MAKE FIG BARS RECIPES

Steps:

• Make the dough: In a large bowl, stir together flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and kosher salt until well combined. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, honey, ginger, orange zest, egg, butter, and oil until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture and fold until a cohesive dough forms. Halve dough and place each half between two pieces of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll each dough into a 15”-x-5” rectangle, about ?”-thick. Leave dough between parchment, layer on a baking sheet and refrigerate, 1 hour.  Meanwhile, make the filling: In a medium pot over medium heat, combine figs, dates, orange juice, water, butter, and rum (if using). Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is syrupy and mostly absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Let cool completely.  Transfer fig mixture to a food processor, add vanilla and zests, then process until smooth. Working with one sheet of dough at a time, peel off top layer of parchment. Using an offset spatula or spoon, spread half the fig filling in a 2”-wide strip down the length of the dough. Use bottom layer of parchment to help bring naked edges of dough to meet over and enclose the filling, pressing down the seam to seal. Gently press cookies into a 2”-wide bar. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Transfer both bars to the freezer until firm, at least 15 minutes and up to overnight. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove cookie bars from the freezer. Using a sharp knife, cut each bar into ten 1½” pieces and place on prepared sheet, about 1” apart. Bake until bottoms are deeply golden and tops look dry, 13 to 15 minutes.  Let cool completely. Fig bars will keep, in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 3 days, or longer if refrigerated or frozen.

Steps:

• Make the cookie dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, the vanilla, and salt together until smooth. Add 1 egg and egg yolk, beating to combine, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add flour gradually, and continue beating until just blended. Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap, and shape into a rectangle. Wrap the dough well. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.
• Make the filling: In a shallow, medium saucepan, combine lemon rind, cinnamon stick, figlets, cognac, 1 cup sugar, and 2 cups water over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low; simmer until the liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove lemon rind and cinnamon stick, and let cool.
• Place fig mixture in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until smooth, 20 to 30 seconds.
• Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator, and divide in half. On a parchment-lined work surface that has been lightly floured, roll one half of the dough into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Trim the dough to 9 by 12 inches with a pizza wheel or a knife. Cut the rectangle lengthwise into three strips, 3 by 12 inches. If the dough becomes soft, it may be necessary to chill it again.
• Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a #8 or #808 plain tip. Pipe the filling down the center of each strip. Brush beaten egg along one of the 12-inch sides of dough. Fold dough over fig filling to enclose, pressing gently to seal. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with a parchment paper, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies until light golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack. When completely cooled, transfer to a cutting board, and cut each log into eight 1 1/2-inch cookies with a serrated knife.