Best Homemade Fig Newtons

On our journey to rely on grocery stores as little as possible, I’ve learned a few tricks to making some of our favorite treats. Fig Newtons are one of them.

I first found this recipe on Pinterst, tired it, and wanted to cry after vowing never to make these things again!! Though, now I can’t find where I got the original. In the end, I tweaked the recipe and process a bit.

But they were so yummy, I had to try again. Jump ahead a few years, I am here to impart my newton-making wisdom so that your blood pressure doesn’t boil over like a pot of unsupervised pasta.

Warning: these are time consuming and fickle. If you try and rush these, they will literally fall apart.

We have a fig tree and an abundance of figs. A good majority ending up as puree in our freezer. So I have never made this recipe from canned fig preserves or fresh-never-frozen puree. So the first step has some wiggle room.

P.S. for those of you, like myself, who have an aversion to the word moist, I apologize.

• TREAT YOUR PUREE

If you are using prepared fig preserves, this step might not be necessary. BUT, fresh figs contain a good amount of liquid. Especially fresh figs that have been pureed, frozen, and thawed. The night before I begin to drain the liquid out of my thawed puree. Using a fine mesh sieve, fine mesh cheesecloth, and a bowl. Yes, a sieve and cheesecloth are a bit redundant. For me it is easier to use the cheesecloth to transfer the puree than scraping it out of the sieve. One or both, either work just the same.

This step is completely necessary! If you try to put a filling into your newtons that is too wet, no matter how hard you try it WILL leak out.

Even this small amount makes the differences between moist, fruit filled newtons and moist, hardly-any-fruit-inside newtons.

• MAKING THE DOUGH

Cream together butter, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, honey, orange zest, and juice. Once light and fluffy add egg yolks one-at-a-time, mixing after adding each one. You can also use a stand mixer, but mine is ancient and can wake the dead. I prefer to use my hand mixer.

Sprinkle in flour until well combined. I personally, like to use a spatula to mix in the flour . The dough should be moist but not sticky. Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for 1 hour (or up to a week).

I have never tried to freeze it, but there’s only one way to learn…

TAKE THE DISC OUT 30 MINUTES BEFORE YOU ARE READY TO WORK WITH IT.

So leave yourself an hour and a half from the time it hits the fridge to being ready to start the newton-ing process.

• PREPARE FILLING

Add brown sugar and cinnamon to your puree to taste. Start with small 1 tsp of sugar and go from there. Then add a dash of cinnamon or two. If using prepared preserves, this step might also be skipped. But it is your treat that you are going to eat, make sure it makes your tastebuds happy.  Puree or preserves a bit stiff or lack moisture? Heat it a bit on the stove.  It will have plenty of time to cool while the dough is chillin’.

• PREPPING THE DOUGH

Here is where it got frustrating for me until I learned a few tricks. Like most refrigerated doughs, if it is not ready to be worked, it will let you know. If it has been sitting out too long, it will stick to your rolling pin.

Adversely, if you try to roll it out on the lightly-floured surface of your countertop, you will want to cry. Even perfectly temperature dough will not move in one piece when you try to transfer it to the baking sheet.

Yes, I live in the hot desert, but I have made this during all seasons. Even with a 65 degree house, the dough still said NO.

I pull out a nice sheet of parchment to roll out the dough. Problem. Parchment moves! Anchor it down on both ends with heavy jars.  Viola!

Roll dough out to a 15” square. Yes, I absolutely use a ruler because I am horrible at guess-timating measurements. Does it have to be exact? No. But you do not want your dough too thick.

Cut into strip 3” in width.  The best tool I have found to do this with is a pizza cutter using the straight edge of the ruler as a guide. I am also horrible at free-hand cutting a straight line.

• PIPE THE FILLING

Either put the filling in a piping bag with no tip or a plastic sandwich bag and snip of a corner to be able to make about a ½” wide line of filling. Pipe straight lines down the length of each 3” panel in the middle.

Remember how nicely we rolled the dough out on parchment? Using that advantage, slide a backing sheet underneath and pop it back into the fridge for 5 minutes.

Here’s where it can become a judgement call. If you feel your dough is still relatively cool after all that manhandling, by all means, proceed. If the dough is too warm when you try to fold it, it will crack, fall apart, cause newton-making to become not so fun.

When chilling, same rules apply. Dough will let you know if it is too cool or warm to be worked with properly.  If you put it in the fridge and ‘forgot’ about it, let it sit out until the dough is workable.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

• FOLDING YOUR NEWTONS

Your panels of piped newtons are a bit longer than I was able to work with well given the fragility of the dough. Using a food scrapper is a really big help. No food scrapper? Use a large knife. Like a butcher’s knife. Basically anything with a flat edge that can help you fold an entire side of the dough over at one time. Even the ruler can be used.

Gently fold over one side of the dough at a time. Having the dough on parchment can also be beneficial here. Allowing you to get under it, and the dough, to lift it without tearing.

Do this on both sides of the filling.  Making sure all filling is covered and sealed.

Roll your newly-sealed newton roll until it is seam-side down. Personally, I like to roll it on a silicone backing sheet. Personal preference – I like baking on silicone rather than parchment. Either will work just as well as the other. These do not spread out significantly, as long as they are not touching and have about a half inch between them, you should be fine.

Repeat for each panel.

Once rolled, press lightly to give them the ‘newton’ shape – flat on top and bottom with rounded edges.

Bake for about 18 minutes. They will be slightly golden and feel a bit dry. That is what you want.

But fig newtons aren’t dry!!

Here’s another important part.

• ACHIEVING MOIST FIG NEWTONS

And it is crucial. The moment you pop them out of the oven cut them!

Using the food scrapper, cut into 1” pieces.  Do NOT saw back and forth. They are crumbly and a bit dry – they’ll fall apart. After all that work, you don’t want it to fall apart now, literally.

Then, immediately put them in an airtight container with wax paper or parchment paper between the layers. Cover and DO NOT touch for at least 6 hours.

Leave at room temperature. This will trap the heat and escaping moisture placing it back into the newton.  Resulting in a beautifully moist and delicious homemade fig newton.

They will last up to a month in the refrigerator. If you still have some left or want to make a whole bunch to gift during the holidays (wink, wink), they freeze wonderfully. Pop them in the microwave for up to 10 seconds and they will melt in your mouth as if they were freshly baked.

I realize that I might have made this seem like a daunting task. It is not!! It just a bit of time and it is completely worth it!!!

I like to make these in between baking other things. Giving me the time they spend in the fridge to make something else yummy. Like corn tortillas for our freezer!

Give these wonderful treats a try. Experiment with different fillings. I have been wanting waiting for summer to try a fresh berry filling or apricot!!