Fig Almond Cookies

I am the kind of person who needs to intensely study a map before daring to venture out into a new neighborhood or city.  But when it comes to cooking, I barely glance at recipe before tossing it aside and completely ignoring what I just read.  I will get some vision for a new dish in my head (or really in my gut) and without any plan of how to execute it, I start chopping things up and throwing things into a bowl and wait to discover what will happen.  Sometimes my adventurous cooking spirit gets me into trouble.  Like the time I decided to make a persimmon ice cream pie from scratch on Thanksgiving day and ended up with a soupy mess of a dessert.  I've learned there are some benefits of researching and testing out an idea before serving it to a crowd on a major holiday.  But I do believe in the importance of trusting the creative process and trusting your own instincts.

I noticed that I doubted both of these recently when making some fig cookies.  I bought a basket of fresh figs at the farmer's market with my friend Karen and immediately was filled with memories of eating bowls of figs with my friends.  I began envisioning some kind of comforting fig cookie.  But then my inner critic spoke up and got me worried about making these cookies "the right way," as if there were a wrong and right way to make a cookie.  I asked my friends what they thought I should do, trying to get some baking guidance.  But then when it came time to make the cookies, I came back to my original vision and just went with what felt right.  And I ended up with a lovely batch of cookies.  The chopped almonds brought such depth of flavor, while the honey brought a purity of sweetness, and the figs transformed these cookies into a succulent and decadent treat.  I hope you enjoy them, too!


Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of Earth Balance
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour (I used rice and chickpea flours)
• 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
• 1/3 cup of chopped almonds
• 6 fresh figs chopped
• extra rice flour for dusting your hands

Directions

1. In a bowl mix together the Earth Balance and honey.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. Using your flour-dusted hands, combine the ingredients from the 2 bowls together until you have a soft dough.  (If it's too dry add some water or rice milk, if too sticky add some flour.)
4. Wash your hands and then use a rubber spatula to mix in the almonds and about 2/3 of the fig pieces.
5. Form small balls of dough and press into cookie shapes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  
6. Press 1 or 2 pieces of fig onto the top of each cookie.
7. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes.