Fig And Cherry Cookie Pies Food

MIXED NUT 'N' FIG PIE

Steps:

• Line a 9-in. pie plate with pastry; trim and flute edges. Line pastry with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 300°., In a small saucepan, combine figs and water. Cook and stir over low heat until water is absorbed. Remove from the heat; stir in marmalade. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar and cornstarch. Add the corn syrup, eggs, butter, vanilla and fig mixture; stir in nuts. Pour into crust., Bake at 300° for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until set. Cover edges with foil during the last 30 minutes to prevent overbrowning if necessary. Cool on a wire rack., In a small bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and marmalade; beat until soft peaks form. Serve with pie. Refrigerate leftovers.

CHERRY-FIG BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees.
• Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda and vanilla in a small bowl.
• Beat at slow speed, for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping bowl often.
• Stir in cherries and figs.
• Spread into greased and floured 9" pan.
• Sprinkle remaining sugar over top.
• Bake at 325 for 22- 30 minutes.
• Cool completely, cut into bars.

FIG AND CHERRY COOKIE PIES

Steps:

• Prepare the pastry: Combine the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the egg yolks and cream, and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Add more cream if necessary, but stop before the dough is too wet. Tip the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form it into a ball, divide in two and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, prepare the filling: In a small saucepan, combine the figs, cherries and 1¼ cups water, and bring to a low simmer over medium heat. Cook until the figs are very soft, about 15 minutes, adding a little more water as necessary to make a moist paste. Transfer to the bowl of a food processor and add the almonds, brown sugar, rum, orange zest, cinnamon and salt, and pulse until you have a relatively smooth paste. (You should have about 1¼ cups filling.) Let cool completely.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 ball at a time, roll the dough out to ⅛-inch thickness on a very lightly floured surface. Use a 2¼-inch cookie cutter to cut out circles. Transfer the circles to the prepared baking sheet. Scoop about a scant tablespoon of filling onto half of the dough circles. Brush the edges of the filled circles with a bit of cream and top with another dough circle, gently pressing the edges to seal. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. (If the dough becomes too soft, pop it into the fridge to firm up before continuing.) You can reroll and cut the dough scraps one time.
• Chill the pies for 10 minutes. Use a fork to crimp all of the edges. (If you'd like to neaten the edges, you can go over the cookies again with the cookie cutter.) Refrigerate the cookies for at least 30 more minutes. While the cookies chill, heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Brush the top of each cookie with cream. Bake until they're golden and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.
• Prepare the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, almond extract and 3 tablespoons cream. The icing should be spreadable. If it isn't, stir in another tablespoon cream. Spread a bit of the glaze on each cookie and top with sprinkles. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for a month.

FIRST SNOW CHERRY PIE WITH SNOWFLAKE SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• For the crust: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and butter in a food processor. Pulse until the consistency of fine meal. Add 4 tablespoons water and pulse until the dough begins to come together. Pinch the dough with your fingers; if it doesn't hold together, add a tablespoon of water at a time, pulsing between additions, until it does.
• Turn the dough onto a floured surface and work it until it just comes together.
• Form the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic and place it in the refrigerator to chill at least 20 minutes.
• Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate. Roll or trim the edges as you like.
• Line the dough with parchment and fill with pie weights. Bake until set, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights from the crust.
• For the filling: In a large saucepan, combine the cranberries, cherries, apples, sugar, orange juice and zest and cinnamon. Bring to a simmer and cook until the cranberries pop and the cherries and apples are soft. Be careful to not cook the apple to mush. If using frozen cranberries and cherries, hold the apples until the last 5 minutes and then add them. Thicken by stirring in the cornstarch mixture. Stir for 1 minute. Stir in the brandy and remove from the heat.
• To make the pie: Fill the pie crust with the pie filling. Bake until bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool to just warm or room temperature. Top with the Sugar Cookies.
• For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter, flour, sugar, vanilla and eggs on medium speed until well combined. Flatten the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic. Chill in the refrigerator, at least 20 minutes.
• Roll out the dough to desired thickness. Cut out cookies with your favorite cookie cutter.
• Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until slightly crisp on the edges, 9 to 11 minutes; adjust for thickness.
• Let cool, then decorate as desired.