These spiced fig rolls are a seasonal, vegan take on the dependable and wholesome fig roll, or fig newton. Preserved ginger, cinnamon and allspice bring a Christmas flavour to a really simple recipe.
I’ve used cashew nuts in the biscuit dough, for a softer texture, but also for their subtle creamy flavour. It’s a dough that you have to knead a little to prevent it from cracking when you roll it up. It will still produce a short and light biscuit.
It might be helpful to add a note here on using fats in pastry and biscuit doughs. Most of the vegan margarines that are available (in the UK, at least) are lower in fat than butter, which is around 80% fat. Some vegan varieties are less than 50% fat, which is obviously a selling point, but it won’t produce a decent shortcrust. I use one that’s around 70% fat for baking, and sometimes mix margarine with coconut oil (which is a nice, round 100% fat!). Coconut oil on its own can give pastry a slightly odd, waxy quality, but a 50/50 mix with margarine is generally successful.
These spiced fig rolls make an interesting alternative to mince pies, having a similar fruity, spicy flavour profile, so they’re ideal if you don’t have a mince pie tin. They’ll store well for several days in an airtight tin.
Spiced Fig Rolls…
ingredients
- 150 g soft dried figs
- zest of half a small orange plus 50 ml juice
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) maple syrup
- 1 small knob preserved ginger
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 150 g plain white/unbleached flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 40 g cashew nuts (not salted or roasted)
- 30 g caster or icing (confectioner’s) sugar
- 90 g vegan margarine (not a low fat variety)
- 1-2 tbsp oat (or other non-dairy) milk
method
- Prepare the fig filling in advance so that it has time to cool. Chop the figs into pieces 1/2 to 1 cm across.
- Place them in a small pan with the orange juice and zest, maple syrup, finely chopped ginger, cinnamon and allspice.
- Heat until just boiling, then simmer, stirring occasionally, for five minutes before removing from the heat and mashing the figs with the back of a fork until they are fairly well broken down. Allow to cool completely and, ideally, chill for half an hour in the fridge.
- Set the oven to 180°C/360°F and line or very lightly oil a flat baking tray.
- Grind the cashew nuts in a suitable blender until they are the consistency of ground almonds. Set aside.
- Beat the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy, then stir in the ground cashew nuts followed by the flour and baking powder.
- Add a tablespoon of oat milk and stir with a fork until the mixture forms a soft dough. Add another tablespoon of milk if it is at all crumbly.
- Transfer the dough to a well floured board and knead for half a minute until it feels a bit smoother.
- Re-flour the board and cut the dough into two halves (just to make it easier to manoeuvre and roll the dough).
- Roll out one half to form a rectangle approximately 20cm x 10cm. Spoon half of the fig mixture along the centre and use your hands to form it into a smooth sausage shape (it will be easier to do this if the filling is chilled).
- After washing any filling off your hands, roll up the sides of the dough sausage roll-style, then roll the whole thing over so that the join is on the underside. If it cracks a bit, you can always smooth it over with a knife once it’s rolled.
- Using a large flat-bladed knife, slice the roll into eight or nine slices no more than an inch wide.
- Press a fork gently into the top of each fig roll to flatten it a little and create a pattern on top, then transfer carefully to the baking tray.
- Repeat for the other half of the dough and filling, before baking for 14 to 16 minutes, until they are just beginning to look golden.
- Allow to cool before storing in an airtight tin.
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