My Favorite Fall Cookie: Anise-Scented Fig & Date Swirls
Recipe Review

I realized with a jolt last week that I have been writing here for over five years, and somehow I have never shown you my favorite cookie. It's fall, and it's time now for these little things — so let's get right to it. This cookie is special.

These modest little cookies first appeared in Gourmet about 15 years ago, and they were republished in their Best Of cookie issue in 2001. They are simple enough, although they do involve a little more work than the average drop cookie.

Their base is a simple, sturdy cream cheese dough infused with freshly ground anise. You roll this dough out and slather on a filling of dried figs and dates, ground to a paste in a food processor.

Roll the whole thing up, cover with crunchy turbinado sugar, and chill. Then you can cut slices and bake as needed — the convenience of an icebox cookie!

For me, these provide everything I want in a cookie. Just two or three small bites of something sweet — not a monster cookie as big as my head. Their pretty swirls look lovely in a rustic way, glinting with a bit of crunchy sugar.

And the taste! They taste gently of spicy anise, and sweet with jammy dates and figs. The dough is crisp on the outside, but chewy in the middle. Sweet, spicy, chewy — these are the ultimate cookies to eat with a cup of hot black tea.

So, there you have it. Meet my favorite fall cookie — perhaps my favorite cookie, period.

• Get the recipe: Anise-Scented Fig and Date Swirls at Epicurious

(Images: Faith Durand)

Comments (5)

These sound great! Growing up with a very Italian family I loathed anything fig or anise flavored but as an adult I've come to love those flavors. Yum!

Yum. I could just use 2 cups of dried figs, right? (I'm allergic to dates.) If you wanted to use two types of fruit, what would be a good complement to the figs?

Welp, these are pretty much all my favorite things in cookie form. And all the things my roommate won't eat - more for me! Thanks for sharing, Faith.

Thank you for sharing these! They look delicious and perfect for a crisp autumn day. Can't wait to make these and get off the chocolate bandwagon, I'm overloaded from Halloween.

@kathleen3641 -- Prunes have a similar depth and richness that would pair well with figs. Or you could use more than one kind of fig (Mission, Smyrna, Calimyrna).

Chopped walnuts or chocolate also pair really nicely with figs/anise/prunes/dates and be a nice addition to the filling.

The recipe overall seems very similar to rugelach so you could use all manner of things for the filling like dried apricots or ground poppy seeds or a fruity preserve. Depends on what you like.