Cuccidati -- Sicilian Fig Cookies

Just found this, which seems to be for cuccidati made with fresh figs:

Portland Fig Cookies

Brown Sugar Dough:
2 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2/3 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
10 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Fig Filling:
12 ounces (about 2 cups) fresh figs, stemmed and diced
2/3 cup currants
3 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) toasted walnut pieces
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange
1/4 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted after measuring
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup honey

Egg Wash:
1 large egg, well beaten with 1 pinch salt


Prepare two (2) cookie sheets or jelly roll pans with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

To make the Brown Sugar Dough: In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder. Pulse half a dozen times to mix. Add the butter and pulse about a dozen times, or until the butter in in 1/4-inch pieces. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and vanilla extract together and then add to the processor. Continue to pulse just until the dough holds together. Scrape the dough onto a pieces of plastic wrap, form it into a square, and wrap well. Chill the dough in the refrigerator while preparing the Fig Filling.

For the Fig Filling: Place the figs in a saucepan and cover them with water. Bring just to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, drain, and cool the figs. Once the figs are cooled, combine them with the currents, walnuts, and orange zest; pulse in the food processor until finely minced. Add brown sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, nutmeg, coriander, cloves, and honey; pulse to combine. Scrape the filling into a bowl.

Preparing the cookies: Unwrap the chilled dough on a floured work surface. Flour the dough and roll it to a 12-inch by 16 1/4-inch rectangle. Use a ruler to measure, then cut the dough into five strips, each a little less than 3 1/4 inches wide by 12 inches long. Use a pastry bag with no tube in it to pipe the filling down the middle of each rectangle of dough. Pull the dough up around the filling to enclose it, then pinch it together firmly. Roll the filled cylinders of dough around so that the seam is on the bottom and roll over them with the palms of both hands to make sure the dough sticks to the filling. Arrange them on the same baking pans you will later use to bake them; refrigerate the filled cylinders for 1 hour.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, set the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the filled dough cylinders to a cutting boards and use a sharp paring knife to cut them into 2-inch lengths. Arrange them on the prepared pans, leaving about 1 inch in all direction. Brush them with the Egg Wash.

Bake the cookies for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are a deep golden brown. Remove from oven and slide the papers from the pans onto the cooling racks.

Store the cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting cover.

Makes approximately 30 cookies.

source: whatscookingamerica.net/Cookie/PortlandFigCookie.htm

WOW!!!! GRAZIE!!!!!!