Looking for a healthy snack to pack in your kids' lunchboxes or for a healthy after-school snack? Seeking a little sweet morsel to top off dinner or to serve with afternoon tea?  These tasty fig-filled morsels to the rescue! They're easy to make, packed with health-promoting fiber, plant proteins, omega-3 fats, calcium, folate & potassium. And they hit the spot!
 
Cathy Katin-Grazzini
Cathy's Kitchen Prescription LLC
www.cathyskitchenprescription.com
 
Nicer Newtons
(gluten-free, vegan, no nuts or oils, fruit-sweetened)
Prep time: 30 minutes Baking Time: 6-8 minutes        
Makes 18-24 cookies, depending on size
 
 
Ingredients
 
Filling
1 ½ cups of dried figs
Water
Zest of 1 organic orange
 
Crust
1 cup chickpea flour (besan or gram flour in Indian groceries)
¼ cup firm tofu, drained well
2 tsp arrowroot
2 tsp freshly ground flaxseed
3-4 tbs fig paste or to taste
Pinch of Ceylon cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, more to dust on top
Zest of 1 organic orange
 
Directions Preheat over to 400°F/200 °C
To make fig paste, barely cover 1 ½ cups of dried figs with water. Microwave 2 minutes or simmer on a stove top until figs are rehydrated & softened. Drain off & reserve any residual liquid. Blend in a food processor until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl. Add a small amount of reserved liquid if needed to make a thick marmalade.
 
Combine all dry crust ingredients in food processor. Pulse. Add tofu & fig paste. Run until dough gathers into a soft ball.
 
Roll out on a board dusted with chickpea flour, flipping & redusting as you go until the dough is around 1/8” thick. Cut out shapes with a cookie-cutter.
 
Add zest to the remaining fig marmalade & spoon thickly on a cookie, extending to its edges. Top with a cookie. Brush tops lightly with water & dust with grated nutmeg.
 
Bake on parchment for 6-8 minutes or until golden. Do not overbake. Transfer to a cooling rack. These newtons are particularly nice when served fresh & warm or reheated briefly at 250°F/120°C. Store in the fridge for 2 weeks (if they last!) or freeze.
 
Enjoy!