Italian Fig Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups butter or shortening
• 3 cups white sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 8 cups all-purpose flour
• 7 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 pounds dried figs
• 1 pound raisins
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 0.5 cups white sugar
• 1 whole orange , with peel
• 1 small apple
• 1.5 cups chopped pecans
• 1 cup water , Optional

Instructions

1. 1

   To make the dough: Beat sugar and butter together in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt. Blend in flour and baking powder by hand. Knead dough until smooth and workable. Add milk to reach workable consistency. (This takes a while and you will get a workout, but you'll know when it's right.)

2. 2

   To make the filling: Cut up figs, orange, and apple into small pieces. (It is easier to grind this way). Grind figs, raisins, orange, and apple. If the mixture is too dry or thick, mix in up to 1 cup of water, if desired. (I do not use the water, the juice from the apple and orange are enough). The spices and chopped nuts are added to the ground fig mixture. After the fig mixture is ground, I sprinkle them in over the mixture and mix (knead) it in by hand. The mixture will be sticky.

3. 3

   Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

4. 4

   Roll out some dough (should be kind of thin). Spoon fig mixture in a line down the center. Wrap dough over mixture, sealing fig filling inside dough. Trim to desired length, using a diagonal cut. Make small diagonal slits in the sides of the cookies; arrange on an ungreased cookie sheet.

5. 5

   Bake cookies in the preheated oven until edges are golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet briefly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.