Delicious Sicilian Cuccidati (Italian Fig Cookies) Recipe

Cuccidati are Sicilian Christmas cookies made from a rich shortcrust pastry dough flavored with orange zest and a sweet fig filling. They're popular during the holiday season in Italy and also in the United States and are one type of traditional Italian cookies that are absolutely worth trying. Cuccidati are less sweet than modern mass-produced cookies, but the sweetness lingers at the finish of each bite, and the moist fig filling contains toasted nuts, dark chocolate, raisins, warm spices, apricot jam, and Marsala wine for a complex flavor.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a recipe for cuccidati that breaks down the original Italian method into a number of short, easy-to-follow steps. Traditionally, these cookies are made in many different shapes. This recipe makes both half-moon cookies (half of which are scored) and sliced cookies from a pastry tube, so you end up with three different looks for variety, all with the same great taste.

We won't say these cookies are quick to make, but if for a festive occasion, we think the effort is worth it. That's why Sicilians make a big batch to last the whole Christmas season. In fact, our recipe yields 90 cookies. You can refrigerate or freeze them to make them last longer, or halve the recipe for a smaller batch. Our tip: make the dough and filling the day before for a deeper flavor. Enjoy them during the holiday season or whenever you want a delicious traditional treat.

For this recipe, you'll first make a fig filling. You will need almonds, walnuts, dried figs, dark chocolate, raisins, unsweetened cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, jam, Marsala wine, and salt. While we use almonds and walnuts, you can use a mixture of any of your favorite nuts, including hazelnuts and pistachios. The jam flavors we recommend are apricot, peach, or orange. You can sub honey for Marsala wine if you prefer.

For the pastry dough, you will need baker's ammonia, 2% milk, 00 flour, salt, unsalted butter, sugar, orange zest, a large egg and 2 large egg yolks, and vanilla extract. Original Sicilian shortcrust pastry is made with lard. We've substituted butter, but you can use lard or half lard and half butter for an original texture if desired. We recommend using an organic orange to grate the zest because regular orange peels are treated with chemicals. If you decide to halve the recipe, weigh the whole beaten egg and remove half the weight so you use the right amount.

The icing is the last part of the recipe. Make sure you have powdered sugar, salt, an egg white, and lemon juice on hand. Finally, you'll use color sprinkles to decorate the cookies.

Place all the nuts in a large dry skillet on medium and toast, shaking the pan or stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

Boil a medium pot of water and immediately pour the water into a heat-safe bowl.

Place the figs in the water and let them soak for 15 minutes.

Add the baker's ammonia to the milk, stir, and let it dissolve. Set aside.

Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix quickly with a fork.

Add the butter and pinch it into the flour with your fingers until the butter is broken up into small pieces and coated in flour and the mixture is crumbly.

Add the sugar and orange zest to the bowl and mix with a fork.

Add the egg and egg yolks and mix them into the flour with a fork until the mixture forms large crumbly pieces.

Add the milk and vanilla and mix with your hands until the dough starts to stick together and form large, soft pieces.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Press and knead it to form a smooth ball. Be patient as your hands' heat melts the butter and helps it stick together. Add milk a teaspoon at a time if it's still crumbly after a couple minutes.

Cut the dough in half. Reshape one piece into a flattened ball and the other into a flattened rectangle. Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Drain the figs well, remove the stems, and cut the figs into large pieces.

Place the figs in a food processor and process until they form a paste. Transfer the figs to a large bowl.

Place the nuts in the food processor and pulse until roughly chopped.

Add the dark chocolate and pulse until the nuts and chocolate are broken down into small pieces. Transfer them to the bowl with the figs.

Add the raisins, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, jam, Marsala, and salt to the bowl and mix until the mixture is thick but soft and moist. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Roll out the round piece of dough on a lightly floured surface until it's slightly less than ¼ inch thick.

Cut out discs with a round cookie cutter with a diameter of about 2½ inches.

Place a spoonful of filling (about 1½ teaspoons) in the center of each disc.

Fold the discs in half and pinch the edges firmly to seal them. Roll the scraps into a flattened ball and refrigerate until firm enough to roll out and make additional cookies.

Leave half of the sealed discs as is and score the curved edges of the other half with scissors. Set the cookies aside on two parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

Bake for 16-19 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, cut the rectangular piece of dough in half. Roll one half into a long, thin rectangle.

Spoon filling along the center of the dough lengthwise. 

Trim the 2 short edges even with the filling and trim one long edge into a straight line

Starting with the untrimmed edge, fold up the 2 long sides of the dough to cover the filling, overlapping and pressing the edges to seal them. Turn the piece upside down and lightly roll it under your hands to further seal the seam.

Slice the filled dough into 1-1¼-inch pieces and place the pieces on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Prepare the second rectangular piece in the same way.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Lower the oven to 275 F.

Place the powdered sugar, salt, and egg white in a medium bowl and mix with a fork.

Add the lemon juice and stir with a fork until a dense icing forms. Add a very small amount of water (about a teaspoon) if needed.

Dip one cookie at a time upside down into the icing to coat the top. Let them drip before placing them back on the baking sheet right side up.

Bake for about 5 minutes until the icing dries. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Brush the top of each cookie with a small amount of water and top with colored sprinkles.

Serve and enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for about a week.

Cuccidati are popular Christmas cookies from Sicily that have a long tradition in the region. Their official name is buccellati, but they're called cuccidati in Sicilian dialect (and spelled cucciddati in Italy). The shape, size, and final decoration of the cookies can vary depending whose making them. You can find small doughnuts, half moons, short slices from long tubes, and longer slices from tubes that are either flattened or raised high in peaks. The dough can be left plain or scored to create slits that allow the dark fig filling to show though. The cookies can be left plain, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or covered with icing, sprinkles, crumbled pistachios, or candied fruit. No matter the form, the delicious basic recipe is similar everywhere.

The process starts with Sicilian shortcrust pastry dough. The filling is based on dried figs, and Sicilian families often start the process by drying their own figs in the summertime. The figs are mixed with assorted nuts like almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and hazelnuts as well as raisins, chocolate, jam, spices, and Marsala wine, but some people make alternative fillings, for example with almond paste, jam, and chocolate chips. Families make large batches over the course of two days and enjoy them for the entire Italian Christmas period from the Immaculate Conception on December 8 to the Epiphany on January 6.

This cuccidati recipe uses baker's ammonia as a leavening agent. Modern baked goods tend to call for baking powder or baking soda, so if you've never seen this secret ingredient for vintage or heritage cookies before, you're not alone. However, baker's ammonia, which is technically ammonium carbonate, has been used since the Middle Ages. It was first made from the residue of burned animal horns, antlers, and hooves. You may still find it under its original German name, hartshorn. The substance is now made synthetically but baking powder and baking soda largely replaced it once they became supermarket staples.

If you've made German springerle cookies or Scandinavian treats like Swedish drömmar, you've probably used baker's ammonia. It's what gives vintage-style cookies a special texture, making them both light and fluffy and crispy and crunchy at the same time.

Resist the urge to open the bottle and take a whiff. Ammonium carbonate has a very strong, pungent odor that's noticeable even when working with it at arm's length. Open a window and ventilate your kitchen while you work. Don't try to use baker's ammonia in cake recipes or wet batters. It can only be used in thin, drier doughs which allow the ammonia to evaporate. That's why there's no odor or aftertaste once the cookies are baked and cooled. Do not taste raw dough made with this ingredient, and keep the container tightly closed to prevent evaporation.