My Italian fig cookies recipe is here to round out your holiday cookies! Looking for that last treat to give a hearty, deep pop of fruit flavor? Looking for iconic Italian cookies? These Cucidati are perfect! Are you saving that final spot on your Christmas cookies tray for something truly special? Look no further than this delicious bite of food!
Italian cookie recipes are notorious for bringing the best ingredients with the most decadent cookie techniques. Don’t feel overwhelmed by this recipe! I’m here to guide you.
Try my Amaretti Cookies and Italian Christmas Cookies, too!
Let’s get baking up some delicious cookies!
What I Love About Italian Fig Cookies Recipe
From the soft cookie dough to the hearty filling, every bite of this Italian fig cookies recipe sings with Christmas cheer!
- Age-old recipe
- Tried-and-true
- Old world charm
- Flavorful filling!
Sicilian Fig Cookies Recipe Notes
This Italian fig cookies recipe may seem daunting at first, but trust me, the final result is well worth it! In the meantime, I’m here to calm your cookie fears. Consider me the cookie equivalent of the Butterball Turkey Hotline!
Mission Figs:Â What exactly is a dried mission fig? This is the most popular type of fig grown in the US. It’s great for all types of baking that call for figs, bringing that iconic deep fig flavor! But be sure to cut off the stem of your dried figs — that is definitely not good eating!
Soak: With all this dried fruit, it seems counterintuitive to add liquid and rehydrate it, doesn’t it? Actually, the opposite! Adding liquid to dried fruit reconstitutes it without fully bringing it back to fresh fruit, so you retain all that deep, hearty dried flavor.
Brandy:Â This recipe tastes positively perfect with brandy on the dried fruit, but if you don’t want to do with the alcohol, you can always swap the brandy 1:1 with apple juice.
Butter:Â So many pastries call for butter — ever wonder why? Butter works miracles to the dough in the cooking process. It brings delicious flavor, of course, but it also releases steam and contributes to the rise and texture of the dough. When a recipe calls for unsalted, room temperature butter, listen! Your cookies will be better for it.
Ingredients You’ll Need
FILLING:
- soft dried Missions figs, stems removed
- raisins
- honey
- brandy
- finely grated orange zest
- lemon zest
- ground cinnamon
- ground cloves
- ground nutmeg
- almonds
- walnuts
PASTRY:
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- unsalted butter
- eggs
- whole milk
- vanilla extract
- finely grated orange zest
Icing:
- confectioners’ sugar
- vanilla extract
- milk
- fine orange zest
STORING + FREEZING + MAKE AHEAD
- Storage: Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
- Can You Freeze This? Yes! My Italian fig cookies recipe gives you some deliciously freezer-friendly treats. I always prefer cookies straight out of the freezer, especially ones with filling! Be sure to store your cookies in an airtight container, and you’ll get up to eight months of yum out of your cookies!
- And the quality of your filling will be just fine after being frozen. Luckily, dried fruit is extremely hearty, and can take any storage you throw at it!
- BUT, I will say that if you are planning to store this in the freezer, avoid putting the icing on. This icing contains milk, and dairy is known to be a bit wonky in the cold temperatures.
- Make-Ahead: Like many Christmas cookie recipes, the dough in this is make-ahead magic! Follow the steps, and when you have a finished dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to three months or the fridge for two days.When you’re ready to bake, thaw your Italian fig cookie dough, and finish the recipe!
- You can also make the fig filling in advance too. Some fruit cake recipes have been known to soak dried fruit in alcohol for up to three months! You don’t need to go that extreme, but you can definitely get a few days out of your fig mixture.
More Italian Christmas Cookies
Italian Fig Cookies
Ingredients
FILLING:
- 1 cup soft dried Missions figs, stems removed
- 3/4 cup raisins
- 3/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cup whole almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
- 3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
PASTRY:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
Icing:
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon fine orange zest
Instructions
Make Filling:
- In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with a metal blade, pulse together figs and raisins until finely chopped. Add the remaining filling ingredients and pulse just to combine. Transfer filling to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours to overnight.
Make Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some pea-sized lumps.
- Using a large fork, mix in eggs, milk, vanilla, and orange zest until soft dough forms.
- Divide the dough in half and form 2 balls. Place each ball of dough between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using your hands, flatten dough into a rough 6X4 inch rectangle. Chill until firm, at minimum 8 hours.
Make Cookies:
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
- On a well floured surface, roll one ball of dough (keep second ball in fridge) into a rough rectangle, about 15X14 inches. Trim into 13X10 inch rectangle. Save and chill trimmings. Cut trimmed rectangle into 4- 10X3X1/4 inch thick strips.
- Spread 1/3 cup of the filling lengthwise down the center of each strip, in a 1-inch wide log. Fold the sides over the filling then pinch the seam together to seal. Turn rolls over, seam side down, and gently press rolls down to flatten seams and form an elongated log, flat on the bottom and domed on top, like the shape of a biscotti.
- Using a floured knife, slice cut logs crosswise into slices just over 1 inch thick. Place cookies flat side down on prepared baking sheets 1/2 inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
- Bake cookies one sheet at a time in the preheated oven until edges are golden, about 16-20 minutes. Allow cookies to cool 2-3 minutes on cookies sheets then transfer to a wire rack to cool until warm, about 5 minutes.
Icing:
- While the first batch of cookies bakes in the oven, make the glaze. Whisk together confectioners' sugar, vanilla, 2 tablespoons milk, and orange zest until smooth. Add more milk, slowly as needed to make glaze thick but pourable.
- Spoon glaze over warm cookies and sprinkle with nonpareils. Cool completely. Cookies can be stored, layered between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container for 1 week or frozen for 1 month.
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In the instructions it said to roll each half into a 6X4 inch rectangle. Then it said to cut into 4- 10 X3 3/4 inch strips out of the 6X4 inch rectangles of dough. The instructions are confusing. Can you clarify that step. I wanted to bake these for the holidays. They look delicious!
Hi Ines. Sorry about the confusion. I rewrote the instructions with more detail. I think they’re much clearer. Thanks for pointing out to me the issue! Happy holidays
Since you rehydrate the figs anyway, is there some way to use fresh figs at the start? If so, how do I know how many to use? Thank you!