FRESH FIG COOKIES – Recipe by Piero Benigni & Mama’s Italian cooking – These fragrant and delicious cookies are really easy to prepare (one hour) and everybody likes them. They are both a delicious snack and a fine after-meal dessert.
Ingredients for about 24 cookies
- 320 gfigs (sweet and ripe, 11 oz)
- 1egg
- 60 gsugar (3 Tbsp, 2 oz)
- 200 gflour (7 oz, approximate weight)
- 45 gseed oil (1 1/2 oz)
- 2 spoonsicing sugar
- 1 teaspoonbaking powder (1/4 oz)
- Halforange (grated zest)
- 40 gwalnut kernels (or almonds, chopped, 1 1/2 oz)
Tools for the fresh fig cookies
- Pan
- Wooden Spoon
- Knife
- Scale
- Baking paper
- Baking Tray
- Bowl or stand mixer
- Fork
Preparation of fresh fig cookies
Cooking figs
Put figs in a non-stick 24 cm (9″) pan, add 20 g of sugar (1 heaping tablespoon), put on low to medium heat. When they start releasing water mix and mash with a fork. Continue cooking, mashing and stirring until dry and turned into a very thick paste. It will take 20 to 30 minutes. Before they become too thick, taste and if mixture is not sweet enough add 1 o 2 tablespoons sugar. Turn off flame and let cool down.
Preparing and baking cookies
MIXING WITH A STAND MIXER
Put egg and remaining sugar (40 g or 2 Tbsp) in the bowl and beat 2 minutes. Add seed oil (I recommend corn or sunflower), chopped walnuts or almonds, 1 tsp baking powder, 150 g (5 oz) of flour and grate the zest of a half organic orange. Mix at speed 2 for 1 minute, add fig dough, mix again then start adding flour, one tablespoon at a time, until dough is thick and just slightly sticking to fingers.
MIXING WITH ELECTRIC WHISK OR BY HAND
Put egg and sugar in a bowl, beat 2 minutes. Add ingredients as said above. Mix with electric whisk until possible, then go on by hand in the bowl or on the pastry board. Alternatively entirely mix by hand.
FORMING COOKIES
Spread 2 tbsp icing sugar on a dish. Take dough with 1 or 2 teaspoons, form a small ball, drop on sugar. Try to make ball the same size, ok if you get 22-24 of them. S you cas see in photo, I’m using an ice-cream dispenser with very small cup.
Put baking paper on baking pan. Grease palms with some drops oil, take a ball at a time, roll on sugar, put between palms and roll until stiff and round. Hit it giving the form of a pat and put on paper. Try to make them all the same thickness.
Put in not air-assisted oven at 170-180 °C (340 °F), heat above and below, position halfway up. Bake for 20 minutes or until brown, surface is cracked as in photo and quite resistant if crushed. Turn off oven and let cookies cool down for 30 minutes in the oven with door ajar.
Serve sprinkled with some icing sugar. These cookies last several days, specially if locked up…