Fig Newtons

These little bites of heaven are amazing! They're soft, sweet and have a bit of crunch from the walnuts. I must say they're a specialty of mine and there's a little story behind them.

About eleven years ago, my family moved into the house that just happened to have a fabulous fig tree in the backyard. Soon after, my mom made her very first batch of fig jam by cooking down the figs with a little water, salt and lemon juice and man was it good. Several harvests later, the baker in me decided why not put this deliciousness inside a shortbread cookie dough? The results were spectacular! My homemade fig newtons were well received by my family, friends, and neighbors. Then a year ago, I'll admit that I was a bit afraid I wouldn't be able to make a clean version of them and it just wouldn't be the good. But low and behold, some cinnamon, nutmeg and kerrygold butter later the verdict is the same, a million times better than the store bought version and delicious as always! I hope you enjoy them as much as I have :)

Filling

·         About ½ cup fig jam (cooked down figs with orange zest)

·         ¼ cup raisins

·         Cinnamon and nutmeg to sprinkle on top

·         Optional (but highly recommended) topping: add  chopped walnuts

Cookie part

·         ¼ cup grass fed butter

·         1 ¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour

·         1/8 tsp salt

·         ½ cup of date syrup (1:1 of dates:water and a little lemon juices blended together or honey/maple syrup)

·         ½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350^oF. Mix all the cookie ingredients together with your hands until similar to a shortbread cookie dough (you may have to add more flour). Roll dough onto cookie sheet into a long rectangle until about ¼ inch thick. Spread fig jam down 1/3^rd of the dough. Add raisins on top (may be less than ¼ cup) and sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg and walnuts on top. Fold the sides of the dough together to meet in the middle. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, broil for the last 2 minutes or so. Slice, serve and enjoy!