Part of the fun when making these Cucidati cookies is making them with family. They are an Italian Christmas cookie from Sicily similar to a fig cookie. These old-fashioned cookies have a chewy and spiced dried fruit and nut filling. The chewy center is contrasted by a crunchy cookie exterior coated in a sweet sugar glaze. While these take a while to assemble, they're meant to be a fun family project to bake and eat together. My Great Grandma Huppenbauer made this recipe. Her maiden name was Gallo. She was very proud of her Italian heritage. I remember her bringing these to the farm in Iowa from Chicago when she would visit for Christmas. One time when Grannie Annie was visiting AZ from Iowa, she made these with Brad, Crystal, and Tim on the patio. She loved having fresh OJ to add to the recipe. These cookies are very time-consuming but very yummy.
Ingredients :
- DOUGH
- 6 cup(s) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup(s) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup(s) lard
- 1/2 cup(s) margarine
- 3 teaspoon(s) baking powder
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup(s) milk
- FILLING
- 2 pound(s) raisins
- 1 - string of figs (about 1 lb)
- 2 cup(s) walnuts
- finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon(s) ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup(s) orange juice
- 3/4 cup(s) honey
- ICING
- 1 pound(s) powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup(s) warm milk
Intructions :
- DOUGH: Sift dry ingredients together.
- Cut in shortening and margarine as you would for pastry crust.
- Beat eggs and add to the milk with a fork.
- Add egg mixture to the dry ingredients.
- This dough is very easy to handle. Combine until the dough comes together.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill.
- FILLING: Prechop the figs. Run raisins and figs through a meat grinder.
- Add remaining filling ingredients. Mix with your hands. This is VERY sticky.
- ASSEMBLY: Cut chilled dough into 6 pieces.
- Roll out the dough very thin.
- Cut into squares.
- Place about a teaspoon of filling in the center of the dough.
- Roll like a crescent with the seam on the bottom. Seal seams and edges with water.
- Form into a crescent shape. Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 350 - 375 degrees for 10 minutes on the bottom shelf.
- Then move to the top shelf for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove from pan and cool.
- ICING: Combine the icing ingredients to make a thin icing.
- Dip cooled cookies into the icing.
- Add sprinkles.
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Keyword : recipe-Italian-Cookies-Bake