Fig Swirls

Name: Fig Swirls
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour; 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder; 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; 1 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened; 1 4 oz cream cheese at room temperature; 1 1 large egg yolk; 1 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1 1 cup packed soft dried Mission figs (8 oz), hard tips discarded; 1 3/4 cup mild honey; 1 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice; 1 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange zest; 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

From the kitchen of Carly

Buttery pastry swirled with a sticky-sweet fig and honey filling. Cream cheese adds subtle tang to dough that's tender and just rich enough. These are the kind of cookies you reach for twice, then hide from everyone else.

Prep: n/a
Cook: n/a
Total: n/a
Servings: 4
Difficulty: medium

Ingredients

4 servings

11 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
11/4 teaspoon baking powder
11/4 teaspoon baking soda
11/4 teaspoon salt
11 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
14 oz cream cheese at room temperature
11 large egg yolk
11 teaspoon vanilla
11 cup packed soft dried Mission figs (8 oz), hard tips discarded
13/4 cup mild honey
12 tablespoons fresh orange juice
12 teaspoons grated fresh orange zest
11/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
Pulse butter, cream cheese, yolk, and vanilla in a food processor until smooth, then add flour mixture and pulse until dough just forms a ball.
Halve dough and form each half into a roughly 6- by 2-inch rectangle. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 1/2 hours.
Purée figs, honey, juice, zest, and cinnamon in cleaned food processor until almost smooth.
Roll out 1 piece of dough between 2 sheets of wax paper into a 10- by 8-inch rectangle (about 1/3 inch thick), long side facing you. Remove top sheet of wax paper and gently spread one fourth of fig mixture over bottom half of dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Using wax paper as an aid, roll dough, jelly-roll style, halfway, enclosing fig mixture. Flip dough, with wax paper. Remove paper. Spread with one third of remaining fig mixture and roll in same manner, to form an S-shaped log. Make another log. Chill logs, wrapped in wax paper, until firm, at least 4 hours.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
Cut logs crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices and arrange slices about 2 inches apart on lightly buttered baking sheets. Bake until pastry is pale golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.