Cucciddati Siciliani – Sicilian Fig Cookies recipe

Directions

• Boil the dried figs for about 2 minutes so that they soften. Once softened, drain and gently pat dry.
• Remove the stem, cut them into small pieces and blend them.
• 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.
• Leave the mixture to cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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!
• Bake the Cucciddati in a preheated oven at 180 degrees (celsius) in static mode for 13/15 minutes.
• Remove them from the oven and let them cool.
• 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!