These traditional Italian cookies (sometimes called cucidati, cuddureddi, or buccellati) are usually made for Christmas, but why not make them for Half-Christmas (June 25th) instead! They are like an upscale version of a Fig Newton, with citrus undertones and lots of spice. This recipe makes about four to five dozen, and takes at least ten hours to make, so milk that time investment for all the sympathy and appreciation you can get while folks are enjoying the fruits of your labor. (It’ll be your secret that eight hours of that time is just chilling your dough and filling.)
Ingredients
Filling
- 1-1/2 cups Soft Dried Figs
- 3/4 cup Golden Raisins
- 3/4 cup Honey
- 1/4 cup Orange Juice
- 1-1/2 tsp. Finely Grated Orange Zest
- 1 tsp. Finely Grated Lemon Zest
- 1 tbsp. Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. Allspice
- 1 cup Walnuts, Coarsely Chopped
Pastry Dough
- 4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1-1/4 cup White Sugar
- 1 tbsp. Baking Powder
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 2 Sticks (1 cup) Cold Unsalted Butter
- 2 Large Eggs, Lightly Beaten
- 1/2 cup Whole Milk
- 1/4 cup Orange Juice
- 1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp. Orange Extract
Icing
- 1-1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 2-3 tbsp. Orange Juice
- Garnish: Nonpareils or Decorative Sugar
Directions
- Pulse figs and raisins in a food processor until finely chopped.
- Add honey, orange juice, orange zest, lemon zest, cinnamon, and allspice, and pulse until well combined.
- Transfer fig mixture to a bowl and add walnuts.
- Mix walnuts into fig mixture until well combined.
- Refrigerate filling for at least 8 hours.
- While filling is chilling (Hey, I made a rhyme there!) blend together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer.
- Add butter one tablespoon at a time, and blend until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add eggs, milk, orange juice, vanilla, and orange extract, and mix until a soft dough forms.
- Divide dough in half, and form into two balls.
- Flatten each ball, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate dough for at least 8 hours.
- When dough and filling have finished chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line baking sheets with foil, and spray with cooking spray.
- On a heavily floured surface, roll out a piece of dough about the size of a fist into a rectangle about 4-1/2 to 5 inches wide. Dough should be about 1/8-inch thick.
- Trim dough into a 4-inch wide strip, and set discarded dough aside.
- With your hands, form scoops of filling into 1-inch wide snakes (Yes, this is messy. Just channel your inner-toddler.) and place lengthwise down center of the dough strip.
- Fold one side of the dough strip up over the filling.
- Wet your hands, and gently dampen the edge of the dough you just folded over.
- Fold the other side of the strip up over the filling, slightly overlapping the first fold of dough, and gently press the edges of the dough together.
- Using a sharp knife, trim the ends to reveal filling, and cut 1-1/2 inch pieces from the dough log.
- Place on prepared baking sheets, seam-side-down, and gently press down.
- Make more cookies until all dough and filling has been used. (Note: The dough trimmings may be re-rolled one time. After that, it gets a bit tough. Just take a deep breath, and realize it’s OK if some of the dough goes to waste.)
- Bake on center rack of preheated oven until golden around edges, about 17 to 20 minutes.
- Make icing while first batch of cookies bake, by whisking together powdered sugar, vanilla, and enough orange juice to make a pourable icing. Set aside.
- Transfer baked cookies to baking racks and cool until slightly warm, about 10 to 20 minutes.
- Place a layer of parchment paper or foil under baking racks. (The icing will drip, and the nonpareils will scatter a bit, and this will save you a lot of clean up time!)
- Using a large pastry brush, brush icing on warm cookies and decorate with nonpareils or decorative sugar.
- Allow to cool completely on baking rack.
- Store cookies (layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment paper) in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. (Don’t worry – There won’t be any left after one day, let alone one week!)