Christmas & Nonna Angela's Fig Cookies

Petrali or Southern Italian Fig Cookies

Growing up, Petrali, or Fig Cookies from the Southern Italian province of Calabria were an the single most important culinary tradition of Christmas in my household. 






Each year, I remember my grandmother meticulously following the same recipe that her mother passed down to her. Making the cookies was a three part project. The first step was to make the the delicious, citrus infused dough. Next, came the traditional filling of figs, nuts, honey, citrus zest enriched with my great grandmother's addition of strawberry jam, dates, cherries, and cinnamon. Last, the dough was rolled out and the cookies got filled and baked.


I'm not sure exactly what made them so special to us. Could it have been the aroma, the flavor, or perhaps the fact that my grandmother was the only one who made them in our area? We never really thought about it, because we were just happy to get them. Even Santa requested Petrali at our house, which is why, my mother explained to me, that we never left him chocolate chip cookies or cut outs like the other kids in my class did.

Nonna Angela baking in 2009

Unfortunately, my nonna wasn't able to make our beloved Fig Cookies this year, so I decided to make them for her. I adapted the recipe slightly to accommodate the ingredients and appliances on the market today. For example, the figs used in the recipe need to be simmered if they are very dry and hard, but there are very tender organic dried figs on the market today which don't require simmering. Also, my grandmother always made her filling in a meat grinder. I used a food processor which gave a much faster, yet slightly smoother result.


Recipe:


For the Dough:


1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups flour
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, or as needed plus orange zest


For the Filling:


1 pound dried organic white figs*
1 pound dried pitted dates
1 whole orange, zested and juiced
1 whole lemon, zested and juiced
1 pound walnuts or almonds
1 cup honey
1 small jar Maraschino cherries, drained
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar


For the Glaze:


2 tablespoons butter
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
juice and zest of 1/2 orange
sprinkles


Preparation:


*If organic white figs can't be found - substitute any dried figs. Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer, on low heat, until soft, and cut off stems.


Drain figs and place in food processor with dates Add in orange and lemon zest and juice and process.


Add in walnuts, honey, cherries, cinnamon, and sugar. Process until combined.


Roll out the dough until approximately 1'8 - inch thick (like pie dough).


Make strips 4-inches in length across the diameter of the dough (same process as ravioli).


Place a 1 1/2-inch strip of filling in a log across the middle of the strip.


Roll up the dough strip to cover the filling.


Cut cookies with a pizza cutter or knife into 1-inch diagonal pieces.


Preheat oven to 350F degrees.


Place cookies onto well greased or lined baking sheet leaving 1/2-inch in between each one.


Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden.


Remove from oven and allow to cool.


In the meantime, make a glaze by whisking butter and powdered sugar together. Add in vanilla and orange zest and stir well to incorporate.


Add in orange juice, bit by bit, until you achieve a glaze consistency.


Spoon glaze over cookies as soon as they are cool and top with sprinkles.