Sandra Scalise Juneau's Cuccidata, Sicilian Fig Cookies
- Ready In:
- 1hr
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Yields:
-
3 dozen
ingredients
-
FIG FILLING
- 2 lbs dried figs, Greek
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper (about )
-
CUCCIADATA DOUGH
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 3⁄4 cup vegetable shortening
- 3⁄4 cup sugar
- 1 -2 cup warm water
-
ICING
- 2 drops almond extract
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1⁄4 cup non-pareils, colored
directions
-
FIG FILLING:
- Remove stems from figs. Rinse thoroughly in warm water to soften. Drain.
- Season figs with cinnamon, mixing thoroughly. Coat with honey, then add orange zest and black pepper, blending thoroughly. Grind fig mixture, using an electric meat grinder (not a food processor), to a fine texture.
- After mixture is ground, mix thoroughly to blend all ingredients. Separate into 1- or 2-pound packages, wrapped in plastic food wrap and sealed in plastic bags. (Keep several weeks, refrigerated, or freeze for up to 6 months.
-
CUCCIADATA DOUGH:
- Add shortening to flour and blend (by hand or food processor) to a cornmeal texture.
- In another bowl, add warm water (not boiling) to sugar to dissolve. Gradually add sugar/water to flour mixture, blending until dough forms a ball. If dough is too dry, gradually add more water as needed. Cover and let dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Separate dough into workable-sized balls, about 3 inches across. Knead each ball to a smooth texture and return to bowl. Cover again; let dough rest several more minutes.
- Roll a 2-inch ball of dough to the thickness of pie pastry. Cut dough into strips about 4 inches wide by 12 inches long. Shape a piece of the fig filling into a rope about ½ inch wide and 12 inches long. Center the rope on a strip of pastry. Fold sides of pastry over filling, overlapping dough slightly. Turn over with seam side down and pat lightly to flatten.
- With a sharp small knife, cut the rope at an angle into 1-inch long bars, cutting slits in sides and one on top to allow for thorough cooking. Place on cookie sheets. Bake in a preheated 250-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes, until cookies are slightly browned on the bottom only.
- Allow to cool before icing.
-
ICING:
- Add almond flavoring to milk and gradually blend into sugar, mixing to a smooth paste. Icing should be the texture of heavy cream.
- Working over a small bowl, spoon icing onto each (cooled) cookie. Let excess drip into the bowl. Let cookie dry slightly before sprinkling with colored non-pareils.
- Cookies must dry completely before packaging.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Busters friend
Pleasure Island, 73
<p>First about Buster: Buster moved onto whatever comes next on February 26, 2008. He was just shy of five years old. I miss him terribly. <br />He came into our lives when he ran out in front of my car late one night as I was driving home. A just under 4 pound ball of kitten fluff, complete with an ostrich boa tail that stayed straight up as he assessed his new domain. He became a 19 pound longhaired beast who guarded our house (he followed any new guests or servicepeople the entire time they are on the property) & even killed copperheads (among other things with his hunting buddy, Fergus the short-tailed)! Friends never saw his formidible side as he smiled at them & uttered the most incongruent kitten-like mews as he threaded legs! He liked to ride in the car & came to the beach. <br />There are Buster-approved recipes in my offerings - however, HE decided which he wanted to consider - Buster demonstrated he liked pumpkin anything - ALOT -LOL!!! <br /> <br />Copperhead count 2006 - Buster 2 <br /> (10 inchers w/yellow tails) <br /> 2007 - Buster & Roxie 1 <br /> (a 24 incher!) <br />Buster woken from beauty sleep - <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0335.JPG <br />Big whiskers - <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0333.JPG <br /> <br />For those of you who gave kind condolences - thank you so very much. <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=250301 <br /> <br /> <br />I love to cook & incorporate techniques from Southern/Mid Atlantic roots (grits, eastern NC BBQ shoulders, Brunswick stew, steamed crabs & shrimp & shellfish, hushpuppies, cornbread, greens, shad roe, scrapple) with Pacific Rim foods & techniques aquired while living in Pacific Northwest, fish & game recipes learned while living in Rocky Mountain region & foods/techniques learned travelling to the Big Island & up into BC & Alberta & into the Caribbean. The Middle Eastern/African likes I have are remnants of my parents who lived for many years in North Africa & Mediterranean before I was thought of. Makes for wide open cooking! <br /> <br />Since moving back east we try to go annually in the deep winter to Montreal (Old Montreal auberges & La Reine) & Quebec City (Winter Carnival & Chateau Frontenac)- for unctuous foie gras & real cheeses, French & Canadian meals prepared & served exquisitely, fantastic music & wonderful people - with the cold helping burn off some of the calories! <br /> <br />I love putting in our aluminum jonboat & heading across the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to the barrier islands for foraging & exploring! Bodysurfing is a lifelong sport for me - one that a person's body never seems to forget how to do, once the knack is learned (thank goodness!) <br /> <br />I especially miss cool summers & foggy/drizzly days & fall mushroom foraging/anytime of year hot springing in WA, OR, MT, ID, BC & Alberta.</p>