Fruity Meltaways

Published Dec. 8, 2021

Fruity Meltaways
Anna Williams for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susan Spungen.
Total Time
30 minutes, plus 2 hours’ chilling
Rating
4(791)
Comments
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Classic lime meltaways get their tender texture from the addition of cornstarch. Here, the cornstarch is swapped for your choice of freeze-dried fruit finely ground in a spice grinder or blender. This not only keeps the cookies delicate, but also adds a concentrated fruity punch. Any fruit will work, but choose a vibrant freeze-dried fruit, like cherries and blueberries, for a more brightly-colored cookie. Once formed into logs, the cookie dough will keep in the freezer for 3 months, helping you get ahead on your holiday baking. The freshly baked cookies are tossed in a combination of ground freeze-dried fruit and confectioners’ sugar for a pretty pastel finish.

Featured in: 24 Days of Cookies

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Ingredients

Yield:60 to 70 cookies

    For the Cookies

    • 12tablespoons/170 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • ½cup/62 grams confectioners’ sugar
    • ¼teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
    • 1tablespoon lemon juice
    • 2teaspoons pure vanilla extract
    • 3tablespoons/20 grams finely ground freeze-dried fruit, such as cherries, blueberries, strawberries, peaches or mangoes
    • cups/224 grams all-purpose flour

    For the Coating

    • ¾cup/93 grams confectioners’ sugar
    • 3tablespoons/20 grams finely ground freeze-dried fruit
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (65 servings)

41 calories; 2 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 0 grams protein; 8 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a stiff spatula, mix butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt, lemon juice and vanilla until creamy and combined. Add ground freeze-dried fruit and mix until distributed. Add flour, and mix until it all comes together into a soft dough.

  2. Step 2

    Divide the dough into two (250-gram) portions. On pieces of parchment paper, wax paper or plastic wrap, roll each portion of dough into a 10-inch-long log. Chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator or up to 3 months tightly wrapped in the freezer.

  3. Step 3

    Set oven racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven, and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two sheet trays with parchment paper.

  4. Step 4

    Using a sharp knife, trim about ⅛-inch off each side of the chilled dough logs, just so that you have flat ends. Slice the logs into scant ¼-inch-thick cookies. Roll the log a quarter turn after each slice to keep it round. (If the dough cracks while slicing, let it warm up at room temperature for 10 minutes.) Arrange on sheet trays ½-inch apart and bake, rotating the trays once during baking, until set and barely golden underneath, 10 to 12 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    While the cookies bake, make the sugar coating: Sift together the powdered sugar with the ground freeze-dried fruit. While still warm, gently toss the cookies in the powdered sugar mixture and return to the sheet tray to fully cool. The cookies will keep for 2 weeks stored at room temperature in an airtight container.

Ratings

4 out of 5
791 user ratings
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Comments

Freeze dried fruit is a dried fruit, no sugar added, and has a lighter, crunchy, completely dry texture…not chewy and moist like raisins or dried apricots. Not always easy to find in grocery stores but I’ve had luck at Trader Joe’s for a good price. Great to flavor frostings without adding moisture or sugar!

These are delicious. But I don't know how the yield is 60-70 cookies. The logs and slices would have to be TINY! I got around 20, though I did make a larger log.

When I saw the picture of this it made my mouth actually water. Can't wait. This will taste good after a wrap with fried chicken, sriracha , lettuce, and the lemon chutney from Indian instant pot cookbook by Pitre. Love NYT Cooking, it's a great place to take a break from you know what.

I’ve had success using a bean grinder for grinding the dried fruit. Used a sieve to remove remaining seeds. Lovely recipe. Thank you!

I used freeze-dried strawberries ($10 worth!) that I chopped up in the blender and then put through a sieve. I tried so hard to get a fine powder so I could avoid the sausage look that other commenters had, but it didn’t work. I was about 20 grams short with the powdered sugar but had enough for coating. I baked one tray at a time as suggested by others and agree that’s necessary. My cooling rack made marks on the bottom of the cookies so I cooled the second batch by moving the parchment paper to the rack, which also kept the counter clean. They were so tasty and were a big hit with my family and were different from anyone else’s at my cookie exchange. The strawberry flavor comes through intensely. Made 67.

Think twice about making these with freeze dried strawberries... They're nice but they really do look like weird salami slices... Kinda hilarious!

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