Fig & Orange Biscuits
If you are a cheese and fruit fan these dried fruit sweetened biscuits are quite lovely served with wedges of creamy camembert or brie. If you are not a cheese plus fruit fan these biscuits also make excellent tea dunkers. I particularly like this type of biscuit dough that is rolled into a log and chilled as it can be prepared ahead of time - up to 3 days in advance. Half of the dough can be baked, then the other half baked a few days later, or frozen for another day.
Ingredients
- 100 g butter, at room temperature
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 75 g dried figs (about ½ cup), roughly chopped
- Zest of half an orange, about 1 tsp
- 1 cup (150g) plain flour (can use gluten-free flour mix)
- ¼ cup (35g) wholemeal flour (use buckwheat flour for gluten-free)
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a food processor combine the butter, sugar and dried figs until the figs are finely chopped and the butter is creamy. (The dough could also be mixed by hand by mixing together the butter and sugar until smooth. Then finely chop the figs and mix them into the butter mixture.)
- Add the flours, spice, baking soda and salt, then pulse the processor (or mix by hand) until the mixture comes together. Scrape down the sides of the processor as needed.
- Tip the dough onto a sheet of baking paper (or beeswax wrap). Shape into a log about 5cm wide and 20cm long, by wrapping and rolling the paper around the dough. Twist the ends firmly to secure, and refrigerate for 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
- When ready to bake the biscuits, preheat the oven to 180ºC (fan 160ºC). Line a cookie tray with baking paper.
- Unwrap the dough and slice the log into 6mm thick rounds. You don’t have to bake the whole log at once. Cut as many biscuits as you want to bake, then re-wrap and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
- Arrange the biscuits on the prepared tray with 1-2cm space between each - they won’t spread a lot during cooking. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden. Cool on the tray, then store in a biscuit tin for up to 1 week. Serve with wedges of creamy cheese, or dunk into a cuppa.
Notes
*Recipe first published 22nd October 2022 in 'Your Weekend' for Stuff.co.nz