, dried cranberries and walnuts. Amazing.

    Reply
  • Jane January 13, 2021, 2:45 pm

    Arguably the best cookie I have ever made.

    Reply
  • Barbzy December 18, 2020, 2:14 pm

    Love them thank you so much😊

    Reply
  • Elizabeth Osborn-Wynn April 1, 2020, 6:21 am

    OMG what a great recipe, used some store cupboard dried fruit and some mini marshmallows. Fabulous thank you

    Reply
  • Laura January 13, 2019, 3:26 pm

    I was looking for a recipe to use up some dried fruit and nuts. This recipe did the trick! It is so rich and chewy. It’s one I’ll use again.

    Reply
  • Phyllis Boyer March 7, 2017, 1:41 pm

    I’ve made this recipe half a dozen times or more. It is one of the very best cookies I’ve ever eaten and my friends and family agree. Delicious.

    Reply
  • Sommer@ASpicyPerspective December 12, 2013, 8:47 pm

    Oh my word! I can just imagine how soft and flavorful these are!

    Reply
    • Joanne December 13, 2013, 10:06 am

      Thanks! They are pretty tasty 🙂

      Reply

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