Jammy Date and Fig Swirls

I've been on a cookie roll (ba dun ch!) the past week or so, thanks in no small part to Lottie + Doof's killer annual 12 days of cookies series on his blog. While I tend toward salty-sweet, chocolaty, coffee-y, and other darkly flavored cookies and baked goods, Tim has a lot of fruit-filled, unique flavors in his repertoire that are always intriguing. These cookies don't sound all that special on the Epicurious post where the recipe is originally from, but Tim's praise and photos made them seem like an amazing, modernized Fig Newton, and that they are! The cream cheese- and butter-dough has a light anise flavor that even my anise-averse pal thought delicious, and the fig and date purée bakes up into a deep, jammy filling that is so delicious both hot out the oven and cooled the next day.

Plus, these cookies are total stunners. I brought them to a holiday party at Ginger Root -- a local artisan boutique run by two awesome ladies where I also sell earrings -- and the plate of swirls got a lot of love, 'specially among the folks slinging back the punch while they shopped. Whether on your dessert table at home or scattered among designer wares, these cookies are appropriately holidayish and easy to love.

Jammy Date and Fig Swirls

Adapted from Gourmet via Lottie + Doof

The precision in the directions might seem fussy to some, but don't worry too much about being perfect -- the cookies will turn out lovely no matter what size your rectangles and rolls are.

1 cup packed soft dried figs (8 oz), stemmed and coarsely chopped

1 cup packed pitted dates (7 oz), trimmed and coarsely chopped

1/3 cup water

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons anise seeds, ground in an electric coffee/spice grinder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

4 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg yolk

1/4 cup large-granulated raw sugar

1.  Purée figs and dates with water and two tablespoons granulated sugar in a blender or food processor until almost smooth.  

2.  Whisk together flour, anise, baking powder and soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat together butter, cream cheese, and remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at moderate speed until pale and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in vanilla and yolk until combined well. Add flour mixture and mix at low speed until just combined.

3.  Halve dough and form each half into a rectangle. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about one hour.

4.  Roll out one piece of dough between two sheets of wax paper into a roughly nine- by seven-inch rectangle, about one-third-inch thick. Remove top sheet of wax paper and drop half of fig mixture by spoonfuls onto dough, then gently spread in an even layer, leaving a one-fourth-inch border around edges. Starting with a long side and using wax paper as an aid, roll up dough jelly-roll style into a log. Roll log in raw sugar to coat completely. Make another log in same manner. Chill logs, wrapped in wax paper, until firm, at least four hours, or well-wrapped up to three days.

5.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut logs crosswise into one-third-inch-thick slices and arrange slices about two inches apart on baking sheets that are lightly buttered or lined with parchment paper. Bake in batches in middle of oven until pale golden, 15 to 17 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool. (Tanglewood note: Gourmet recommends strongly that you bake only one sheet at a time in the exact center of the oven; I did this, but I don't really know how crucial it is.) Cookies will keep layered between parchment paper in an airtight container for up to one week.