9ah-figlet
Well-known member
From Keia Mastrianni's Substack Pleasant Living
Kitchen Notes: Fig Leaves and Their Use
a surprising and intoxicatingly aromatic ingredient
pleasantliving.substack.com
Kitchen Notes: Fig Leaves and Their Use
a surprising and intoxicatingly aromatic ingredient
pleasantliving.substack.com
I made these today to bring to the DMV Fall Fig fest on Saturday, and they're pretty tasty! The description of "It’s still the sugar cookie you love, but with a little intrigue" is accurate.
I made my cookies smaller (about 1/2 oz using the pink portion Zeroll scoop) and yielded 48 cookies. At this size, they bake in about 7-8 minutes.
You need to dry and pulverize your fig leaves first (instructions at substack link above). I made my fig leaf powder when I was pinching trees. I used healthy leaves, but I wasn't particular about which variety. You also need to make the Fig Leaf Sugar by combining 2t fig leaf powder, 1/2 c sugar, and 1T sparkling sugar (optional) to roll the cookies in. I had about half of the fig leaf sugar left after making a batch of cookies.
Keia Mastrianni's Fig Leaf Sugar Cookie Recipe
Fig leaf powder adds notes of vanilla to a simple sugar cookie recipe with the perfect chew, and fig leaf sugar lends a pleasing green tint to the decorative coating. It’s still the sugar cookie you love, but with a little intrigue.This recipe is slightly adapted from a recipe in the Desserts Illustrated book. The original recipe recommends portioning the cookies two tablespoons at a time for 24 cookies, but I like a cookie the size of your face. A #16 scoop (2oz) will yield 11 large cookies.
2¼ cups (319g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons fig leaf powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
1½ cups sugar (300 g) plus ½ cup fig leaf sugar
4 tablespoons (57g) cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces
6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tablespoon whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, fig leaf powder, baking powder, soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, add 1½ cups sugar and cream cheese. Whisk in warm butter, using the whisk to break up any remaining large pieces of cream cheese. Whisk in oil, then egg, milk, and vanilla.
With a spatula, fold in flour mixture until a soft homogenous dough forms. Place fig leaf sugar in a separate bowl.
Portion the cookie dough into 2 oz. portions. You can use a #16 scoop if you have it. Roll the portioned dough into a ball and coat with fig leaf sugar by rolling it in the prepared bowl. Place dough balls 2 inches apart on the parchment-lined sheet pan . Use the bottom of a 1 cup measuring cup to press the dough balls into a circle. I recommend giving these cookies plenty of space on the sheet pan, being careful not to place them to close to the baking sheet edge lest they butt up against it and lose their shape. A perfectly round sugar cookie is a thing of beauty.
One sheet at a time, bake cookies in the center rack of the oven for 11 to 13 minutes, rotating halfway through. The cookies will spread and take on the slightest bit of color around the edges. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before handling. They will be too pliable at first, but will settle into a perfectly chewy sugar cookie once cooled.
too bad I can't be there tomorrow to try these.
