Cuccidati (or cucciddati) are a traditional Sicilian Christmas cookie made with shortcrust dough and filled with a delicious blend of dried figs, raisins, chocolate, nuts, jam, and marsala wine.
Whether you need a cookie to add to your Christmas menu, or you just want a delicious treat to share at your next gathering, Italian fig cookies are the perfect option. You can think of them as fig newtons (but so much better!), as they have similar ingredients and flavors. They’re decadent, sweet, and moist–a homemade dessert that’s always popular during the Christmas season.
Here’s why you should add these fig-filled cookies to your holiday table:
- They’re as traditional as it gets. If you’re into traditional Italian cookies, this is a good one to make from scratch, as the recipe is very unique and sure to be a crowd pleaser!
- They taste like Christmas. Cucciddati features ingredients that have warm, seasonal flavors, including figs, cinnamon, and chocolate.
- They’re easy to store. These cookies keep at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. They were developed a very long time ago when freezers didn’t exist, so they were made to last a long time.
- You can make them your own. Make changes to the cookies based on your preferences! There are many recipes for cuccidati out there, and every family makes them different. Don’t want the marsala? Skip it! Don’t want to add candied fruit? You can skip that too.
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🍫 Ingredients you’ll need
- For the dough: flour, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, baking powder, whole milk
- For the filling: dried figs, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, apricot jam, marsala wine, candied orange and lemon peel, semi-sweet chocolate chips, raisins, orange zest, cinnamon
- For the glaze: powdered sugar, egg white, lemon juice, sprinkles
📋 How to make Cuccidati: Step by Step
Make the dough
In the bowl of a KitchenAid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour and butter. Mix until the butter is incorporated into flour and sand-like in texture.
Add the butter, eggs, and baking powder and mix again. Next, add the milk. At this point, the dough should come together in a ball (photo 1)
Remove the dough from the bowl, form it into a ball, cover in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for approximately 30 minutes (photo 2)
Make the filling
Soak the figs and raisins separately in warm water for about 30 minutes (photo 3). Drain and place on a dish towel and pat dry. Cut the stems off the figs.
Toast all the nuts in a pan over medium heat until fragrant (photo 4), then process them in a food processor until coarse (photo 5)
Add the figs, marsala and jam to the food processor (photo 6) and process until a paste starts to form. Add the candied fruit, chocolate, and raisins. Process again.
Add the cinnamon and orange peel, and process one final time. The consistency should be that of a thick paste (photo 9) Note you may have to work in two batches if the food processor is not large enough to fit all ingredients.
Assemble and bake the cookies
Remove the dough from the fridge, cut off a piece of the dough and roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle shape until about 3mm thick (photo 9)
Place one quarter of the filling lengthwise on the dough and fold the dough over the filling creating a seam (photo 10). Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
Place the log seam side down and cut into 1-inch pieces. Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet (photo 11) and bake at 350F for approximately 20-25 minutes, until golden on the bottom. Let cool.
Once the cookies are cool, make the glaze: In a bowl with a fork, mix together powdered sugar, egg white, and lemon juice.
Dip the tops of the cookies in the glaze (photo 12), and top with sprinkles immediately. Let the glaze harden. Serve and enjoy!
💬 FAQ
Cuccidati is a Sicilian dialect word, used to describe Sicilian Italian fig cookies that are filled with dried figs, nuts, jam, candied fruit, chocolate, and cinnamon.
Cuccidati is also known as buccellati, Italian fig cookies, or Sicilian fig cookies.
Cuccidati originated in southern Italy and Sicily in areas that have a strong Arab influence. It’s a very old cookie recipe, most likely developed hundreds of years ago. Italian fig cookies were originally served at Christmastime which is why the continue to be so popular during the holiday season.
🍽 How to store
One of the best parts about cuccidati is how easy they are to store. You can keep them at room temperature for up to 3 weeks, as the fig filling keeps them moist. For the best quality, they should be stored in a cake stand or airtight container.
📖 Freezing cuccidati
Whether you have leftover cuccidati from your holiday celebrations, or you want to make a big batch ahead of Christmastime, you can keep the cookies frozen for up to 3-4 months. Simply let them thaw at room temperature before enjoying!
💭 Top tips
- Figs to use: You can use turkish dried fish (light brown in color), or mission dried figs. Both will work well. Turkish figs are more commonly used in this recipe.
- Depending on the size of your food processor, you may have to work in batches to make the filling.
- Add the sprinkles to the cookies as soon as you dip the cookie in the glaze. The glaze hardens quickly, so the sprinkles won’t stick if you wait too long
🍪 More Italian cookie recipes
If you’ve tried making these Cuccidati, or any other recipe on the blog please let me know what you thought of it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’ve been up to.
Recipe
Cuccidati – Italian Fig Cookies
Cuccidati (or cucciddati) are a traditional Sicilian Christmas cookie made with short crust dough and filled with a delicious blend of dried figs, raisins, chocolate, nuts, jam, and marsala wine.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 3.5 cups 00 flour
- 1/2 cup +2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup whole milk
For the filling
- 3 cups dried figs
- 1/3 cup shelled pistachios unsalted
- 1/2 cup walnuts unsalted
- 1/3 cup natural almonds unsalted
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts unsalted
- 1/3 cup apricot jam
- 1/4 cup marsala wine
- 1/3 cup candied orange and lemon peel
- 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup raisins
- zest of half an orange
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
For the glaze
- 1 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp powdered sugar sifted
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- multicolored sprinkles
Instructions
Make the dough
-
In the bowl of a KitchenAid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour and butter. Mix until butter is incorporated into flour and is sand-like in texture.
-
Add the butter, eggs and baking powder and mix again. Add the milk, and at this point the dough should come together into a ball.
-
Remove the dough from the bowl, form it into a ball, cover in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for approximately 30 minutes.
Make the filling
-
Soak the figs and raisins separately in warm water for about 30 minutes. Drain and place on a dish towel and pat dry. Cut the stems off the figs.
-
Toast all the nuts in a pan over medium heat until fragrant.
-
Add the buts to a food processor and process until coarse.
-
Add the figs, marsala and jam to the food processor and process until a paste starts to form.
-
Add the candied fruit, chocolate and raisins. Process again.
-
Add the cinnamon and orange peel, and process one final time. The consistency should be that of a thick paste. Note you may have to work in two batches if food processor is not large enough to fit all ingredients.
Assemble and bake the cookies
-
Remove the dough from the fridge, cut off a piece of the dough and roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle shape until about 3mm thick.
-
Place one quarter of the filling lengthwise on the dough and fold the dough over the filling creating a seam. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
-
Place the log seem side down and cut into 1 inch pieces.
-
Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350F for approximately 20-25 minutes, until golden on the bottom. Let cool.
-
Once cookies are cool, make the glaze: In a bowl with a fork, mix together powdered sugar, egg white and lemon juice.
-
Dip the tops of the cookies in the glaze, and top with sprinkles immediately. Let the glaze harden. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Figs to use: You can use turkish dried fish (light brown in color), or mission dried figs. Both will work well. Turkish figs are more commonly used in this recipe.
- Depending on the size of your food processor, you may have to work in batches to make the filling.
- Add the sprinkles to the cookies as soon as you dip the cookie in the glaze. The glaze hardens quickly, so the sprinkles won’t stick if you wait too long
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