Cucidati (italian Fig Cookies)

Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup dried fig
• 1 cup dried dates, pitted
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• water or milk
• colored sprinkles

Recipe

• 1 for cookie dough, sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
• 2 add sugar and stir well.
• 3 cut in the shortening with a fork or pastry blender and work the mixture until it looks like corn meal.
• 4 in a bowl, beat egg, vanilla and milk together.
• 5 add egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes until well blended; dough will be soft.
• 6 (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.
• 7 refrigerate dough for 45 minutes.
• 8 to make the filling, grind figs, dates and raisins in a food processor until coarse.
• 9 (if you don't have a food processor, you can chop by hand until coarse) place chopped figs, dates and raisins in a bowl.
• 10 add remaining filling ingredients and mix well.
• 11 (mixture will be thick) set aside mixture.
• 12 preheat oven to 375°f.
• 13 work with one piece of dough at a time, leaving the other pieces of dough in the refrigerator until needed.
• 14 on a floured surface (i often use confectioner's sugar for rolling my dough), roll the dough to a 12-inch square.
• 15 cut dough into 2x3-inch rectangles.
• 16 spoon about 1 teaspoon of filling onto each rectangle.
• 17 carefully fold the long edges over to meet in the center and pinch to seal seam.
• 18 place each cookie, seam side down, on a baking sheet, making sure you leave at least 1-2 inches between each cookie.
• 19 make 2 or 3 diagonal slits on the top of each cookie with a sharp knife.
• 20 bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until cookies are golden in color.
• 21 remove from oven and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
• 22 for icing, place confectioner's sugar in a bowl.
• 23 add just a little water or milk, until you get a smooth consistency- but not runny!
• 24 ice the tops of each cookie and sprinkle with colored sprinkle.
• 25 let icing dry completely before stacking!
• 26 store in air-tight containers up to 2 weeks.