5 Tips for Adding Dried Fruits Without Drying Out Cookies

Fruit and nut cookies are amazing on their own, but with something like Dairy Milk chunks added, the cookies become extra sweet. While the chocolate chunks don’t need much consideration, only when they are added to the cookie, dry fruits need some consideration, for they tend to dry out the cookie dough. And if not used right, it can throw off the moisture balance in your dough. If you’ve ever ended up with stiff, crumbly cookies after adding raisins or cranberries, you’ve probably seen this problem firsthand. Luckily, a few simple adjustments can help avoid that.

1. Give the Fruit a Quick Soak

Dried fruit is exactly what it sounds like, fruit that’s had most of its water removed. So when it goes into your dough, it tends to grab whatever water it can find. That includes the bit of liquid your cookie dough needs to stay soft in the oven. Soaking the fruit in warm water for 10 to 15 minutes brings back a bit of its original softness. You can also use fruit juice, tea, or even a splash of rum if you're baking for adults. Once the fruit looks a little plumper, drain it and press it dry between paper towels. You want it damp, not dripping. Damp fruit blends better into the dough and won’t leave you with cookies that feel like they’ve been sitting out overnight. Make sure to pat them dry before using.

2. Chop It Small

Oversized fruit chunks can mess with the way cookies bake. If you're tossing in whole dried cherries or big rings of pineapple, they may not distribute evenly, and that can lead to strange pockets of dryness, or even spots that bake faster than the rest of the dough. Chopping fruit into smaller pieces helps it hide in the dough, so every bite gets a little. It also keeps the cookie from cracking around larger chunks and reduces the risk of burning edges where the fruit pokes out. Use a sharp knife or even scissors to cut fruit into small bits, roughly the size of a chocolate chip or smaller. This doesn’t just help with baking, it also makes each bite more balanced.

3. Balance with Fats

Because dried fruit tends to absorb water from its surroundings, it’s smart to add just a little extra butter or oil to your dough. Not so much that your cookies spread into puddles, but enough to help the dough stay soft through the baking process. Even a tablespoon of extra fat in your recipe can help keep things tender. This works especially well if you’re adding a larger amount of dried fruit, like more than half a cup. If your dough feels stiffer than usual after mixing, that’s a sign it might need a small bump in richness. Peanut or almond butters, coconut oil, or even cream cheese can also be interesting choices, depending on what kind of cookie you're making.

4. Don’t Overbake

The line between perfectly baked and overdone is thin, especially with dried fruit involved. Because the fruit has already been through heat once during drying, it can’t take much more before it starts to get hard and leathery. Take your cookies out of the oven when the edges are just turning golden and the middle still looks soft. They’ll keep baking from their own heat for a few minutes on the tray. This trick keeps the cookies from going hard, and the fruit from turning chewy in a bad way. Watch the bottom of the cookies, too. If the bottoms are too brown, that usually means your oven’s running hot or your baking sheet is too thin.

5. Try a Sticky Sweetener

Granulated sugar does the job, but if you're adding dried fruit, a little syrup-style sweetener can help bring in some softness that sticks around even after the cookies cool. Think honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or even a bit of molasses. You don’t need to replace all the sugar; just a few tablespoons can make a great deal of a difference. These sweeteners hold on to moisture better and help offset any drying the fruit might cause. They also help bind the cookie so it doesn't fall apart when you take a bite. That’s especially useful for oatmeal cookies or chunky bakes that already have a lot going on.