I was so excited to see that Nick Malgieri's Modern Baker came with a recipe for homemade fig newtons...they've always been a favorite of mine!
It took me forever to get around to making them, though, because I couldn't find the dried Calimyrna figs that NM calls for. Finally, Phyl said that he thought regular mission figs would work, so that's what I went with.
The dough is NM's biscotti regina (I made a 1/2 recipe). The dough is rolled into long ropes, pressed out into rectangles, and then folded around the fig filling. I only had 8 ounces of figs, so I made a 1/3 recipe of the filling with figs, water, apricot preserves, dark rum, cinnamon, and cloves.
My bars baked for a long time without ever getting golden; finally when they had just a hint of color, we pulled them out. I thought the filling was spot-on for fig newtons...delicious! The outside was more like shortbread than a traditional chewy fig newton; I'm not sure if that's because I baked them for so long? Regardless, hubby and I enjoyed these!
Great close up of your fig bars! They look exactly like store-bought fig newtons!! These are next on my list to make. I always use the Sun-Maid Calimyrna figs in a bag. They are always moist, but its hard to resist popping them in my mouth before they end up in the recipe. Glad you enjoyed your fig newtons!!
ReplyDeleteThese look perfect! You are one very good fig newton maker. I'm not sure if anyone likes fig newtons here or not, I don't recall ever buying them. I've seen them, but for some reason, they were not something we ever bought. Guess we will see...we love figs.
ReplyDeleteHa! Now that I have a copy of the Modern Baker, I'm going to have to scroll through your blog to pick up tips on what to bake first! These look very nice - I made a similar recipe from the guys at Real Food Has Curves a while back, and it was to die for.. :)
ReplyDeleteThe filling sounds amazing and I'll never argue with shortbread. I grew up eating fig bars; they transport me right back to childhood.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been able to find those figs either, but I've been wanting to try these.... glad to know the regular ones work... thanks for being the guinea pig! :)
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