{"id":459,"date":"2013-12-08T13:12:17","date_gmt":"2013-12-08T18:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/?page_id=459"},"modified":"2013-12-23T10:30:50","modified_gmt":"2013-12-23T15:30:50","slug":"christmas-fig-cookies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/?page_id=459","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Fig Cookies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20130727-_DSC0208\"<\/a>AS FEATURED ON CANADIANLIVING.COM<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>Christmas was never a big gift-exchange holiday when I was young. Besides, my parents\u00a0grew up with the tradition of receiving presents \u2014 usually limited to only one or two \u2014 on the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, or on the 12th day of Christmas. At our house, it\u2019s always been more about the food and the edible \u201cgifts\u201d we bring to the table. It\u2019s about my mother\u2019s iconic lasagna, my dad\u2019s stuffed mushrooms, my sister\u2019s pomegranate salad, my brother\u2019s big bowl of mussels, the baked cardoons and, to top it all off, these delectable fig cookies. Even before our family plans the Christmas menu, we set a date to make these heavenly cookies, a long-standing tradition in our house. My parents, my kids, my niece \u2013 we all get in on the action, if not to get our hands into the dough or to pulse the chunky filling, then it\u2019s to be the first ones in line to taste them as they come out of the oven piping hot. With a sensory-awakening mix of ingredients like figs, oranges, almonds, cloves and chocolate, can you blame us for wanting to hold onto this ritual forever?<\/p>\n

FIG FILLING<\/b>
\n3 tbsp granulated sugar<\/b>
\n<\/b>\u00bd cup water<\/b>
\n10.5 oz (300 g) Turkish dried figs, stems removed and chopped<\/b>
\n\u00bd cup toasted unsalted whole almonds<\/b>
\nPeel of 1 mandarin, finely chopped<\/b>
\n1 tsp Amaretto liqueur <\/b>
\n2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder<\/b>
\n1 tsp pure vanilla extract\u00a0 <\/b>
\n1 tsp ground cinnamon<\/b>
\n\u00bc tsp ground cloves<\/b>
\n2 tbsp reduced-sugar apricot jam<\/b><\/p>\n

COOKIE DOUGH<\/b>
\n2 cups cake & pastry flour <\/b>
\n1 cup whole wheat flour<\/b>
\n1<\/b> pkg (0.6 oz\/16 g) Bertolini Lievito Vaniglinato (see tip)<\/b>
\n1 pkg (0.3oz\/8 g each) vanillin sugar<\/b>
\n2 tsp ground flaxseed<\/b>
\n\u00bd cup trans-fat-free shortening (see tip)<\/b>
\n\u00bd cup granulated sugar<\/b>
\n2 large eggs<\/b>
\nZest and juice of \u00bd lemon<\/b>
\n1 tsp Amaretto liqueur <\/b>
\n2 to 3 tbsp cold water<\/b>
\nEgg white for brushing<\/b><\/p>\n

To make filling, combine sugar and water in a medium pot and whisk until sugar fully dissolved; bring to a gentle boil. Set aside.<\/p>\n

In the bowl of a food processor, add figs, almonds, mandarin peel, Amaretto, cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves. Pulse a few times, then slowly pour in half the sugar-water and whisk until it forms a chunky paste, about 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down sides in between. Add fig mixture and apricot jam into pot with remaining sugar-water and stir on low heat until sugar-water is fully absorbed, about 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool for 1 hour or refrigerate overnight.<\/p>\n

To make the cookie dough, combine flours, Lievito Vaniglinato, vanillin sugar and flaxseed in a large bowl and mix well.<\/p>\n

Cream shortening and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with pastry\/dough blade. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat briefly after each addition. Add lemon zest and juice and Amaretto. Stream in flour mixture and 1 tbsp of cold water at a time if dough seems dry; process just until blended. Don\u2019t over-process or dough will be tough. Place dough in a greased glass or ceramic bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.<\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 350\u00b0F.<\/p>\n

Working in batches, take a handful of dough, knead and roll out as thinly as possible to form a disk shape. Invert an 8-inch (20-cm) side plate and press into dough. Cut around plate with a sharp knife; remove dough around it. Cut circle into 8 triangles. Add 1\u00bd tsp of filling at wide edge, flatten slightly and roll into a crescent. Place crescents 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush tops with egg white.<\/p>\n

Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until bottoms are golden brown and tops are lightly golden.<\/p>\n

MAKE AHEAD:<\/span> Make fig filling 1 to 2 days before and refrigerate.<\/p>\n

TIPS:<\/span>
\n* I use Earth Balance natural shortening, a plant-based shortening that is trans-fat free, dairy-free and gluten-free.
\n* Bertolini Lievito Vaniglinato is a premixed product that combines baking powder and vanillin. A suitable substitute is 3 tsp baking powder + 1 tsp vanillin (or \u00bd tsp pure vanilla extract). Find it next to the yeast in the baking section of a well-stocked grocery store. It\u2019s also available online.<\/p>\n

HIGH IN…FIBER<\/b><\/span>
\nFresh or dried, figs are a terrific source of fiber, which aids in digestion and lowers cholesterol. Just three fresh figs provide more than 4 grams of fiber. Whole wheat and flaxseed added to the cookie dough boosts the fiber count. Together, the sweet fruit, along with almonds, are a terrific source of calcium.<\/p>\n

Makes about 60 cookies <\/b>
\nDairy-free<\/p>\n

PER COOKIE <\/b>69 CALORIES | <\/strong><\/span>2 G TOTAL FAT (1 G SATURATED FAT) |<\/span><\/strong> 6 MG CHOLESTEROL |<\/span><\/strong> 21 MG SODIUM |<\/span><\/strong> 11 G CARBOHYDRATE |<\/span><\/strong> 1 G FIBER |<\/span><\/strong> 1 G PROTEIN
\nAll Rights Reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced except with permission in writing from the publisher.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AS FEATURED ON CANADIANLIVING.COM \u00a0Christmas was never a big gift-exchange holiday when I was young. Besides, my parents\u00a0grew up with the tradition of receiving presents \u2014 usually limited to only one or two \u2014 on the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-459","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=459"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":528,"href":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/459\/revisions\/528"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehealthyitalian.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}