This old-fashioned icebox fruitcake recipe is a traditional holiday dessert for my family and many here in the South. This deliciously dense cake is overflowing with decadent ingredients, like graham cracker crumbs, pecans, maraschino cherries, and mini marshmallows.

This classic icebox fruitcake recipe is one of those simple things that have always made holidays special in our family. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas you would find one on my grandmother’s table, and now I get the opportunity to share her delicious recipe with y’all.

Fortunately, it’s so easy to make this Southern icebox fruitcake. The most challenging part is using a food processor to crush the graham crackers (yep, really). From there, you simply mix together all the ingredients, including raisins, pecans, mini marshmallows, maraschino cherries, and shredded coconut. A can of sweetened condensed milk perfectly brings all the ingredients together.

The best part is that this is a no-bake fruit cake. Yep, once you combine the ingredients, let it chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours. Now, I prefer to make icebox fruitcake bars in a baking dish. But if you’d prefer to make an actual fruitcake, go right on ahead and chill it in a bundt cake pan, round cake pan, or tube pan.

So if you’ve been searching for a holiday dessert you can make ahead of time, look no further. If you’re on the lookout for another enjoyable icebox cake to bake, check out my lemon icebox cake recipe. Or you may like my fruitcake bar cookies. Okay, enough chattin’, let’s get not-baking 😉.

Recipe Ingredients

Graham crackers
Pecans
Maraschino cherries
Shredded coconut
Raisins
Miniature marshmallows
Sweetened condensed milk

Helpful Kitchen Tools

How to Make Icebox Fruitcake

Crush the entire box of graham crackers.

I used my food processor but you can also pop those crackers in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

Coarsely chop pecans.

Chop cherries (saving the cherry juice).

Combine everything in a large mixing bowl.

Mix well.

You may have to use your hands for this. It’s messy but you get to lick your fingers afterward, so it’s totally worth it.

Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper or grease it with butter/cooking spray.

Press the cake batter flat into the prepared pan.

Chill for at least 6 hours and then turn out before cutting into bars.

How good do these icebox fruitcake bars look?

Enjoy!

Storage

You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. The fruitcake will actually get better the longer it sits in your fridge, as the cake soaks up all the delicious flavor.
You can also freeze leftover fruit cake for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight and it will be good to serve the next day.

Recipe Notes

If you miss that rum flavor of a traditional fruitcake, you can add 1 teaspoon of rum extract or dark rum to the mix.
Don’t hesitate to substitute any of the dried fruit or nuts if you don’t like them. For example, swap pecans for walnuts, or raisins for dried apricots.
Another great substitution is the graham crackers for crushed vanilla wafers.
If you can’t get your hands on maraschino cherries, you can use candied cherries or candied holiday fruit instead, and just add a tablespoon of water to the batter if it’s too tough.

Here are more popular holiday dessert recipes:

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

Easy Pumpkin Pie Recipe From Scratch

Holiday Popcorn Crunch

Festive Holiday Fruit Salad

Pumpkin Praline Cake With Cream Cheese Icing

How To Make Apple Pie