Fig Newtons or Fig Rolls?

 Fig Newtons

Called Fig Newtons in the U.S.A and Fig Rolls in the U.K, these are a cross between a cake and a cookie, made with an almost soft cake like pastry and filled with a moist fig filling.


Fig rolls are made from a short pastry which is filled with a fig paste, originating from Egypt where they are still a very popular treat. While in Europe and the rest of the world the pastries are known as Fig Rolls and are produced by the Britannia companies in India.
However the American Fig Newton was introduced by Charles Roser, during the development of industrial production, to the Kennedy Biscuit Company. He called them Newtons after the local town of Newton, Massachusetts. The Kennedy Biscuit Company later merged with the New York Biscuit Company to form Nabisco, who trade marked the product as Fig Newtons*

Fig Newtons are made from a pastry which is more cake like while being soft and chewy in texture. While the Fig Rolls are made from a short pastry dough and are more crumbly.

Here are recipes for both for you to try and see which you prefer
Fig Newtons
200g S/R Flour
100g Butter
75g sugar
25g honey
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/4tsp salt
2tsp Vanilla Extract
large pinch of ground cinnamon
1tsp Orange zest
3 Egg yolks
2-3 tbsp of orange juice

Filling
300g dried figs
50g apple sauce
3-4tbsp honey
1/4 tsp cinnamon

For Fresh Fig Filling
2 - 3lbs Fresh Figs (depending on how much filling you use), Quartered
4tbsp Honey
1/4tsp cinnamon
1/4cup water
Boil all the ingredients on a low/medium heat until you get a semi dry mix, blend to get a smooth paste and then bring back to the heat to remove any excess liquid making sure not to over cook the figs

Sift the flour and salt, set aside
Cream the butter and sugar along with the honey, baking soda, vanilla, cinnamon and orange zest, until pale and fluffy
While continuously whisking gradually add in the egg yolks, mixing well after each addition.
Add all the flour and the orange juice (start with 2tbsp) and mix until well combine, the dough will be soft and wet (if not then add in the extra tbsp of orange juice).
Cover your worktop with clingfilm/plastic wrap (enough to wrap the pastry mix)
Scrape your pastry into the middle of the clingfilm, wrap once and flatten then wrap with remaining clingfilm and refrigerate for a minimum of 5 hours or overnight
The pastry will still be soft but more manageable.
For the filling
Place all the ingredients into a blender/processor and pulse until all the mix is smooth (the mixture will be paste like. Put mix into a piping bag with a plain basket weave tip or corner snip the piping bag
To roll the pastry, dust the rolling surface heavily with flour to prevent sticking and dust the dough.
Dust frequently while rolling and turning pastry. Roll pastry to 1/4inch thickness rectangular strip.
Cut into 3.5inch x 7inch strips, this size fits my baking sheet but you can roll the length of your strip to fit your baking sheet (this will making handling easier later on).
Remove any excess flour from pastry. Pipe filling into the middle of each strip, my filling is about 1inch in width and 1/4inch thick.
I find this ratio works well but you can make it thinner or thicker.
Roll the one long end of pastry over the filling and then roll the folded end over the flap of pastry. The dough will be doubled where the two strips overlap at the bottom, this will give you the classic bowed newtons shape.
Dust off any excess flour from the cookies, place onto prepared baking sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes until the cookies have puffed up, lightly browned and are firm to the touch. Continue to cook for a few more minutes if the cookies are moist or not puffed up.
Remove cookie strips from oven and straight away trim each strip into 5 even sized (about 1-1.5inch) long cookies.
While the cookies are still warm, place in a air tight container or zip-loc bag and seal tightly. If you stack them then place a sheet of parchment between each stack. Sealing the cookies while still warm will slightly steam them. This gives them the soft cake like texture while skipping this step will make your cookies more drier.
Store at room temperature for about 2 weeks, though they will not last this long!!!

To make Fig Slices
Split your pastry dough into two equal amounts, Place one piece of the pastry in the freezer for about 2hours or longer so that you can grate it easily.
Use a 8inch x 6icnh x 1inch baking tray, grease and dust heavily with flour.
Take the remaining piece of pastry and flatten into the tray using your hands, making sure it is evenly flattened. The pastry should come up to about 1/3 of the way up, place the tray in the fridge for as long as your frozen pastry is in the freezer.
Spread the fig mixture evenly over the pastry 
Then grate the frozen pastry over the fig mixture and make sure to spread it out evenly.
Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, should slightly puff up and be lightly golden brown. if still moist in the middle then bake for a bit longer
While still hot cut in half lengthwise and then cut into slices, I get 24 slices in total.

 Fresh Fig Rolls

Fig Rolls
125g Plain flour
125g Plain Wholemeal Flour
150g Lightly Salted Butter, softened
75g Light Brown Caster Sugar
2 Egg yolk
1tsp Vanilla extract

Rub the sifted flours (along with the bran) with the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs
Mix in the sugar, vanilla extract and the egg yolks to make a firm dough (you may require some water or an extra egg yolk to bring the dough together). Wrap in clingfilm/plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough to 1/4inch thickness rectangular shape and then cut into 3.5inch x7inch strips on well dusted worktop to prevent the pastry sticking.
Pipe the fig paste into the middle of each strip and fold one end over the filling, then fold the folded end over again so that the overlap is at the bottom. Dust of any excess flour and flatten each strip slightly and then prick with a fork or score with a knife
Cut each strip into 1inch biscuits, you should get around 20, place biscuits on a greased baking sheet.
Bake for 12 - 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 190c/gas 5 until lightly browned
For the Filling, use the same quantity as for the Newton recipe.

Fig Rolls

Use other fruits to vary the fillings and add ground nuts to give you a variety in tastes and textures. You can also use this recipe to make fig slices, by dividing the dough into two and roll each piece to fit your baking pan. Place one piece of rolled out dough into the prepared baking pan and prick with a fork before topping with your filling. Cover with the second piece of rolled dough and then bake in a preheated oven for about 15-20minutes or until lightly browned. Check to make sure the bake is cooked all the way through, you may need a longer cooking time. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before cutting into slices.

So which is your favorite and why?

 


*source material is from Wikipedia