Two X Cookies
TWD – Tuesdays with Dorie
X Cookies
These X Cookies, a traditional Sicilian cookie, have a shortbread-like dough and a fruity fig and apricot filling. The dough and filling are easy to pull together, but the cookie shaping takes quite a while. It’s best to enlist some helpers if you have them. I didn’t.
My first bite was a bit underwhelming. For one, I think I baked my first batch a bit too long. I was expecting them to get a bit golden, especially because I add an egg wash. So, they were a bit dry. Also, I should have known by the dough, that they were not going to be sweet American cookies. Yet, I think with the sweet filling, that’s what I was expecting.
However, the next day I had a change of heart. I put them in airtight containers, which I think softened them a bit. Also, by now I knew not to expect a sweet cookie. My husband loved them, but he did say he would prefer more filling and less dough. He also commented they are like Fig Newtons. I did even shape a few to look like Newtons, since got a bit tired of making all the X’s. It wasn’t until the day after I realized I should have done some O’s.
I could not find candied orange peel, so I used dried pineapple. I’ve made candied orange peel in the past at the holidays, which I love, but decided to go the dried pineapple route. Since oranges are really in season yet and the last one we had was not all that great, I wasn’t going to go through the trouble.
I may make these cookies again, but if I do I will increase the filling to dough ratio.
To get the recipe check out the book Baking with Julia, by Dorie Greenspan.
View other Tuesday with Dorie blogger posts.
X Cookies
A year ago on The Daily Morsel
Two years ago on The Daily Morsel
Tags: Baking with Julia, Dorie Greenspan, recipe review, Tuesdays with Dorie, X Cookies
I had a similar experience with trying to wait for the cookies to brown. And I used pineapple too. Your cookies look great!
They did soften up a bit the next day, which made them a tad better. I felt the filling was lost in the dough. No hint of a fig newton for me, and they are one of my favorite cookies!
I had the same issues as you – and even forgot to put egg wash on my first batch so those turned out a little white.
I thought that they tasted good – and not too sweet.
I liked them, probably because I like not-too-sweet things. I also tried different shapes, the x’s were surprisingly fussy to make!
I liked these a lot. I agree more filling would be good. And I was expecting them to brown too…so I may have over baked my first batch. But the rest seemed to work out and were much better the next day and even the next day.