My friends Mark and Bruce at Real Food Has Curves have been creating again – this time it’s these fabulous fig cookies. They’re ludicrously delicious and great fun to make.
Here is my take on their recipe – I had to adjust a few things to account for the lack of certain ingredients here, and I’ve also converted them to metric measurements. For more details and photos, please check out the original post here.
Click here for a printable version of this recipe
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Filling (make this the day before):
- 450g dried Persian or Turkish figs (I used a mix of mostly Persian figs and a few glace figs leftover from Christmas)
- 225g raisins
- 165g light brown sugar
- 85ml lemon juice
- 85ml water
- 45ml brandy
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1. If the figs are very hard and dry (like mine were), soak them briefly in boiling water, then drain well. Pulse all the dried fruit together in a large food processor until the mixture gathers together and forms a ball of fruit mince.
2. Turn this into a heavy based pan and add the remaining ingredients. Stir constantly over a medium heat until the mixture bubbles, the liquid evaporates and the filling cooks down to a paste-like consistency. Scrape the filling into a bowl and allow to cool, then cover with cling film and chill in the fridge overnight.
Dough:
- 225g plain flour
- 225g bread or bakers flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder, sifted
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 55g light brown sugar
- 150g white sugar
- 3 large (59g) eggs, at room temperature
1. Take the eggs out of the fridge and leave them on the bench before you start. Also take the filling out of the fridge as well. Preheat the oven to 200C (I used 190C with fan) and line a large baking sheet with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt.
3. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. The mix needs a really good beating at this point, so let the machine go at full speed for several minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating each one until fully incorporated before adding the next.
5. Turn the mixer off and add all the flour at once. Turn the mixer onto low and mix until just combined – do not overbeat at this stage or the cookies will be tough.
Assembly:
1. Gather the dough into a ball and divide it into three parts. Between two sheets of parchment, roll out a third of the dough into a rectangle approximately 30cm x 13cm. Carefully lift off the top sheet of parchment.
2. Spread a third of the filling over the centre of the dough, spreading it out carefully to within 2cm of the edge. Now using the parchment paper, fold the top of the dough over the filling, then fold the bottom over to seal the dough into a long tube. Seal the ends of the tube and carefully turn the log onto the lined tray, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Make sure you leave some room between the logs, as they’ll expand a bit during baking.
3. Bake for 15 – 18 minutes, until light golden brown. Allow the rolls to cool on the tray for 15 minutes, then on a wire rack for a further couple of hours . Once the rolls are completely cold, they’re much easier to slice without cracking.
4. Using a long, thin knife, slice the cooled rolls into 2cm pieces. Now find some neighbours to share them with!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
ooohh you made them! They look fab. You could almost convince yourself that they are a health food item and eat them all day long…. :)
Now this I must try sometime, perhaps around Christmas when dried figs are readily available everywhere. Fig Roll biscuits are a favourite in our house: we eat a packet at one sitting, no problem! I am sure that home made will be so much better!
h/e
I was drooling over these on Real Food has Curves. The more I see, the more I want! I’m sure they have my name etched all over them- yep, in really big letters. Trouble is I know I would end up eating them all as my husband has a unique taste of not liking dried fruit. Crazy I know.
They look lovely Celia.
Thank you all!
SG, they’re a little too easy to eat!
CHFG, I made three logs and froze one yesterday as a test. Defrosted it this afternoon, and it was fine – so you could probably make it and freeze a couple of the logs for later use. I froze my log after baking but before slicing.
These look lovely. I wish I’d found this recipe when I made some a while back, as these look much better. Cutting into pieces after baking gives the right look too – most recipes cut before baking.
Ahh wonderful Celia. I saw something similar posted somewhere I can no longer remember a few months ago and thought I had to try these – then forgot. Figgy oggies, as we used to call them are something I associate nostalgically with childhood. I do love figs though and the biscuit mix sounds good, so I really would like to try making these.
Oooh are these like those spicy fruit rolls? They look quite similar and I love them so I’m intrigued! :)
A few weeks ago my friend referred me to your site and I really enjoy it!
I got a recognition award from a fellow blogger yesterday. Very Nice. I was asked to pass it on to other bloggers I like. You are on the list. Check out the posting at my blog, Global Table…
Sasha
Wow, thanks Sasha! :)
I might have to sneak down and make these in the middle of the night when the fig hater is not around. Those photos are so good, I feel I could just reach out and grab one!!!!
Suelle, it’s a great recipe Mark and Bruce have concocted, and the crumb is perfect. It’s a bit shortbready, which is surprising given that there’s not that much butter in it! Actually, come to think of it, it’s a bit like a fruit mince pie…
Choclette, I love that – figgy oggies!
Lorraine, that’s it! Thank you, I couldn’t remember the name of those biscuits. It’s reminiscent of a spicy fruit roll, but much chunkier and figgier. :)
Jo, thank you – can’t believe that man of yours won’t eat figs. It wouldn’t be the same, but I guess you could try and make it from other dried fruit? As I said in a comment above, if you do make them, you could probably freeze your excess logs uncut – ours defrosted perfectly (although it was only frozen for one day – the ones I left out were eaten far quicker than anticipated!). :)
I am not sure if you need to know this but Fig Rolls are a rather low-fat and full of energy treat in Ireland. I always brought them hiking and we still buy them regularly. But your ones are knocking spots off the store bought ones!
‘How do Jacobs get the figs into the fig rolls?’ was the advertising slogan when I was a kid. The ad featured a robber trying to steal the secret.
Gillian, you’re right, I probably don’t need any excuse to eat more of them.. :)
My friend Jo sent me this link about different fig cookies – I can see what your Jacobs rolls look like now! :)
http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/biscuits/fig/
My word … I never knew there were so many diff takes on the basic Fig Roll. Yours still beat them by miles :-)
I have some dried persian figs…..hmmmm. They look delish!
Heeey, she’s back! Hope you had a great trip, Oz! The Persian figs are fine – I used them because that’s what I had in the fridge, but I’ve bought Turkish for the next batch, and I’m sure they’ll be better. The Persian were very dry and needed soaking…
Yours look divine–and I’m going to have to try them with butter next time around. I had them for breakfast one morning with a latte. It was dunking bliss.
Mark, I’ve already been out to buy more figs. I can’t resist these, they’re sooo moreish! Thank you both for such a great recipe!