Fig Rolls

175g/6oz dried figs, rinsed and coarsely chopped
75g/3oz plain whole meal flour
75g/3oz plain flour
25g/1oz light muscovado sugar
65g/2.5oz polyunsaturated margarine (I used butter)
1.25ml/1/4tsp salt

lightly grease a baking sheet, and set aside. Put the figs in a saucepan with 300ml/1/2pint water. Simmer for about 20 min, stirring occasionally until the figs are tender and the liquid is well reduced. Set aside to cool, then puree in a blender or food processor and set aside.
Put the remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor with 30ml (2tbsp) water and mix to a dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface, then roll out to an oblong about 40x12cm (16x5inches).
Spread the fig puree down the center of the dough rectangle and carefully fold in the sides so that they overlap over the filling. Trim the ends of the roll and cut into 3cm (11/4 inch) wide slices. Turn the rolls over and place on the prepared baking sheet.
Mark the top of each roll with a wet fork and bake at 190c/375f for 25-30 min, until lightly browned. Cool on a rack.

When we lived in New York, one of my husband’s favorite snacks were the fig rolls that they sold in the Korean Groceries. If you are from New York, you know what I’m talking about. They are kind of whole wheat-y kind of cake-y and even though all of the corner groceries had them, so they must have come from a major distributor, they came wrapped in cling wrap, with no label as if they were home made. There was an op-ed piece in the New York Times (I think) once about how New Yorkers are some of the most food label obsessed people on the planet, they won’t touch a food unless they know, not only what’s in it, but where those things are from, with the solitary exception, of the Korean Grocery fig bars. We all ate them.
Weird.

I was hoping these would be like those fig bars of yore. They weren’t exactly, but they weren’t disappointing either. They were slightly more pastry dough-ish then cake-ish, but they were really good nonetheless. I found that I wasn’t able to make the fork marks on them without squishing out all the filling, so I just didn’t, and I don’t think they suffered for it.

I will definitely make these again. They only have a little sugar, and they make a really great treat.