GF Cucidati (St. Joseph's Day Fig Cookies)

Short introduction about me, since I joined the Facebook group right before the transition to this site: I grew up in Houston. My dad is from the Kenner/Metairie area, and we visit family there often. My grandpa is a first gen Sicilian-American from New Orleans proper, and my grandma's side is Cajun, from Jennings. With both Houston and New Orleans having such amazing food cultures, moving out of the South and then getting diagnosed with celiacs has been kinda rough lol.

But this Italian fig cookie recipe was super easy to adapt, and the cookies themselves are not that hard to make (they seem way more complicated than they actually are), so I wanted to share with y'all. I haven't been able to attend a St. Joseph's Day Altar in many years, so I started making these every year! This recipe makes the softer variety, which I prefer.

* I've made these GF twice now. The first time I made them with 100% almond flour. This time I made them with 50% almond flour, 50% King Arthur 1:1 GF flour. Both worked out great, I think it's just up to your taste!

* Dough might be wet/sticky at this point. Don't worry, it will firm up in the fridge.

* If the dough is still a little sticky, it's okay, just flour your surface and the dough to make it easier to handle. The cookies will still come out good.

* You can do the assembly multiple different ways depending on how you like to do it. You can roll a log and cut before baking, cut after baking to avoid the filling from spilling out, or make totally enclosed squares (my personal fave).