Christmas Cookie Series: Cuccidata, Sicilian Fig Cookies
These were the cookies growing up that really set our family Christmas cookies apart from the cookies you saw on other family tables. These are the cookies that my Nana made every year for my Pap who came here from Sicily when he was 3 years old because they were his absolute favorite. His most clear memory of his life in Sicily was sitting on the porch of his Nana, waiting for cookies. Perhaps the cookie he was waiting for was a Cuccidata, perhaps not. But I like to think it was. Sicilians are known for their love affair with sweets and make some of the best in the world.
The fig is so under-rated here in America. People just really don’t know what to do with figs. I am a huge lover of this sensual fruit. I have shown my adoration of it on pizza, on salad and even as a jam. It can be sweet, savory or in between. There are endless ways to use this beautiful fruit, but one of the best ways is in these cookies. Dried figs are mixed with raisins, a ground whole orange (peel and all) and walnuts to create a filling for one of the softest best smelling dough I have ever worked with. Then the fun part is in true colorful, Sicilian fashion, get crazy with the colors and decorations-colored icing, sprinkles and this year, chocolate, really make each one of these cookies special. These cookies mean Christmas for the DiPiazza family. So I made these with my mom to honor the generations of DiPiazzas before us. Hope you enjoy!
INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
8 cups flour
1 1/3 cup sugar
10 tsp baking powder
1 cup + 2 TBS unsalted butter, softened
6 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1 ¼ cup heavy cream (or 1 cup cream and ¼ cup milk)
1 tsp vanilla
Filling:
2 packages dried figs (soaked in hot water for ½ hour)
4 cups raisins
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
1 orange, ground
2 cups walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
Icing:
1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
2-3 TBS milk
¼ tsp vanilla
colored sprinkles
METHOD:
Mix all dry ingredients together and all wet ingredients together in separate bowls. Mix wet ingredients in an electric mixer. Add dry ingredients to the wet gradually until all incorporated. Roll dough into a ball and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Flatten dough out and cut into strips 2x 4 inches. Put 1 TBS of filling in each strip and roll over, cut side down, and place on a cookie sheet.
Shape into a crescent. Make two slits on the top of each crescent with a sharp knife. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes until light brown. Frost when cooled and sprinkle with sprinkles.
Makes @ 60 cookies
Kat - December 21, 2007 at 12:48 am
these look delicious! Have a great Christmas and a delicious 2008!
Peter G - December 21, 2007 at 12:49 am
Delicious Jenn! Dried figs are a favourite in my family too. They look so delicious.
Emiline - December 21, 2007 at 2:43 am
The cookies look fantastic! So Italian…like you! I love figs, too. I like them in just about everything, as well, including pizza.
My family doesn’t like them because of the seeds, but I just don’t understand that.
Peter - December 21, 2007 at 6:00 am
The fig newton has no chance against these. The Sicilians do it again!
Ben - December 21, 2007 at 10:23 am
HMMMMMM figs! My parents had a fig tree in the house in Mexico and it was so great to just go out to the back yard and pick some for a great dessert. I haven’t eaten them in such a long time that just by looking at your beautiful pictures I want to go out and buy a couple of pounds of figs.
Rachel - December 21, 2007 at 11:26 am
My grandma used to make these every year, so my dad never had to. We’ve lost her recipe, but I have one my dad’s aunt used to use. The only difference is that they would make a log and slice them. Thank you for posting this, b/c it makes the whole thing seem doable. Dad alway made it seem like it took days to make these 🙂
Adriana - December 21, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Wow!! I love figs!!!! I must do them!!!!
Happy Christmas!!!! 🙂 in spanish: Feliz Navidad!!! 🙂
Marie - December 21, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Your cookies look beautiful! and I know they taste good! I grew up on these cookies, they are such a wonderful Italian cookie tradition! Thanks for your post, I never got around to making them this year.
Trotter - December 21, 2007 at 7:53 pm
I’m not so keen on figs, but Algarve is a nice place to come for fig lovers… 😉
I wish you a nice holiday season and I’ll try to come back here more often to divert from less interesting tasks! Thanks for your comments on Blogtrotter
Kevin - December 21, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Figs in cookie form! These sound really tasty and look good too.
núria - December 22, 2007 at 5:55 am
I adore figs too! These cookies are so good looking!!! During Xmas we always have as part of the dessert: dried figs, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts. Just introduce one nut inside the fig and eat… mmmmmm, the simpliest, the better!!! (But one of these days I’ll have to learn how to bake!)
Have a great happy holiday, Jenn 😀
Laurie Constantino - December 22, 2007 at 6:27 am
Wow, do these ever look good. I love figs in every form. The Christmas icing is lovely, as is knowing the family story that goes with the cookies. YUM!
The Leftover Queen - December 22, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Hi Kat! Happy Holidays to you too!
Thanks Peter G! You should try them, they are not too hard to make and certainly a crowd pleaser!
Thanks Emiline! I love the fig and these cookies really make them shine, especially with the orange in the background.
It is so true Peter – fig newtons can’t hold up to these guys!
You are so lucky Ben to have grown up with a fig tree in the backyard!
Hi Rachel – same here! I thought they took forever to make, but in my older years 🙂 it is not that bad, in fact I was surprised how easy it was!
Feliz Navidad, Adriana!
Hi Marie! Thanks! I was like you, too busy to make these, but I am going to try to make sure to make them every year.
Thanks Trotter! Your blog is great.
Thanks Kevin! They are wonderful!
Hi Nuria! Feliz Navidad! Yes, we always have nuts and fruit around the house during holiday season. Such a great snack!
Hi Laurie – thanks! Yes, I love them too.
MyKitchenInHalfCups - December 22, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Well, Jenn, figs were one of my mom’s favorites. If I can’t get to these this year, I absolutely must next! They look wonderful and with such a wonderful & rich history.
The Leftover Queen - December 24, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Thanks Tanna! I hope you get to enjoy them next year!
Coffee & Vanilla - December 27, 2007 at 6:01 am
I love fig rolls! Those look really delicious.
Happy Holidays, Margot
Sicilian from Campofelice - January 21, 2008 at 6:50 pm
I gre up making these cuccidata. We used a little black pepper in the filling and red wine instead of water. The filling had less baking powder (about half) and white wine instead of milk. Can use Crisco instead of butter, but not as easy to roll out. Delicious and our family favorite. Travelled to Sicily and found that now they make them with apples. To them apples are a delicacy, to us, its figs! Go figure!
Laura Rebecca - January 29, 2008 at 7:13 pm
These look amazing. Can you give me an idea of how much dried figs to use in terms of ounces?
The Leftover Queen - January 30, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Hi guys – I just saw these comments!
Coffee – Thanks! Happy belated holidays to you too!
Hey Sicilian! Welcome! Black pepper and red wine sound like great suggestions, I may have to try that next Christmas! Wow, how intersting about the apples vs. figs as a delicacy! I think I would prefer it the other way around as I am not really an apple fan, but I LOVE figs!
Thanks so very much for leaving this great comment.
Hi Laura! I don’t know for a fact, but each box is probably about 8 ounces, so 16 in total for this big batch.
Robert Miller - June 25, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I love the photos for this recipe. Believe it or not, I just tried this recipe, and my family said my dish looked as good as the one in the pictures.
One change I made to the recipe was that I used fig confit with cinnamon spread (from Holy Food Imports, http://www.holyfoodimports.com). The cinnamon really is an excellent touch.
casacaudill - December 1, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Thanks for the blog post about these – I’ve been looking all over and have found nothing about them on any “real” person’s website.
My husband’s mother’s family is from Sicily and these cookies have been a huge part of all of our Christmases together. Last year was the first year I participated in the making of them. Then, this past weekend, my husband, mother in law and myself made 500 of these buggers. I love those cookies, but man alive … 500 is a lot of work! 🙂
Angela@spinachtiger - December 7, 2010 at 10:40 am
There is nothing like a fig. I have fond memories of our fig tree growing up and this three year old recipe is still relevant today. Hope you’re having a fun Vermont Christmas. Is it very white?
half italian - November 8, 2012 at 11:00 pm
I make these cookies every year! The tradition, but unfortunately not the recipe, was passed down from the Sicilian side of my family. I am on an eternal quest for the right dough. I like them a little crunchy, but even when I have succeeded in getting a little crunch, they soften after a day or so. Is this dough soft or on the crunchier side?
Thanks for sharing!
The Leftover Queen - November 20, 2012 at 2:02 pm
They are on the softer side.
Arlene (Mom) - December 10, 2012 at 11:45 am
I will be making these again this year. YUMMY.
Dawn - December 21, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Sooo when you say 1 orange, ground…are we talking the whole orange? Peel, pith and all? I’ve seen at least a dozen recipes and they’re all different so I can’t figure it out….Thanks!
The Leftover Queen - January 15, 2013 at 5:56 pm
Yep, the whole orange!
Marietta Ciraulo Hanley - August 29, 2013 at 10:14 am
This recipe is from my grandmother who is from Trabia Sicily. The dough being more on the crunchy side mixed with the soft filling is the perfect combination. This recipe makes a very large amount of cookies and here in the us will cost you over $100 as figs and nuts are very expensive, but it is well worth it. They freeze well. The cookies are baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Dough: 9lbs flour, 3lbs crisco or lard, 3lbs sugar, 1 sm bottle white wine, 2 tsp hazelnut oil
Filling: 4 tsp cinnamon, 3tsp allspice, 2tsp cloves, 5lbs figs, 45oz raisens, 44oz golden raisens, 5 tangerine skins, 1 large pkge dried fruit mix, 2 cups water
Toast in Oven: 2lbs walnuts, 1/2lb hazelnuts, 1/4 almonds
Frosting: Confectioners sugar, Milk, sm amount hazelnut oil
In food processor grind tangerine skin, figs, spices, & nuts. Heat water & mix with all filling items. spices and nuts. Layer on cookie sheets, cover with wax paper. Let sit overnight. Next morning mix dough. Roll out. Slice dough into rectangles. Roll filling into logs smaller than rectangles. Insert logs into dough and make crescent shaped cookies. Bake. Cool. Frost.
Dawn - November 24, 2015 at 8:24 pm
I made these last Christmas…sooo goood! It’s a huge recipe though, it nearly overwhelmed my 12 cup food processor haha! I made only half at Christmas and froze half the dough and filling. Are these cookies supposed to be huge because I feel like I got waaaay more then 60 cookies out of it. Fortunately they were a big hit with my Father-in-law and they froze well so I made the rest in May for his Birthday. Will be making them again this year once I halve the recipe. 🙂