FIG NEWTON WHOLE GRAIN RECIPES

Steps:

• Whisk all-purpose and whole wheat flours, cardamom (if using), baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Add yolks and beat until mixture is fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add honey, vanilla, and orange zest and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add dry ingredients, beating just to blend (dough will be very soft). Divide dough into thirds and wrap each piece tightly in plastic, flattening into a ½" disk. Chill at least 3 hours.
• Do Ahead: Dough can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.
• Cook figs, orange juice, honey, and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until figs are very soft and no liquid remains, 25–30 minutes. Using a potato masher or large spoon, smash figs into small pieces and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is very thick and paste-like, 5–7 minutes. Scrape jam onto a plate and spread into an even layer; chill, uncovered, until cold, about 1 hour.
• Beat egg and 1 Tbsp. water in a small bowl. Scrape cold jam into a large zip-top bag or disposable pastry bag and cut a ¾" opening at 1 corner (or the tip if using a pastry bag).
• This dough will sense your fear, so you have to show it who’s boss. It goes from cold and stiff to room temperature, soft, and hard to manage very quickly. If it gets too soft, put it back in the fridge and chill about 10 minutes. If you think you’ve messed up, gather it into a disk, chill, and roll it out again.
• Roll out 1 disk of dough on a piece of generously floured parchment or waxed paper to a 10"x4½" rectangle about ?" thick. Trim edges to make even. With one of the shorter sides facing you, pipe a 1"-thick line of filling slightly off-center lengthwise down dough. Brush long edge of dough closest to filling with egg wash. Using the parchment to help you, fold opposite side of dough up and over jam, aligning all the edges. Very lightly press to seal, then trim sealed edge to square off. Chill 10 minutes.
• Place a rack in center of oven; preheat to 325°. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut filled dough crosswise into 1" lengths. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and brush with egg wash. Chill while you roll out and fill remaining dough. (If you have any dough scraps and filling left over, repeat process to make a few more cookies.) Place all bars on the same sheet, spacing about ½" apart; they will not spread as they bake. Freeze 10 minutes.
• Bake bars, rotating sheet halfway through, until golden brown and slightly cracked on top, 14–16 minutes. Let bars cool on sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• Do Ahead: Fig Newtons can be made 1 day ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Steps:

• Dice the figs and soak them in apple juice, salt, and lemon juice mixture for 1 hour.
• Cook the ingredients in a pot on medium heat until a thin, jam-like consistency is achieved. Set aside to cool, then transfer to a pastry bag.
• In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and light brown sugar until fluffy. Then, beat in the egg, milk/cream, and vanilla. You may do this on a stand mixer, food processor, or by hand.
• Add the dry ingredients and mix well until fully incorporated. Form it into a dough ball and wrap using plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 1 hour to set.
• Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into 6 portions.
• Form each portion into a log. In between two sheets of parchment paper, use a rolling pin and flatten to ? inch rectangles, about 10 inches long and 4 inches wide. Cut off excess dough to achieve these dimensions.
• Pipe a straight line of fig filling in the middle of the rectangular dough sheet. Using the parchment paper as leverage, lift one side of the dough to cover the filling. Gently flatten the dough, and do the same on the other side until the fig filling is fully covered. The end result should be a flattened rectangular log. Repeat until all six dough portions are used up. You might need to refrigerate the other pieces of dough while doing this.
• Cut the cookie logs into 2-inch squares and lay them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
• Bake the fig newtons in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F in the middle rack for 10 to 10 minutes or until the bottom crust is golden brown.
• Let the fig cookies rest for 5 minutes. After that, transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Store the cookies in an airtight container lined with a paper towel at the bottom and on top.