Fresh Fig Newtons
These homemade Fresh Fig Newtons use fresh figs and a cookie dough that has just a hint of orange-- just like the store-bought cookie. Soft and full of fruit.
These cookies were a happy accident. And YES. Fig Newtons ARE cookies in my world. Not cake.
Soft orangey shortbread wrapped around figgy jam... oh man Fig Newtons are good.
I will readily admit that if I am left unattended with a book and that bright yellow package I am likely to mindlessly eat every single one. Well maybe I would leave a couple. But only so no one would blame me for eating the last cookie.
We stopped by a local produce stand that sits just around the corner from us; I've been trying to get there for a while.
They sell plants, and fresh vegetables, and nuts by the pound. There are flowers, and wind chimes, and handcrafted cedar Adirondack chairs. This place is right up my alley.
I grinned at Chad while I loaded the back seat of our car with hanging baskets, oregano plants, and a six pack of jubilee watermelons that are already bearing tiny little fruits. He humors my slight obsession with buying plant life every time I see it. I think it's so I don't roll my eyes at the amount of money he spends on parts for his remote controlled randomness.
The owners were a friendly couple eager to help us, and we fell into a lengthy conversation about this and that.
Chit chat finally landed on the figs they had for sale that no one knew what to do with. The fig tree is yielding at an alarming rate and the fruit is ripening faster than anyone can eat the fresh figs. They told us they thought they would sell more figs if people had ideas about what to do with them. AND THEN they gifted us a whole basket to experiment with!
I returned home happy, HAPPY, HAPPY because not only did I acquire a carload of plants to fuss with, I got myself a kitchen project, too!
I'll be honest ... I've never made anything with figs.
I spent a few hours surfing around with my laptop finding gorgeous fig salads with goat cheese and delicate fig tarts. And while those fig recipes are beautiful and definitely have a tasty place in this world, that place IS NOT HERE in the land of fried chicken, pinto beans, and Sundrop.
So I settled on cookies. More specifically, Fig Newtons. From Scratch.
Everyone likes cookies, right?
If you don't like cookies I'm not sure we can be friends anymore. Sorry bout that.
So I sliced up the figs and put them into a heavy-bottomed saucepan with some brown sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla.
After 40 or 50 minutes of simmering and a little bit of stirring/smashing the larger pieces with the back of a fork, my fresh figs turned into a gooey jam that was deliciously sticky and sweet. I had to talk myself out of smearing it on toast.
Twice.
I stowed the jam away in a jar while I worked on my cookie crust. The jam can be made ahead. It will keep in the fridge for 3-ish days. Less if you make toast.
The dough gets divided; half is pressed into the pan to bake and half is pressed or rolled out and set aside in the freezer while it waits its turn. I pressed mine out in between two generously buttered pieces of foil. Parchment paper IS DEFINITELY better, but you hafta work with what you've got. Am I right?
When the baked bottom layer comes out of the oven, spread the fig filling evenly across it. Then lick the spoon.
Go get the top layer of pressed out cookie dough from the freezer. Carefully peel it from between the foil or parchment paper.
As you can see, my dough is very ugly and broke apart in places.
That's because this is real life.
And it's cool. Because when it bakes, it all melts together. No one will ever know it wasn't perfect.
Except in the case of mine because I published my imperfections on the internet.
After baking and cooling completely, I lifted the foil out and sliced my Newtons into little cookie-sized bars. You see? No evidence of the uncooperative cookie dough anywhere.
Of course we promptly returned to the produce stand with a bag full of these cookies and a copy of the recipe. I hope they enjoyed them. We didn't wanna be creepy and make them try the cookies while we stood there to judge the reaction.
But my verdict is: WIN!!!
I absolutely love them. You will, too.
Other Fig Recipes to Love
- Bacon Wrapped Figs are an appetizer favorite. Seriously so simple and great for feeding a crowd.
- Feels Fancy Figgy Chicken is SO EASY, but it's a recipe that feels fancy. Great for dinner parties or impressing a date.
Fresh Fig Newtons
Fresh Fig Newton are a homemade version of the popular store bought cookies, made with fresh figs!
Ingredients
Filling
- 16 fresh figs; washed, dried, and quartered
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Cookie Crust
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup butter, at room temperature (12 tablespoons)
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 2 eggs
- 4 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
- In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, make the filling. Bring the figs, ½ cup brown sugar, lemon zest, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to a low boil, stirring as needed.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 40-50 minutes, occasionally smashing the larger pieces with the back of a fork and stirring. They will cook down and thicken with a jam-like consistency.
- Remove the filling from the heat and cool completely. See Note**
- Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 X 13 baking dish, then line with parchment paper or foil then butter the parchment or foil. Use plenty of butter.
- In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and 1 ½ cups brown sugar until it’s fluffy. Add the orange zest and eggs. Beat on medium until the dough comes together. Then stir in the vanilla.
- Gradually incorporate the flour mixture with the mixer on low. The dough will be sticky.
- Butter two “pan-sized” pieces of foil or parchment paper, measure 1 ½ cups of the dough out, and roll or press the dough in between the pieces. This will be your top crust, so get it into a rectangle-ish shape if you can. Put it in the freezer.
- Press the remaining dough into the prepared baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes. It will be pretty and golden brown.
- Spread the fig filling across the baked crust and then get the top crust out of the freezer.
- Gently peel the foil or paper away from the frozen cookie crust and then place it over the top of the fig filling. Pat any stray crust pieces into place.
- Bake for another 20-25 minutes. Watch it closely! The top will turn a nice golden color.
- Let the whole thing cool completely in the pan, on a wire rack if you have one. Once cooled, lift the parchment (or foil) out of the pan and slice into squares.
Notes
- The fig filling can be made ahead stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Recommended Products
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Viking Contemporary 3-Ply Stainless Steel Saucepan with Lid, 2.4 Quart -
Emile Henry Made In France HR Modern Classics Large Rectangular Baker, 13 x 9", Blue -
200 Count Precut Parchment Baking Paper - Unbleached Parchment Paper for Baking, Half Sheet Pans - Non-Stick Baking Parchment Sheets, Brown, 12 x 16 Inches
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Cholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
(adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures HERE and HERE, and then I referenced about 351 more fig newton recipes, including Fig Squares from my fave kitchen bible, Cook's Illustrated The New Best Recipe.)
Origins
Are you still with me allllll the way down here? If yes, then I'll take this time to share a little more with you about this recipe.
It was originally published in June of 2012. This was my very first time working with fresh figs. I've made this recipe many MANY times since I originally published, and many of you have made it, too. It has gotten pretty rave reviews from the makers AND the eaters.
Fresh Fig Newtons are very old fashioned. This isn't a quick recipe but it will sooooo not disappoint. I edited this post in August 2018 with some new photos, and I touched up the directions to make the language more concise. There were pieces that seemed confusing, and I had more than one reader be extra confused about the original measurement of "6 fresh figs". That should have been 16 - I'm sorry! Typos are the worst. You can actually get away with around 12-14 figs here, and pro tip: If the filling seems too thick, add a dash more lemon juice.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
It would be very helpful if you measured the cut-up figs by saying a cup or cup ½ or whatever the measurement actually is instead of saying 16 figs - reason? We have two different sized fig trees/bushes and one has figs the sized of Clementines and the other one has smaller about the size of a large cherry or a colossal black olive - so 16 is not helpful.
I didn't have very good luck with the top "crust" but they tasted very good when finished even though not as pretty.
I'll do you one better! https://www.sugardishme.com/what-is-the-filling-in-a-fig-newton/
I break it down in ounces ?
Fantastic recipe! My neighbor came over with a bag of fresh figs from his fig tree and I hate to waste -- so, I looked on the internet and found sugardishme.com. Heather, I also live in the land of fried chicken and Sundrop, (And Cheerwine.) so I love your humor and down-home phrasing. I can't believe how delicious these home-made fig newtons are! Thanks for your fun-to-read commentary and sharing this amazing recipe.
Thank you so so much, Zoe!
I have made the last 2 years and just made a double batch.... These cookies are not quick, but oh my the crust has that softness that comes really close to a true Fig Newton, and for me that is extra special b/c I am gluten intolerant; I use Jules GF flour. I did something different with my figs this time. Fig newtons taste like they use dried figs, so when a neighbor gave me some large figs, I knew dehydrating them would take too long, but I cut them in half, put them on parchment and slow roasted them in a low oven for a couple of hours... I put them in the processor and then cooked on the stove with sugar to make the filling. Yummy with a bit of the dried fig more intense flavor. I have also frozen both the filling and the completed cookies and both freeze great! Thanks so much for coming up with a recipe that so closely mirrors the real McCoy--All your tips are super helpful. One final suggestion for those with loads of figs. I borrowed a dehydrator and dried lots of them. I'm not confident that they are dry enough to be shelf stable so I have them in bags in the freezer---such a yummy healthy snack!
These are such great tips! I am not a great GF baker and I appreciate so much when readers show up to lend a hand. Thank you!
@Beverley, thanks for your tip! I just made these and they are delicious!
Wow, these came out DELICIOUS!! I didn't have oranges so I used lemon zest in the dough as well. I also only had a 9x9 that would fit into my toaster oven so it was a bit thicker but worked well! Thank you!!
Just made this recipe and putting crust in to bake.
I had a hard time spreading the dough .
No one else mentioned this in comments.Is that just me?
Should dough be chilled before trying to spread??
Yes I made this recipe but with a GF/Vegan twist. I substituted the flours with Cloud-9 GF 1-1 mix, instead of butter I used a mix of vegan shortning and buttery spread, used coconut palm sugar instead of brown, used all lemon zest (cannot have oranges) and used Bob's Red Mill egg replacer. They turned out nice. I froze most of the recipe. This softens the crust a bit but it is still yummy. You don't specify what size figs nor how much filling you will end up with, and as we have 8 different types of all sizes I just took a guess on the number.
Thank you for sharing this recipe - and with updates!! I have a fig tree in my garden that I purposefully planted almost nine years ago. I love figs but besides eating them with herb goat cheese, honey and pistachios I didn't know what else to do with them. This recipe filled that void! Those who have tried them so far have LOVED them. Thanks again 😉
These are absolutely amazing. I have been handing them out to all my friends,with rave reviews. Now I have to make another batch because my husband and I love them so much. I measured my baking dish on the parchment paper with a pen and then rolled it out to the exact size and chilled it. Easy way to plop on the top crust.
Should the finished fig newtons be refrigerated (so the filling doesn't go bad) or will that dry out the crust? If left out of the fridge, how long do they last? I'm planning to give these as gifts but I may have to mail some. I'm trying to figure out if they will make it to the person before going bad or stale.
Yummy! Thanks for recipe. Great detail. Will double fig next batch. Thanks
made these and next day these are delicious
Just made these. I live in the UK and have a monster fig tree in my back garden that produces fruit from July through to October, and after so much jam and chutney I struggle to find a use for them. Most Fig Newton recipes use dried figs, so this was quite the find.
And they are lush! I used a few more figs than the recipe suggested (ALL THE DAMN FIGS!!!) and I used mainly dark brown sugar so they came out a bit darker than yours (and probably a little more caramelly in flavour) but I'm very pleased with the result. Putting the top layer in the freezer is a trick I'm going to try for my pies in future too, so thank for that ingenious tip.
They are a bit more cake than biscuit at the moment but that's probably because I was too impatient and have eaten a couple while still warm! Whoops!
Thanks! Will definitely be searching for more of your recipes!
You’re hilarious and I can’t wait to try this recipe with my plethora of figs! Thanks!!
Ha - Thank you, Suzi!
Do these need to be stored in the fridge or can they be left out in an airtight container?
These are so great! I made several batches last summer and froze some. We would pull a couple bars out and gently defrosted them in the microwave. Warm fig newtons were such a wonderful winter treat!! I'm filling the freezer with them this summer.
@Kristi, I was wondering how these would freeze. I love freezing baked goods for future use and warm fig newtons on a cold wintery day sounds amazing!! Thanks for sharing your experience.