Name: Cucciddati Siciliani – Sicilian Fig Cookies recipe
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: Flour 00: 500 gr; Sugar: 125 gr; Lard: 125 gr; Eggs: 2; Baking powder: 1/2 sachet; Baker's ammonia: 5 gr; Milk; Salt; Dried figs: 500 gr; Raisins: 3 Tbsp; Dark Chocolate: 50 gr; walnuts: 4 Tbsp; Marsala: 2 Tbsp; Orange Jam: 3 Tbsp; Cinnamon powder; Nutmeg

Ingredients

Shortcrust Pastry

500 gr Flour 00

125 gr Sugar

125 gr Lard

2 Eggs

1/2 sachet Baking powder

5 gr Baker's ammonia

Milk

Salt

Filling

500 gr Dried figs

3 Tbsp Raisins

50 gr Dark Chocolate

4 Tbsp walnuts

chopped

2 Tbsp Marsala

3 Tbsp Orange Jam

Cinnamon powder

Nutmeg

Directions

Cucciddati Siciliani (also called Buccellati in Italian, or urciddati, purciddati or ‘ucciddati in Sicilian dialect), Sicilian Fig Cookies, are a sweet spread all over Sicily. They play a very important role during the whole period of Christmas festivities, starting from the feast of the Immaculate Conception, but they can be easily found during the whole year, also because of their fame and goodness! They are baked in the oven and, taking advantage of their long shelf life, they can easily be enjoyed for several days, storing them carefully!

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Steps

1 Done	Boil the dried figs for about 2 minutes so that they soften. Once softened, drain and gently pat dry.
2 Done	Remove the stem, cut them into small pieces and blend them.
3 Done	Now we can add the other ingredients for the filling: the raisins, the chopped chocolate, the walnuts, the orange marmalade and the Marsala wine. Mix everything thoroughly until you have obtained a very dense but soft, not dry dough. If the mixture is too dry, you can add a little more jam or a few tablespoons of Marsala. Add a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg.
4 Done	Leave the mixture to cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
5 Done	Now let's deal with the shortcrust pastry: quickly mix flour, caster sugar, eggs, baking powder, lard, a pinch of salt, ammonia and milk to taste (in case it's too dry). Mix everything together, and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
6 Done	Flour the work surface, take the shortcrust pastry from the refrigerator, roll it out in a thin layer making rectangles of dough, place the filling in the center of each piece, seal the edges well, turn the cucciddati roll upside down with the closure underneath.
7 Done	Cut into chunks in the size you prefer. You can either give them the typical biscotti shape, or you can stretch them a bit and connect the two ends to give it a shape similar to a doughnut!
8 Done	Bake the Cucciddati in a preheated oven at 180 degrees (celsius) in static mode for 13/15 minutes.
9 Done	Remove them from the oven and let them cool.
10 Done	Once cooled you can dust the cookies with powdered sugar or brush them with a layer of jam or honey and decorate them as you like!