A recipe on how I make the best fig cookie handed down from my Sicilian mother-in-law. Now, it doesn’t get any more Italian than that.
These cookies would make a great addition to your holiday cookie tray and are well worth the effort. I have shared this in years past and am happy to share it again, as these are always a favorite on my cookie tray.
This recipe can be done in stages, the filling one day, making the dough and cooking the cookies the next day. Then another day you can frost them and top each one with your favorite sprinkles. It certainly makes it a lot easier on the cook. It averages me approximately 8 hours to do them, of course, I do a double batch which always takes a long time.
The Ingredients
The Filling
Start with your filling first, otherwise, your dough will get too dry.
Ingredients:
1 c. dried figs
½ c. dried dates pitted
½ c. raisins
¾ c. chopped almonds
¾ c. chopped walnuts
¼ c. chocolate chips
¾ c. honey
¼ c. brandy
½ c. strawberry jam
1 ½ tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 T. cinnamon
½ tsp. cloves
½ tsp. nutmeg
1- If you have whole figs as I do here, be sure to cut out the hard stem in the center of the fig. Then chop your figs into smaller chunks so they will grind easier for you.
2- Grind together the chopped figs, dates, chopped orange, crushed pineapple, and raisins if you are adding them. The juice from the orange and pineapple help to lubricate the hard figs and dates as they go through the grinder. Now, run it all through the grinder again, this will make sure that the mix is ground fine enough.
3- Add your finely chopped almonds and walnuts to the date mixture along with the spices, honey, brandy, strawberry jam, and chocolate chips if you desire. Your mixture should be just moist but thick enough to hold its shape when spooned onto the dough.
4- You can stop here at this point, cover your filling and refrigerate until you’re ready to do the second stage, making the dough!
The Dough
Ingredients:
4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1 ½ T. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 c. butter 2 sticks cut into cubes)
2 large egg
½ c. milk or cream
1 T. vanilla
1- Cream together your butter, sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla, beating until creamy.
2- Sift together your flour, salt, and baking powder. I do mine twice through the sifter to make sure the baking powder is distributed evenly.
3- Slowly add your butter mixture to the flour stirring well. It will be somewhat sticky to work with.
4- Flour your board and rolling pin very well so the dough does not stick.
5- Take a good handful of dough and form a roll with it in your hands, then roll it gently on the floured board to elongate the dough. Try to keep it approximately 1 ½” – 2” in diameter, as you will need it large enough to flatten into a long rectangle about 4” wide.
6- Roll your dough into a rectangle until it is about ¼” thick. It is time to spoon the filling down the center of the dough, leaving room enough so you can lift the edge to roll the dough over the filling. Roll carefully covering the entire filling with the dough, continue until you meet the opposite edge. You should now have a good-sized roll ready for cutting.
7- Carefully slice your cookie roll diagonally and place it on an un-greased cookie sheet leaving enough room between them.
8- Place into a preheated oven at 375 F or 190 C and bake for 12-15 minutes until done. They should be slightly brown, you do not want to overcook them, so watch them closely at the 12-minute mark.
9-Remove the Cucidati cookies to a wire rack to cool. You can choose to frost your cookies the following day, just cover them with a clean, dry dishtowel until you’re ready.
Cooling and drying on a rack
The Icing
Frost with the icing:
Mix 1 c. powdered confectionery sugar, 1/4 tsp. vanilla & enough milk (about 1 T.) to make of spreading consistency. Sprinkle the tops when still wet with sprinkles. Let dry thoroughly. Enjoy!!!!
Frosting & Sprinkles
Thank you for stopping by my post, I hope you enjoyed seeing how I made my annual Italian cookies.
Until next time, this is Sunscape...
Sun. Scape. Ing your day
I would love to try this.
oooh those look fantabulous! Lovely and festive... and I don't even have much of a sweet tooth, so that says something haha :)
Thank you Jaynie, I love making these for friends and family every year. They really are quite delicious. Thanks for stopping in today.
To be honest, I have never gravitated toward "baking"... I suppose it is because I prefer savoury stuff... but I do LOVE to cook! I have always admired people who bake because it requires a lot more precision than cooking. :)
I love to do both, however, baking does not happen much anymore at my house. I love it, but we have to watch our sugar intake at our age, ugh!
Oh I hear you! Age aside, we aim to do the same here haha!!!
Wow! Very nice! Send me a piece to taste!
It's on its way! ;-)
Yummy...feeling hungry
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You would enjoy them, I am sure.
Hmm. Those look amazing. Thanks for the recipe.
Resteemed :-)
Have a cookie on me.
I ate this kind of cookie when I was in Sicily for a couple of weeks an they are so good!!! Thanks for the recipe!
They are a favorite here in our family and it is a Sicilian recipe. I miss that country, I should plan another trip back there as it is one of my favorite countries.
Oh my god these look freaking amazing. Personally I wouldn't put the icing on them but they do look really cute for Christmas. I just don't like icing so I would pick it off haha but the actual biscuits themselves look freaking incredible. Thank you for sharing xx
Thanks, riverflows. I prefer them without the icing too as they are so moist and delicious without it. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
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