These fig and orange roll-up cookies are lightly crispy on the outside, soft and bursting with flavor on the inside. Vegan and Gluten-Free.
1. Making the Filling:
Place the dried figs and orange/tangerine juice in a small bowl together and set aside for about 1/2 an hour to soak and soften.
Then add the soaked figs (along with any unabsorbed juice) as well as all the other filling ingredients in a small food processor and process to combine everything into a thick spread consistency (you want it to be easily spreadable, not runny. So if it's on the runny side add a bit more cashew butter and process again.
2. Making the dough:
Process all cookie dough ingredients in a food processor until the mixture begins to form a ball (note if the mixture is too sticky, add a bit more flour, if too dry, add a bit more maple syrup).
Form the mixture into a ball with your hands and knead briefly, then flatten into a disk.
Place the disk between two sheets of parchment paper on a flat surface and use a rolling pin to roll out into an ⅛” thickness, and roughly the shape of a rectangle. Remove the top layer of parchment and set aside (leaving the base resting on the bottom parchment sheet for now).
3. Assembly:
Spread the filling mixture in a thin layer over the dough, leaving about 1/2 an inch clean all around the edges. Note: you'll have some mixture leftover (about 1/4 cup or so) which is normal, just set it aside and use it as a spread :)
Starting at on long edge of the rectangle, carefully roll up the two layers into a long, tight log (I use the bottom sheet of parchment paper to help by lifting one of the sides of the rolled out dough and rolling it up from there).
Wrap the log tightly in the parchment paper it was sitting on and place in the freezer for 1 hour to firm up slightly (this will help the filling layer not to be too runny for the slicing stage).
4. Baking:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside for a moment.
Remove the cookie log from the freezer, carefully place it on a cutting board and unwrap it. Cut it into slices that are just under an inch thick, and carefully place the cookies on the baking tray (positioned as though they are still rolled up into a log, i.e. not on their side). You should get somewhere close to 11 cookies (plus 2 edge pieces).
Bake for 15-16 minutes until the cookies are nice and golden.
Remove the tray from oven and allow the cookies to cool (they will firm up a bit as they cool). If desired, sprinkle with some powdered non-dairy milk (cashew or coconut milk powders are great for this; or alternatively use icing sugar if you prefer). Enjoy!
* Use dried figs that are fully dehydrated (i.e. typical grocery store dried figs and not the kinds that are sold as "dried" but labelled "soft and juicy", etc.). The reason you want them on the fully dry side is so they absorb more of the orange juice in and blend into a thick filling consistency. Otherwise you might end up with a filling that's too runny, which will make for messy cookies.
** I like these with tangerine juice (I used homemade), but the recipe works great with pulpy orange juice as well.
Find it online: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/fig-orange-roll-up-cookies/