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Italian Fig Cookies I

“This recipe has been handed down through my mother's family for years. My grandmother brought it with her from Italy in the early 1900's. My mom taught me the recipe this year. Now I am the designated person in our family to make the Fig Cookies. This is a very high honor. So they must be as good as my Grandmothers' cookies. Some call them Homemade Fig Newtons. They are a tradition at Christmas and are wonderful with a hot cup of coffee. They are lot of work. I make them in stages. First the dough, then a few days later the figs, and finally I will make the cookies. The dough and the figs keep well in the refrigerator and the cookies freeze very well.”

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Reviewed: Oct. 3, 2009

This recipe makes tasty cookies, but the quantity estimate is way way off. I made a quarter-batch and it produced 41 cookies that were probably twice the size of Fig Newtons. In order for a full batch to make the estimated 4-5 dozen cookies, they would need to be probably four times the size of Fig Newtons. Maybe that's what you're going for, but I think that's a mammoth wad of fig goo. I also think the dough-to-filling ratio is a bit off. I would probably use 2/3 as much filling next time. Still, this recipe was spot-on in terms of making tasty fig-filled cookies. The raisins and apple add a nice sweetness to the dried figs without interfering with the flavor. Be careful not to overdo the orange.

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Matt Kuzma

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Reviewed: Dec. 16, 2008

This is the most dynamic cookie recipe I've come across. The fig cookies came out amazingly -- tasted just like fig newtons. I have also used just the dough recipe to make peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cookies, plain vanilla cookies, and thumbprint jelly cookies. Every time they have been amazing.

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Vin

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Reviewed: Dec. 3, 2008

This is an excellent recipe for a traditional Sicilian Christmas cookie. Almost all Americans with grandparents from Sicily are thoroughly familiar with this fig cookie. In the dialect of my paternal grandparents these cookies were known as "uccidati". In Italian they are normally called "cuccidati". Some use the word "buccellati" A plethora of recipes for Italian fig cookies can be found by googling "cuccidati cookies" and "buccellati cookies". My wife of Scotch-Irish heritage went out of her way to master the baking of cuccidati each Christmas - she soon realized how much I considered them to be a part of my traditional Christmas.

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Reviewer:

William Chas.Caccamise Sr, MD

Home Town: Pittsford, New York, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 9, 2007

this reciped is so close to the one my grandmother left me but instead of figs or dates for filling i found this dough excellent for mincemeat filling without all the fuss.

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TIMSMOM23

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Vineland, New Jersey, USA

Living In: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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Reviewed: Jun. 12, 2005

My family has been making a similar recipe for as long as I can remember, always at Christmas time. My family is Sicilian and to us they are called "Cuchidata." The difference is that we grind a mixture of dried fruits (figs, raisins, candied orange and lemon peel, pineapple, candied cherries, etc.). Then, we flavor it with bourbon and let the mixture sit for a day or two. They are absolutely delicious and freeze beautifully.

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GRAYLADY

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Reviewed: Dec. 15, 2000

These cookies are quite good! I am a big fan of Fig Newtons, and I would prefer these to the Newtons any day! The only complaint I have though is that the dough definitely has a shortening flavor to it that I can't really get used to. Perhaps I'm just a purist in these situations, but I still think that using real butter in baked items such as these is still the best way to go...and somebody has yet to prove to me otherwise! I think I will try making these cookies again using butter instead of shortening to see how it turns out.

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ALLAYA

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Reviewed: Jul. 19, 2000

this is the same recipe my Mom used and now I use. It was great seeing it here. We were the only ones that I knew of that used the orange. It came out the same as my recipe and was delicious. Are we related Mary Jo? Sal in Erie

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