How was everyone’s New Year’s?
I hope you’ll indulge one more Christmas cookie recipe. Cucidati is a Sicilian cookie that I’ve only had once or twice. I’ve also seen these called Italian Fig Cookies or Buccellati. This cookie isn’t one of our traditions but it’s definitely worthy of anyone’s traditions or any special occasion. My friend Chris makes these every year for her family and she advised that the recipe is from Gourmet and can be found on Epicurius.com.
I made these for my cousin’s Christmas party and they were a big hit. I made some substitutions to suit our tastes better and to use what I had on hand. Since I didn’t have a food processor I had to use my mini chopper which was an attachment of my immersion blender. When I tried to chop the dried figs in the mini chopper, the clutch piece broke. Then I cut the dried figs in small pieces by hand and tried to chop them with the immersion blender attachment but a bunch of the pieces went flying all over, some landing in my hair. So I discarded the pieces that flew out of the bowl and soaked the rest of them in brandy to soften them a little bit. After a while the fig pieces softened enough to chop them with the immersion blender attachment (I covered the top of the bowl so no more of them escaped during chopping). That worked, for the most part, until the motor burnt out but by that time the figs were chopped well enough. I’ve included instructions to soften the dried figs before chopping them, so the same thing doesn’t happen to you and it’s best if you use a food processor or blender to chop the figs.
I even considered buying fig paste for these cookies instead of chopping the figs myself. I looked online and once I saw that there was a standard for bug pieces in the paste – one even said the number of bug heads that were acceptable (eeew!) – I decided I needed to get a food processor.
These take a little time but they’re so totally worth it.
Cucidati (Italian Fig Cookies)
Yield: 6 dozen Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
Filling:
- 1 cup (packed) soft dried Mission figs (8 ounces), hard tips discarded (I substituted Kalamata dried figs)
- 3/4 cup raisins (3 3/4 ounces)
- 3/4 cup mild honey
- 1/2 cup brandy, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh orange zest (I substituted dried orange peel)
- 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh lemon zest (I substituted 2 teaspoons dried orange peel)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 3/4 cup (4 ounces) blanched, slivered almonds, coarsely chopped
- 3/4 cup (3 ounces) walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 6 fun size Hershey chocolate bars broken into individual pips (individual rectangle of Hershey Chocolate), optional
Dough:
- 4 cups flour
- 1 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange or lemon zest (I substituted dried orange peel)
Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract (optional)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water
- Nonpareils
Step 1: For the filling: To soften the figs, cut them into evenly sized pieces (about 1/8th’s of each fig). Add the cut figs to a small sauce pan. Cover figs with 1/4 cup brandy and set aside for an hour. Transfer the small sauce pan to the cook-top, heat on low for a few minutes to heat through, stirring occasionally. Remove figs from heat and cover for a half hour or until the figs have become much softer. Let the mixture cool to about room temperature.
Step 2: Add figs and raisins to a food processor, chop finely. Transfer fig mixture to a medium bowl and mix well with the remaining ingredients. Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Step 3: Dough: In a large bowl combine the first four ingredients. Add cold butter and cut butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or pulse in the food processor until the mix looks like coarse meal. Stir in the remaining ingredients until a dough forms. Halve the dough and create two balls. Shape each into a 4 by 6 inch rectangle. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Step 4: Assembly: Remove one dough and place on a clean, well floured work area. Flour your rolling pin. Roll into a 14 by 15 inch rectangle. Trim dough to 10 by 13 inches. Return trimmings to the refrigerator. Cut the dough along the 13 inch side into 4 equal 10 inch strips (3 1/4 inches wide). Divide the filling into 9 equal portions (1/3 cup each). Form each of the first 4 filling portions into 1 by 10 inch logs in the center of each dough strip. Using a bench scraper to lift the edges of each dough strip to wrap around the filling and pinch at the top to completely seal. Flour a knife and cut each roll into 8 equal pieces (1 1/4 inch wide rolls). Transfer rolls, seam side down (1/2 inch apart) to a parchment lined baking sheet and press to flattened pinched seam. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 to 20 minutes until beginning to turn lightly golden on the edges. Repeat for remaining dough rectangle. Roll trimmings to create one more 10 by 3 1/4 inch strip and repeat. After the filling is finished, roll remaining dough scraps, cut into similar pieces and fill each with a Hershey’s chocolate pip and fold dough over into little pillows. Bake as other cookies. Cool all cookies for 10 minutes.
Step 5: Icing: Mix together powdered sugar, vanilla, orange extract and enough water to make a loose frosting. Paint the tops of the cookies with icing and sprinkle with nonpareils. Cool completely.
Tips: Filling can be made a week ahead of time. Dough can be made three days ahead of time. Store cooled cookies at room temperature in a sealed plastic container for a week or more until ready to serve.
Enjoy!!!
Recipe adapted from Italian Fig Cookies on Epicurious.com originally from Gourmet.
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These look good! Thanks for sharing and linking up with me!
So delicious! I love the idea of making a homemade fig cookie!! Thanks for sharing at Freedom Fridays – pinned and sharing on Facebook! 🙂
Oh these cookies look so yummy, you just made me want to eat them right now.
Good move on skipping the fig paste—yikes! These cookies look wonderful!
I just love fig cookies these look delicious. Thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and have a great weekend.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Figs are so delicious. This is a great way to use them. Thanks for sharing at The Weekend Social. Please come by and link up again Thursday 9:00 PM EST. Pinned! http://www.theKitchenChopper.com
WOW, so much yum factor here! Thank you so much for linking up at Snickerdoodle Sunday- hope to see you again later this week!
Sarah (Sadie Seasongoods)
What a great recipe! Thanks for sharing it with us at the Home Matters Linky Party. I hope you will party with us again this Friday. #HomeMattersParty
~Bonnie
These sound really good!
Thanks for joining the Link Up this week!
These look so amazing – I love fig cookies. Pinning this to for future use. Thank you for sharing at Share It One More Time. Cathy
Thanks for sharing your delicious cookie recipe with us at Together on Tuesdays!!!!
These look yummy! Thanks for sharing on Throwback Thursday.
These look so yummy and tasty. Thanks for sharing over at the Snickerdoodle Sunday.
Sounds great! Thanks for sharing on Tasty Tuesdays!
I have been tempted to make these so many times, but never have gotten around to it. Yours look so beautiful and I am sure they were delicious!
I want one right now – they look so delicious & cute! I found your lovely blog on Together on Tuesdays blog hop.
Thanks
Angie
PS – I also wanted to invite you to hop on board the Great Bog Train (blog hop) – we are traveling to GREECE this month!: http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/2015/01/the-great-blog-train-25-giveaway.html
These sound tasty, I always enjoyed fig rolls as a kid (which I think are called fig newtons in the US), but these look better!
These cookies look so festive! Thanks for stopping by and sharing this on Five Friday Finds! I’m looking forward to what you share this week. 🙂
Yum!! These look delicious. I love figs! Thanks so much for linking it up with us at Motivational Monday this week! Hope to see you back again next week! 🙂
Thanks for sharing this yummy looking post at Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party Link Up. I pinned this post 🙂
These look delicious! Thanks for sharing them at Inspire Me Monday at Create With Joy!
How yummy, I love figs and these cookies look wonderful. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!! Laura@Baking in Pyjamas
Hi, Annamaria! Growing up in New Orleans with large Sicilian communities, these were very popular, especially on St Joseph Day Altars. I had forgotten all about them! Thank you for the memories and for sharing. My husband picked these cookies to feature at tonight’s party.
Hello cute lady! This looks so amazing. I would love some right now. Pinned and tweeted. We appreciate you taking the time to stop by and party with us. It wouldn’t be a party without you! I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm. Lou Lou Girls
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I can definitely understand why you chop your own figs for these delicious cookies after reading your post! They really do look worth every bit of work though – your Cucidati are gorgeous! Pinned and will tweet. Thank you for sharing with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop, Annamaria.
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Yum! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!
My husband is crazy about Fig Newtons. I’m sure they are so much better.
Just came back to let you know I’m testing out a weekly email with links to all the week’s recipes. I’ll send one out tomorrow morning, so hope you receive it 🙂 Hope you have a terrific weekend!
My fig tree is bare right now, but I may just have to fight the raccoons to sang enough figs to give this cookie a try! The fig bars look incredible. Please come share your blog posts at the Home Matters Linky Party! We’ love to have you for a visit. The Door is OPEN. http://lifewithlorelai.com/2015/01/22/home-matters-linky-party-21/
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
Oh my goodness! Another favorite Italian favorite of mine! This is almost exactly like my family’s recipe! I am definitely going to start following your blog because I just keep finding such wonderful recipes!
Wishing you a fabulous Thursday! 😉
Much love,
Lysa
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