Cucidate, little fig cookies, while appearing quite demure in appearance, hit the senses, as a true Christmas cookie,  first with an aroma of the dried fruits soaked in a liquor and then  ombined with nuts, cinnamon, and honey, wrapped in a delicate pastry.

Cucidate, the Italian Fig cookie from Sicily is a tribute to my grandfather.

Biaggio came to America twice before he actually decided to stay, and I can understand his trepidation to settle in the United States, after visiting his hometown some years ago.

As I walked around the village of Isnello outside of Palermo, I rested my eyes on one of the most beautiful mountain backdrops I’ve ever seen, while the ocean was only twenty minutes away.

Sicily is an earthy place of tradition, created by many visiting cultures over centuries of acquisition. 

The people are humble, and yet rich in a food culture that is probably the most flavorful and robust of Italian cuisine, much like their personalities. American television has done a great disservice to Sicilians, using hyperbole, stereotypes and the sensationalism of organized crime. Most Sicilians are victims of crime, are not murderers and are not one dimensional.

This is probably a little extra special for me, because my grandfather had a fig tree he treated like a bab. Right before he died, he kept talking about “her.” Yes, he had decided his fig tree was a she, and he was worried, that she needed to be covered up for the winter or in his words, “shessa gonna die.”

My grandfather was never part of any organized crime, so please scratch your ideas about the people of Sicily.  He was a kind soul who extended everyone who knocked on our door in for coffee. The family joke would be that we might find him serving coffee and cake to a burglar that tried to rob the house.

I found his warmth and patience compelling, especially contrasted with my grandmother who was an Italian diva, sometimes warm, and sometimes a little too sure of herself. They always seemed a mismatch, as she was born in America as a first generation Italian and exuded first class glamour. His kind would be referred to as “from the old country,” and that was considered a step down in status from first generation born.

She was divorced with a small child (my Aunt Rita of the stuffed shells legend) and yet could have had her pick of any man. How in the world my grandfather snatched her as a bride is quite stunning, and one of the good things that happened for me prior to my life.

They had a daughter, my mother (Retro Rose) who inherited more that Sicilian hospitality.   I can’t tell you how many times, I would visit her apartment and she was feeding the maintenance men. She’s making someone a pot of meatballs at least weekly. When I first gave her some of these cookies, her first words were “can you make these for one of the elders at church.” I emphatically said no, these are just for the family. This attitude needed to be adjusted. Her desire to give the elders these special cookies is what being Sicilian is all about.

Cucidate Make a Great Gift

I had to think about that because aren’t Christmas cookies something we make to give away, to show our love for others?  After researching  these cookies, I read many stories about how often these cucidate are given away as gifts, and it got me thinking that I should plan to make several batches.

These cucidate excude the heart of the Sicilian culture. The dough is sweet; the fig filling full of flavor and life, and they make the perfect Christmas cookie gift, because they hit the heart.

The Process for Cucidate, Italian Fig Cookies

• Soak the raisin in bourbon for at least an hour.
• Chop figs or use a fig jam.
• Bring figs, dates (or dried plums/prumes) together with marmalade, honey and walnuts and process.
• Allow this filling to be refrigerated overnight to meld the flavors.
• Make pastry same day you make the filling and refrigerate overnight.
• Take out one pastry roll at a time and roll out and cut in squares.
• Fill and bake.
• Top with glaze and Italian sprinkles.

There are many ways to roll and fold the cookies. I did some in triangle, some folded over evenly. Some will turn the seam on the bottom, so you can’t see it. You can choose your own way.

Orange Glaze for Cucidate

I made an orange glaze and poured this over the cookies when hot, then sprinkled with these Italian cookie sprinkles I found in an Italian grocery store.

So tell me do you have a traditional cookie you like to give away as a gift? Have you ever had cucidati, the ultimate Sicilian fig cookie?

More Italian Christmas Recipes

More Cookie Recipes

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Cucidate – Sicilian Fig Christmas Cookies

An Italian Christmas Cookie from Sicily made with figs, dried fruit, liquor, nuts.

Course Cookie

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 1 day day

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 day day 15 minutes minutes

Servings 36

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Fig Filling

• 2 cups dried figs or 2 cups fig jam
• 2 cups dried dates or dried plums
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup bourbon or Grand Marnier Cognac or Brandy
• 1 cup almonds or walnuts chopped
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup orange marmalade
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Pastry

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sugar I always cut my sugar. I used 2/3 cup sugar
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
• 2 eggs
• 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Glaze

• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons orange juice) I used juice of one satsuma.
• small colored sprinkles

Instructions

Fig Filling

• Soak Raisins in bourbon for an hour up to overnight.
• Add to the rest of the ingredients.
• Grind all ingredients in food processor or Vitamix. The mixture should be ground enough to spread in the cookie. I substituted fig jam for dried figs and dried plums for dates.
• Refrigerate filling overnight.

Pastry

• Mix flour, baking powder, sugar together.
• Cut butter in. I used the Kitchen Aid Mixer. You could cut in with pastry blender or use a food processor also.
• Beat eggs and milk to together. Reserve 1 tablespoon milk. You may not need it.
• Add to flour mixture, and form a dough. Add the extra milk of it’s too dry.
• Separate dough in 4 sections. Wrap each in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for one hour or overnight.

Glaze

• Mix confectioner’s sugar with orange juice. Add water a little at a time, until you have a thin glaze.

Assembly

• Work with one section of pastry dough at a time.
• Roll each section into a tube. Divide into two sections to make it easier to work with.
• Flatten out each tube. Put mixture in center. Pull sides up to reach. Cut into 1 1/2 inch cookies.
• Bake at 375 Degrees F, 190 C. for 15 minutes.
• Spoon glaze over each cookie. Top with sprinkles.

The post Cucidati – Sicilian Fig Christmas Cookies appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

What if I told you that I took a Channel design and reworked it just a little bit to fit my shoulders and my smaller waist. Instead of a white belt, I added in a red belt, and suddenly people that like the original design took a second and third look.

That will never happen because I flunked sewing in high school. I got a 67 for a very awful dress using a Sear’s pattern. It was a white, sleeveless shift that burns in my memory because I am the only person in the classroom who was so sewing challenged that I kept ripping out stay stitching. You sewers just laughed out loud didn’t you. Stay stitching is just stitching around the cut pattern, so that threads do not pull. It gets cut off in the end and does not matter. I actually got a zipper in the dress and even wore it out in public once just to salute my own effort. Years later, I purchased a fairly decent sewing machine and had such a hard time threading it, I gave it away unused!

In my own defense I custom made all the draperies in my home, even the ten feet tall ones with lining. No one knows I glued everything together and used that stitching magic. I found a way to get what I want in spite of deficiencies.

The moral of my story is that there is no Channel dress, but there is a designer cookie from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery cookbook, sitting in a pretty dish with just a small enough adjustment to make it my own. I’ve been lucky enough to eat  at the Bouchon bakery  and the Bouchon Restaurant in Napa, so this book is most assuredly on my Christmas wish list. I’ve read nothing but rave reviews of this cookbook and I’m ordering one today. One thing I already know is that Thomas Keller says to throw your measuring cups away and use a food scale, which is more accurate and takes one of the many finicky variables out of baking.

The recipe is fabulous. It’s the right texture, with a crispy outside and a chewy inside. Instead of a mixture of two kind of raisins, I used golden raisins and the most wonderful dried bing cherries I’ve ever tasted, purchased at Costco.  They are so large, they have to be chopped up. They are so sweet, you can cut back on the sugar in the cookies, something I tend to do anyway.

These are my go to oatmeal cookie forever. I saw it the recipe at Eva Bakes. I’m going to tell you right now, go ahead and make a double batch. You can freeze the dough or freeze the cookies, but it probably won’t come to that. You can do what my husband likes to do and add chocolate chips or do what I love to do and add a little bacon.

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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Crispy, Chewy Perfection

The best oatmeal cookie adapted from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery Cookbook, using golden raisins and dried cranberries.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes minutes

Total Time 38 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup + 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour / 144 grams
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon / 7 grams
• 1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup + 3 1/2 tablespoons lightly packed light brown sugar / 140 grams for original recipe
• 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar / 69 grams
• 11 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature / 155 grams
• 1 egg / 62 grams
• 1-1/4 tsp vanilla paste you can use pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats do not use instant / 155 grams
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped cherries or cranberries mix the fruit to your preference to add up to 156 grams

Instructions

Dry Ingredients

• Whisk together cinnamon, baking soda, salt flour in a bowl. Set aside.

Wet Ingredients

• Cream butter at medium speed.
• Add in both sugars and mix on medium for 3-4 minutes. See notes.
• Add egg.
• Add vanilla paste or extract.
• Add dry ingredients a little at a time.
• Add in raisins and dried cherries.
• Roll into even sized cookies (about 31 grams).
• Cook for 15 to 18 minutes (check at 15) in oven of 325 degrees. Cool completely.
• You can freeze these cookies. Let them defrost In one layer at room temperature.

The post Dried Cherry Oatmeal Cookies appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Faith Gorsky publishes a beautiful blog , an Edible Mosaic which can be found on Barnes & Noble  and Amazon under the same name.

When she asked me to participate in a her book launch party, I had no hesitation. She chose an easy, straightforward recipe, that reflects her approachable, middle eastern food viewpoint, extolling flavor  and texture by use of aromatic basmati rice, golden raisins, pine nuts, and the much loved saffron.

Faith learned middle eastern cooking from her mother in law, when she lived in the middle east for six months. She adapted those recipes by making them more approachable for the home cook.  An Edible Mosaic has over 100 Middle Eastern recipes, with a focus mainly on dishes from the Levant, but also a few recipes from other areas of the Middle East. It’s always a thrill to see another blogger launch a cookbook with recipes true to her heart and spirit, and I am especially delighted to see another blogger friend of mine, Lorraine Elliot, write the forward.

This picture is from the cookbook, and used with permission, as I wanted to show you what it looked like using white basmati rice, since I used brown basmati rice.

As far as the recipe goes, I used brown basmati rice instead of white basmati rice and had to make changes to the recipe, as brown rice needs more water and a longer cooking time. If you use white basmati rice, the water is only 1 1/2 cups and the cooking time before allowing to rest is 10 minutes. It will be wonderful either way.

It was flavorful, with lots of different textures, as the chewy basmati rice, the golden raisins, the flavor and crunch of the pine nuts and, of course, the saffron all came together to make rice dish exciting. The only thing I would change for the next time is using less saffron. The pine nuts delivered such intense flavor that less saffron might have been better.

Book Party Launch Giveaway. Head over to the launch party, as Faith is giving away over $1300 of stuff.

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Faith's Saffron Rice

A recipe from Faith Gorsky's cookbook, An Edible Mosaic, this basmati rice and saffron dish is approachable, and flavorful. Recipe courtesy of An Edible Mosaic: Middle Eastern Fare with Extraordinary Flair by Faith Gorsky (Tuttle Publishing; Nov. 2012); reprinted with permission.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Faith Gorsky

Ingredients

• 1½ cups 325 g basmati rice, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1 onion finely diced
• 4 tablespoons sultanas golden raisins
• 3 cups 425 ml boiling water
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon saffron threads or ½ teaspoon turmeric

Instructions

• Soak the rice in tepid water for 10 minutes; drain. While the rice is soaking, put half a kettle of water on to boil.
• Add the oil to a medium, thick-bottomed lidded saucepan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and cook until golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Transfer the pine nuts to a small bowl and set aside.
• Add the onion to the saucepan you cooked the pine nuts in, and cook until softened and just starting to brown, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rice and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the sultanas, boiling water, salt, and saffron (or turmeric), turn the heat up to high, and bring it to a rolling boil.
• Give the rice a stir, then cover the saucepan, turn the heat down to very low, and cook until tender, about 30-40 minutes (do not open the lid during this time). Turn the heat off and let the rice sit (covered) 15 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
• Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle the toasted pine nuts on top; serve.
• OPTIONAL Add two pods of cardamom, two whole cloves, and one 2-inch (5 cm) piece of cinnamon stick at the same time that you add the rice.
• Note: The original recipe called for cooking 10 minutes before turning stove off. I needed to cook for 20 minutes as I used basmati brown rice.

The post Faith’s Saffron Rice and Edible Mosaic Cookbook Launch appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This past week we traveled to the Smoky Mountains. We stayed at Blue Mountain Mist Bed and Breakfast in Sevierville, a place of charm and scenery. This picture is the view from the breakfast room, and what a way to start the day.

Expecting long hikes in the mountains and a long drive, I made granola bars that would sustain two four-year olds and the big people too.

This recipe is unusual in two distinct ways. It’s made partially on top of the stove the same way I made these brown butter granola bars, but this time I used spelt flour.  I have been wanting to be more responsible in my baking and use alternative flours when I know it won’t affect the integrity of the recipe. Most of what holds this bar together are oats so one cup of spelt flour worked out just fine and gives me hope for future baking.

I do warn you, though, I use lot of butter  and that what makes it taste so  good.

The oats are toasted on top of the stove in the butter, followed by carrots,  nuts, raisins and honey.  You could stop  there and have yourself a topping for some yogurt or ice cream and call it a day. But, pushing further, a batter made from spelt flour and eggs  is added in to this mixture and baked to a crunchy, buttery, chewy bite that is “crack” addictive. I rarely eats more than a bite or two of baked goods, but I  had to take drastic measures to stop.  I quickly took my photos and wrapped these up for the trip because one bite just leads to the next.

By the end of the trip, the container was emptied quickly and eagerly. These are great cookies for everyone. High in fiber, high in energy and they travel well on planes, trains and automobiles.

Tell me, do you have any special snack food you must travel with?

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Butter Pecan Oatmeal Spelt Granola Bars

Granola Bars, made with spelt flour, toasted oats, and pecans. A great treat for traveling or breakfast.

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 cup spelt flour can use all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 3 cups oats
• 1 cup carrots grated
• 1/3 cup raisins can use dried cranberries or other dried fruit
• 1/2 cup pecans chopped
• 1/3 cup raw sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

• Combine flour, baking soda, salt in mixing bowl. Set aside.
• Melt butter in large frying pan. Add in oats for about five minutes, or until they are nutty and toasted. Add in nuts and toast for a minute and add carrots and raisins. Add white and brown sugar. Cool.
• Beat eggs and add in flour mixture, honey and vanilla.
• Add flour batter to oats mixture.
• Bake in a sheet pan for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. This time will vary. I bake in a convection oven, using a stone baking pan.

Notes

These are not super sweet and if you like sweet add in another third cup of one of the listed sweeteners.

The post Butter Pecan Oatmeal Spelt Granola Bars appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This is not a Christmas cookie. These are an “anytime” cookie, but especially suited for travel, whether by car, plane or train, and that is why I’m giving you these for Christmas. I made these in the summer, and I’ve been holding back just waiting for the right time.

Substantially packed with nutrition, taste, and satisfaction, these are the perfect snack to hold you or your family over until you land, or arrive at your destination. And, if you know of a friend that is traveling for the holidays, why not make up a batch and deliver them the day before their trip.

I created this cookie as a protest against all the trickster breakfast bars and toaster tarts that companies want you to think are good for you and your family. I wanted taste and texture to be outstanding. I wanted an oatmeal cookie that went beyond and above the norm.

I ended up with a brown butter oatmeal cookie made with carrots, raisins, and whole wheat flour that will be the best oatmeal cookie you have ever eaten.

These are seriously addicting the way that kennel corn is addicting. The flavor and texture grab your taste buds and urge you to feast.

The fun begins as all the ingredients are toasted in butter before baking.

This almost looks like a granola, but there are no nuts and it’s chewy. You can try other dried fruits such as dried cranberries or blueberries, but in our taste tests, the raisins win out, even with people who are not raisin lovers.

The mixture can be put in bar pan, or formed into cookies. I did both.

I need to warn you that these are extremely addicting. They are no ordinary cookie. I could tell you that the when cut into bars and put into Tupperware, they last as long as two weeks, but I doubt you will need to know that.

Recipe for Brown Butter Oatmeal Travel Cookies
Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 3 cups oats
• 1 cup finely grated carrots
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour or all purpose
• 1 teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 raw sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs at room temperature

Instructions

1. In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda,salt,sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg.
2. Melt butter in large frying pan. Add oats, and continue to stir until oats appear toasted.
3. Add carrots, stir for about a minute. Add Raisins and honey.
4. Allow mixture to cool.
5. Add vanilla to eggs, beat just to mix.
6. Add flour mixture to eggs to make a batter.
7. Add batter to oats mixture.
8. This is when you want to get your hands into this and make sure everything is mixed well.
9. Form into cookies or put in bar pan. If you do use a bar pan, pack lightly.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes at 375
Bake in bar pan 25-35 minutes at 375

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