Sicilian Fig Cookies Buccellati Recipes

Steps:

• Dough: In a food processor, pulse together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and pulse until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Add eggs, 1 tablespoon milk, vanilla, and orange zest; pulse until a dough forms. If dough seems dry, add remaining 1 tablespoon milk.
• Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a rectangle, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Filling: In a food processor, pulse together figs, raisins, honey, brandy, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, orange zest, vanilla, and salt until a thick paste forms. Transfer paste to a bowl and stir in pecans. Measure a heaping 1/4 cup of filling, place on a piece of plastic wrap, and roll into a log about 10 inches long. Freeze until firm. Repeat process with remaining filling (you should have 10 logs).
• Working with one rectangle of dough at a time, place dough on a lightly floured sheet of parchment. Roll out dough to a 15-by-10-inch rectangle, a scant 1/4 inch thick. Transfer parchment to a baking sheet; refrigerate 30 minutes. Repeat process with remaining dough.
• Cut each rectangle of dough crosswise into five 3-inch-wide strips. Position one strip of dough on work surface with long sides parallel to edge of work surface. Place one log of filling along the upper edge of the long side of each strip. Fold remaining dough over filling to enclose. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, seam-side down. Refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes. Repeat process with remaining dough and filling.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut logs into 2-inch pieces. Using a paring knife, make 2 cuts on one side of each piece, being careful not to cut all the way through. Shape each piece into a crescent, with the cuts on the outside of the crescent. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake, rotating halfway through, until bottoms are brown and tops are light golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
• Glaze: Whisk together egg whites and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a very small round tip. Pipe glaze over cookies; let stand until set. Glazed cookies can be stored in an airtight container, between sheets of parchment, at room temperature up to 2 days.

Steps:

• To make Pastry: Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter, eggs, vanilla and milk. Stir into a smooth dough. Remove dough from bowl and shape into a circle. Cut into 4 equal pieces, wrap in plastic and chill.
• To make the Filling: Use the zest and juice of the orange and place in large bowl. Mix in figs, raisins and nuts. Process in food processor until evenly chopped. Stir in honey, rum and cinnamon, and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• Remove dough from refrigerator. Roll one piece of dough at a time into an 8-inch wide strip about 1/4-inch thick. Cut lengthwise in half, forming two long strips, each about 4 inches wide. Lay strips on work surface. Brush top inch of each with cold water. About 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the dough, place 1/4 of the filling in a 1-inch wide strip, running from end to end. Fold the moistened edge of the dough over the filling and press to seal edges. Cut each strip into 1-inch rectangles and place on cookie sheets. Repeat with remaining sections of dough.
• Bake 13 to 16 minutes, or until tops are golden. Let cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks.

Steps:

• Directions:.
• Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Run the blade a few times to mix.
• Add the butter to the bowl and pulse to combine. Add the eggs, and run the blade until forming a consistent dough.
• Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and wrap in a plastic foil. Place in the refrigerator.
• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the figs, raisins, candied orange, almonds, chocolate, apricot preserve, rum, cinnamon, and cloves. Pulse the blade until a smooth compound is obtained.
• Transfer the fig paste to a bowl.
• Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
• Prepare the egg wash by beating the eggs with a pinch of salt.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and unwrap it on a floured work surface. Add a small quantity of flour. Knead the dough to make it soft and smooth.
• Cut the dough into 10 - 12 pieces. With the help of a rolling pin, flatten each piece into a rectangle approximately 3 x 15 inch (7 x 35 cm).
• Brush the egg wash on the dough.
• Place approximately 1/3 cup of filling in the center of the rectangle lengthwise.
• Take one edge of the dough and bring it over the filling to form a roll.
• With the palm of your hands roll the cylinder to make it even.
• Cut the roll into 4-5 pieces approximately 3 - 4 inch (8 - 10 cm) long. Set them aside. Continue forming the rolls until all the dough and the filling are used.
• Using a sharp knife, cut 4 - 5 diagonal incisions on the surface of the rolls. You can also cut straight incisions on the surface of the rolls, and curve the cookies in a "U" shape.
• Transfer the rolls to 3 cookie pans lined with parchment paper.
• Brush the surface with the remaining egg wash.
• Optionally sprinkle with multicolored nonpareil.
• Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. Transfer onto racks to cool.

Steps:

• For cookie dough, sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
• Add sugar and stir well.
• Cut in the shortening with a fork or pastry blender and work the mixture until it looks like corn meal.
• In a bowl, beat egg, vanilla and milk together.
• Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes until well blended; dough will be soft.
• (The original recipe says to knead the mixture for 5 minutes on a floured surface, but I find my Kitchen-Aid works great for this step!) Divide the dough into four pieces and wrap each piece with plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate dough for 45 minutes.
• To make the filling, grind figs, dates and raisins in a food processor until coarse.
• (If you don't have a food processor, you can chop by hand until coarse) Place chopped figs, dates and raisins in a bowl.
• Add remaining filling ingredients and mix well.
• (Mixture will be thick) Set aside mixture.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Work with one piece of dough at a time, leaving the other pieces of dough in the refrigerator until needed.
• On a floured surface (I often use confectioner's sugar for rolling my dough), roll the dough to a 12-inch square.
• Cut dough into 2X3-inch rectangles.
• Spoon about 1 teaspoon of filling onto each rectangle.
• Carefully fold the long edges over to meet in the center and pinch to seal seam.
• Place each cookie, seam side down, on a baking sheet, making sure you leave at least 1-2 inches between each cookie.
• Make 2 or 3 diagonal slits on the top of each cookie with a sharp knife.
• Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until cookies are golden in color.
• Remove from oven and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
• For icing, place confectioner's sugar in a bowl.
• Add just a little water or milk, until you get a smooth consistency- but not runny!
• Ice the tops of each cookie and sprinkle with colored sprinkle.
• Let icing dry completely before stacking!
• Store in air-tight containers up to 2 weeks.

Steps:

• FIG FILLING:.
• Remove stems from figs. Rinse thoroughly in warm water to soften. Drain.
• Season figs with cinnamon, mixing thoroughly. Coat with honey, then add orange zest and black pepper, blending thoroughly. Grind fig mixture, using an electric meat grinder (not a food processor), to a fine texture.
• After mixture is ground, mix thoroughly to blend all ingredients. Separate into 1- or 2-pound packages, wrapped in plastic food wrap and sealed in plastic bags. (Keep several weeks, refrigerated, or freeze for up to 6 months.
• CUCCIADATA DOUGH:.
• Add shortening to flour and blend (by hand or food processor) to a cornmeal texture.
• In another bowl, add warm water (not boiling) to sugar to dissolve. Gradually add sugar/water to flour mixture, blending until dough forms a ball. If dough is too dry, gradually add more water as needed. Cover and let dough rest for 10 minutes.
• Separate dough into workable-sized balls, about 3 inches across. Knead each ball to a smooth texture and return to bowl. Cover again; let dough rest several more minutes.
• Roll a 2-inch ball of dough to the thickness of pie pastry. Cut dough into strips about 4 inches wide by 12 inches long. Shape a piece of the fig filling into a rope about ½ inch wide and 12 inches long. Center the rope on a strip of pastry. Fold sides of pastry over filling, overlapping dough slightly. Turn over with seam side down and pat lightly to flatten.
• With a sharp small knife, cut the rope at an angle into 1-inch long bars, cutting slits in sides and one on top to allow for thorough cooking. Place on cookie sheets. Bake in a preheated 250-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes, until cookies are slightly browned on the bottom only.
• Allow to cool before icing.
• ICING:.
• Add almond flavoring to milk and gradually blend into sugar, mixing to a smooth paste. Icing should be the texture of heavy cream.
• Working over a small bowl, spoon icing onto each (cooled) cookie. Let excess drip into the bowl. Let cookie dry slightly before sprinkling with colored non-pareils.
• Cookies must dry completely before packaging.

Steps:

• Place the figs in a bowl and pour boiling water over them; let them sit for at least 15 minutes to soften. Drain figs and remove the stems with a sharp knife before chopping roughly. Place in a food processor and blitz until you have a paste, then transfer to a bowl. Place the walnuts and pistachios in the food processor and chop finely but still a little rough; don't go too far to turn this into a paste too. Add to the figs, along with the rest of the filling ingredients. Combine well and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours at least, but better overnight to let the flavors develop. For the pastry: Place first four ingredients in a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture (or pulse in a food processor) until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and yolk and combine until you have a smooth dough. If it is a little too sticky, add a small amount of flour until it no longer sticks to your hands. If it's dry or crumbly, add some cold water, a little at a time until it comes together. Wrap firmly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rest and chill, at least 1 hour but better overnight. To assemble: Cut the chilled dough into 4 to 6 smaller portions and work one portion at a time (keeping the others wrapped in plastic and chilled). Roll first into a sausage shape, then flatten and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a long rectangle, no more than an 1/8-inch thick. Place filling along the middle of the rectangle lengthways in a long, thin log shape, no more than an inch wide. Roll the pastry around it to enclose completely, overlapping just a little bit. Trim off the extra pastry. Roll the log gently with the palms of your hands to seal the edges and tighten/lengthen the log ever so slightly. Cut 3-inch pieces of the log with a diagonal cut. (It helps if both the pastry and the filling are chilled, so if possible, work a bit at a time and keep chilled anything that you are not using). Prepare a baking sheet lined with baking paper. To make an X shape, use a very sharp knife to cut about 1 1/4-inch incision from top and bottom of the logs (leaving about 3/4 inch uncut in the middle) and separate gently to form an 'X'. To make an arch, make 1/2-inch incisions along the side of the log, then gently bend to form into an arch. Place cookies on baking sheet and bake at 350º F (180º C) for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the pastry is just beginning to turn golden. Remove from the oven and let cool. In the meantime, prepare the glaze (if using). With a fork, beat the whites until they become frothy. Add the 2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar until you have a smooth paste the consistency of honey. Add more sugar if not thick enough and, if necessary, you can strain the mixture through a sieve again to make it perfectly smooth. Spoon or brush the glaze over the tops of the cookies and either leave as they are or top with a pinch of chopped pistachios or colored sprinkles. You could also simply dust with confectioner's sugar. Place the glazed cookies back on the baking tray and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until the glaze feels dry and set. Let cool completely before serving. Keep in an airtight container.