Clicky

Old-Fashioned Gumdrop Cookies

These gum drop cookies are buttery, soft and chewy, with perfect little bits of gumdrops in them! They are perfect for Santa, birthdays and more!

4.23 from 9 vote(s)23 comments
Jump to Recipe Saved Save RecipeSave to FavoritesPin Recipe Rate Recipe Cookbooks

These Old-Fashioned Gumdrop Cookies are SO good! I decided to try out a recipe that I have had forever- so forever that the recipe uses shortening (don’t worry, I used butter haha) and was surprised how good they are. You DO have to love a good, chewy, jaw breaking cookie, so if you don’t enjoy chewy cookies, maybe try my Peanut Butter Blossom Hershey Kiss Cookies or my ginger cookies, those are Christmas cookie classics!

Old-Fashioned Gumdrop Cookies in a 3 layer pink cupcake stand

Gumdrop Cookies

First, I love all gumdrops, but the best gumdrops to use are the Nutty Club Baking Fruitlets (which I find at Save On and Sobey’s here in Edmonton.)  They make these cookies so chewy and buttery all at the same time, which means that they are going to be perfect for my Dad at Christmas. That man loves anything that breaks your jaw and is sweet, so I think that I have found another cookie for him to enjoy other than my Chewy Oatmeal Cookies.

close up stack of Gumdrop Cookies, some pieces of gumdrops on background

You can also use large gumdrops and slice them up into smaller pieces if you can’t find the Nutty Club, they will work just as well, I’m not sure that the smaller ones are readily available in the States for my US readers. What you really DO need to do, is use butter for sure! The buttery vanilla taste and those chewy gumdrops? So good!!!

close up Gumdrop Cookies in a 3 layer pink cupcake stand

Posting all of these Christmas cookie recipes for you while they sit in my freezer waiting for Christmas is killing me. Every time I write up one of these Christmas cookies I remember that they are all sitting in my freezer. And then I start remembering how good they were. And then I want one. And remember that I have to wait until Christmas. My willpower is getting weaker and weaker, it’s a good thing that we are only a couple of weeks away from Christmas now!

Sigh.

Happy baking guys!

Love,

Karlynn

Save This Recipe to your Email!
Enter your email below to save this recipe to your email so you don’t lose it and get new recipes daily!
close up Gumdrop Cookies in a 3 layer pink cupcake stand

Classic Gumdrop Cookies

These gum drop cookies are buttery, soft and chewy, with perfect little bits of gumdrops in them! They are perfect for Santa, birthdays and more!
4.23 from 9 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 22 minutes
Servings: 24
Calories: 126kcal

Ingredients 

  • 1/2 cup shortening/butter
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chopped fruit-flavored gumdrops or mini gumdrops

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350°.
  • Cream the butter or shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, followed by the almond extract.
  • In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
  • Slowly add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix well.
  • Stir in gumdrops.
  • Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, making sure they are 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until they are golden brown, around 12-15 minutes. Watch them closely to make sure they don’t overbake!
  • Cool for 2-3 minutes before removing from the baking pans to wire racks to cool completely

Nutrition

Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 7mg | Sodium: 53mg | Potassium: 2mg | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @TheKitchenMagpie or tag #thekitchenmagpie!

Pin this to your Desserts Board or Christmas Baking Board and remember to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST for more great recipe ideas!

%%excerpt%% These gum drop cookies are buttery, soft and chewy, with perfect little bits of gumdrops in them! They are perfect for Santa, birthdays and more! #gumdrops #cookies

Karlynn Johnston

I’m a busy mom of two, wife & cookbook author who loves creating fast, fresh meals for my little family on the Canadian prairies. Karlynn Facts: I'm allergic to broccoli. I've never met a cocktail that I didn't like. I would rather burn down my house than clean it. Most of all, I love helping YOU get dinner ready because there's nothing more important than connecting with our loved ones around the dinner table!

Learn more about me

Site Index Christmas Christmas cookies Cookies

Reader Interactions

Comments & Recipe Tips Share a tip or comment!

  1. Lynn LeMesurier

    The Real Person!

    Author Lynn LeMesurier acts as a real person and verified as not a bot.
    Passed all tests against spam bots. Anti-Spam by CleanTalk.

    The Real Person!

    Author Lynn LeMesurier acts as a real person and verified as not a bot.
    Passed all tests against spam bots. Anti-Spam by CleanTalk.
    says

    I have made these cookies the last two years gir Christmas and they have always turned out perfectly delicious. Better get my gumdrops before I can’t find them.
    Thanks for sharing this simple recipe.5 stars

  2. Mark

    The Real Person!

    Author Mark acts as a real person and verified as not a bot.
    Passed all tests against spam bots. Anti-Spam by CleanTalk.

    The Real Person!

    Author Mark acts as a real person and verified as not a bot.
    Passed all tests against spam bots. Anti-Spam by CleanTalk.
    says

    These were great! All of the complaints about dry or crumbly batter are probably due to the way they’re measuring out flour. Likely these people are the type who use their measuring cup to dig out a cup of flour from their bin of highly compacted flour, and then push the flour down to even it out. OK, maybe not that extreme, but that method can lead to as much as 1/3 more than the correct amount. Spoon loose flour (pre-sift flour if need be) into your measuring cup, and use the back of a knife to brush off the overflow, and make it an even cup. OR, even better, don’t measure by volume, and do weight instead. One cup flour = 120g. This recipe calls for 1 3/4C of flour, which is 210g.5 stars

  3. Sharon says

    Made these a looong time ago. My aunt refused to even try them. Said she didn’t like fruit cake. Tried to convince her that they were gumdrops. But didn’t believe me. 😄

    • Jenny says

      the first time I made these they were wonderful! chewy and addicting. but the second time the dough had a short crust texture. any idea what I did wrong?

  4. nancy kennedy says

    was easy enough to do.
    i forgot, most recipes with sugar you can decrease the amount of sugar required.
    my mixer is 30 years old.still accomodating.

  5. Barbara says

    I have an older version of this recipe. It uses 1 tsp of cinnamon, calls for sifted flour, Crisco shortening and actual spice -ette gum drops- not dots gummy candy. Also the dough is formed into a roll and can be frozen to slice and bake later. Mine are not so hard to eat. Alot of people will balk at the spice flavored gumdrops but they are really good in these cookies with the cinnamon. You can change the shortening to butter but I would not recommend it because butter melts faster and the texture of the cookies is ruined.2 stars

  6. B says

    Dough was extremely crumbly. Added another egg and it solved the problem. Not a fan of almond flavor, so just used vanilla extract. They baked up well and look fantastic! Thanks!

  7. Kati V says

    I made these last year and loved them; went back to make them this year and used butter flavored shorting (the only thing I did different this year vs last year) and they were hard and crumbly. I’ll try again because everyone loved them last year was disappointed they were so hard and dough was very crumbly

  8. M Wilson says

    They are awful. Hard as a rock. Something is definitely missing from this recipe 🤮 Into the garbage they go1 star

  9. Chelsea says

    PERFECT! thank you 🙂 wish I could share a pic, they are so pretty 🤩5 stars

  10. Lorna says

    Made these this afternoon. Disappointed! The cookies ran, and the gumdrops melted out of the cookie and on the pan. Hardly any gumdrop flavor because they melted out!

    • Tami says

      these are so fun! made em with the baking fruitlets and they turned out fine.
      i adjusted the baking times to 4 minutes on convection, or 7 if baking from bottom only.
      otherwise yeah, the gumdrops will melt out.
      thanks Karlynn, one bite and it brought back memories!5 stars

  11. Colette says

    The butter ran while cooking. The parameter was real crispy and difficult to remove from sheet. Most broke.

  12. Gail says

    These are incredibly DELICIOUS – buy your gumdrops at Bulk Barn early in the Christmas season as they tend to sell out.5 stars

    • Cathy says

      My batter is very dry and cannot drop them on a cookie sheet. What do I do5 stars

  13. Marsha says

    I haven’t had these since I was a kid! My moms old recipe notebook has these in it. Might just have to give these a go. Thanks for the memory!

  14. Kim E. says

    Thank you so much for posting this recipe!! I lost my best friend almost exactly two years ago and miss her terribly. We had been best friends since grade 2. I’m now 46. Gumdrop cookies were her specialty and she would make them for me at all times of the year as a surprise! I was missing her a bit more than usual when I serendipitously came across your recipe. I’m going to make some as a little tribute this afternoon.

  15. Alecia Allred says

    These look great!! I am fairly new to your site. I have really enjoyed everything i have tried so far. Where does the remaining 1/4 c sugar go? Thank you again and Merry Christmas!!

    • Karlynn says

      It all goes in together, I’ve updated the recipe but it’s taking its time showing. All the sugar gets beaten in! I was going to do another technique and skipped it and forgot to change it!

    • Janet says

      This is my first time making gumdrop cookies. I rolled the into balls to put on my sheet. I just pulled them out of the oven and they are looking fantastic5 stars

4.23 from 9 votes

Leave a Comment or Recipe Tip

Recipe Rating




EMAIL YOURSELF THIS RECIPE!
Enter your email to get this recipe emailed to you, so you don’t lose it and get new recipes daily!