Prepare two (2) cookie sheets or jelly roll pans with parchment paper or
aluminum foil.
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.
Unwrap the chilled Brown Sugar 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 prepared fig
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 prepared cookie
sheets or 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 board and, using a
sharp knife, cut them into 2-inch lengths. Arrange them on the prepared
backing pans, leaving about 1 inch in all direction. Brush them with the Egg Wash.
Bake the cookies for approximately 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.
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
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 large piece of plastic wrap, form it into a square, and wrap
well.
Chill the dough in the refrigerator while preparing the Fig Filling.
