Italian Fig Cookies (Cucidati) Recipe
Flavorful, moist, tender Italian Fig Cookie filled with dried fruit and hints of citrus. A Christmas cookie must every year!
Servings: 80 appx
Calories: 79kcal
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter cold and cut into small pieces
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup milk
Fig Filling
- 1 cup pecans rough chopped
- 8 oz dried figs stemmed and roughly chopped
- 5 oz dates pitted and roughly chopped
- 4 oz dark raisins
- 1 small orange zest
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup warm water Up to 1/3 cup
Instructions
Dough
- Pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Add the cold butter pieces and pulse again.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. Process until the dough just starts to combine (like pie dough). Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until it comes together completely and looks smooth.
- Divide the dough into four equal pieces and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
Filling
- Place the dried figs, dates, pecans, raisins, and orange zest in the food processor. Give it a couple of pulses to start grinding the fruit.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
- Add the water and sugar mixture to the food processor and pulse until it grinds everything and comes together.
- Place in an air-tight container and refrigerate for at least overnight or longer.
Forming and Baking
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Form the fig filling into ropes about the size of your little finger. To make it easier form all the filling and place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Using only one dough round at a time (leave the remaining dough refrigerated) on a well-floured surface, knead the dough a few times until it becomes smooth, roll the dough out fairly thin, about 1/8 inch thick.
- Trim the rough edges from the dough, place a rope on the dough edge. Lift the outer edge and start rolling it over the filling. Roll it completely over and trim it off. Place the seam side down.
- Slice each strip on the diagonal into about 1-inch pieces and place them on the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until the tops a light golden and bottoms are browned. Watch them closely, all ovens are different. You may need to rotate the baking sheets for even browning.
- Allow them to cool on the pan for about 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
If you would like to double this recipe we have found you will need to double the filling and triple the dough.
Both the dough and filling can be refrigerated for days! I have made them as much as a week before baking.
Storage - Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container or bag at room temperature for up to 3 weeks. (These keep a really long time I'm almost embarrassed to tell you how long we have had them stay fresh) Freezing - Freeze completely cooled cookies (unfrosted) in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Calories: 79kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 18mg | Potassium: 67mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 46IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg