One of the best things about making homemade things that most people just purchase at the grocery store is the satisfaction of saying, “I made that” with a huge smile on your face.

And of course, another benefit of making typically store-bought things homemade is that you know what went in them and if you prefer to make them healthier, you can do that too.

These fig newtons were really easy to make and I was so satisfied knowing how awesome it was that I made fig newtons!  And I made them whole wheat.

These taste very similar to our figgy pudding, so if you liked that, you’ll love these.  Or if you make these and love them, then you ought to make some figgy pudding because you’ll love it too.

Homemade Fig Newtons

Dough:

• 6 T butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar*
• 1 T corn syrup*
• 1/2 tsp vanilla*
• 2 drops wild orange essential oil*
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 T orange juice
• 1 cup whole wheat flour*
• 1/8 tsp baking soda*
• 1/8 tsp salt*

Filling:

• 3/4 cup dried mission figs*
• 2 T applesauce
• 1/2 T corn syrup*
• 2 drops wild orange essential oil*
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon*

*These ingredients can be found in our store.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add corn syrup, vanilla, essential oil, egg yolks, and orange juice.  Mix well.
3. All at once, add flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix thoroughly. (Dough will be very soft.)
4. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap.  Wrap it up and refrigerate several hours.
5. Meanwhile, prepare filling.
6. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
7. Transfer to a pastry bag or zip top bag and save until needed.
8. After the dough is sufficiently chilled, preheat your oven to 325 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
9. Liberally dust your work surface with flour.  (You can’t have too much.  The dough is sticky and needs plenty of flour in order to not stick to your work surface.  You can dust off excess flour later.)
10. Roll the dough out to just over 1/8 inch thick.  Using a ruler and sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into strips 3 inches wide by 6 inches long.
11. Cut a corner off of your piping bag or zip top bag. (About 1/2-inch long cut.)  Squeeze your bag to pipe out a strip of filling length-wise down the center of each dough rectangle.  You will want to flatten the filling a little with an off-set spatula or butter knife.
12. Fold one side of the dough up and over the filling, then roll it over again from the same side.  Your seam will be on the bottom and your top will be smooth.  At this point you can brush off the excess flour.  Turn it over to brush the bottom off.
13. Move the uncut logs to your parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly brown and slightly firm to the touch.
14. As soon as you take them out of the oven, cut each log into 1-inch segments.  While still warm, transfer fig newtons to an air-tight container or a zip-top bag.  Put parchment paper between layers.  Doing this will cause the newtons to steam and create a more cake-y texture and they won’t be dry and more cookie-like

*Recipe adapted slightly from Brave Tart.