the third law of motion

for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.    take, for instance, standing in the library checkout line. Sherry Yards book ‘desserts by the yard’ in hand. open the book, random selection, fig bars. done.  i had to make them. how long has it been since you have had one?  i say this reaction, proved to be a fruitful one .i used the vanilla sugar in the dough instead of vanilla extract or scraping a vanilla bean. but feel free to use what you have on hand. if i make these again i would also substitute a half cup of whole wheat flour to the dough. it would deepen the color and its healthier. if, in fact,  a cookie can be ‘healthier’. you also dont have to be as OCD when rolling out the dough. i used a ruler and actually marked the parchment paper. hey, i remember my ‘newtons’ looking a certain way- little perfect squares of crunchy figgy goodness.    the rolling of the dough was a little tough with this recipe. it needs to soften a bit for it to be flexible. usually by the time you are done measuring and rolling , and ahem, straightening the edges because these will be perfect like your memory of them… the dough is soft enough.  use the parchment to help ease the dough over and roll them one more time.. the seam should be on the bottom. use two hands to move them, and cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces. 

fig bars (fig newtons) sherry yard -tweaked  

for the fig filling

•  1 C chopped mission figs
• 1 1/2 C water
• 1 1/2 C apple juice
• 1/8 C sugar
• 1/8 t grated orange zest

for the cookie dough

•  4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 C vanilla sugar
• 1/2 t grated orange zest
• 1 large egg white
• 1/4 t vanilla extract
• 1 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C wheat flour

make the dough-cream together the butter, vanilla sugar, and orange zest until light and fluffy. beat in the egg white and vanilla. add flour and  beat on low just until dough comes together. wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.make the filling-combine chopped figs, water, apple juice and sugar in small saucepan and bring to a boil. reduce heat and barely simmer for 1 1/2 hour until figs become very soft. transfer to a food processor add the orange zest and process until smooth.  allow to cool.place rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350line baking sheet with parchment paper on a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 12×16 inch rectangle. cut into 4 equal strips, each being 12×4 inches. spoon a line of filling down the center of each strip. fold the dough over the filling, fold again rolling to place seam on bottom. flatten slightly. move to  parchment lined baking sheet, seam side down, and cut into 1-2 inch squares. bake, rotating the sheet once during baking for a total of 12-15 minutes. these cookies don’t brown a lot, so don’t over bake them. remove and allow to cool. 

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