I’ve been wanting to make desserts – that craving, if you will, has taken me by force again – that involve dates, figs, or apricots. My mediterranean is showing, I know!

So, here are the citrus fig cookies! I meshed basics of a few recipes together. The texture of the cookie is soft, not to the point of crumbling, but soft to bite into. Not too sweet, with a pleasant light nutmeg and vanilla flavor and a nice taste of fig. I also personally adore zest in cookies. Mmmmmm.

Dry Ingredients (small mixing bowl)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Wet Ingredients (big mixing bowl)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/2 cup milk

Fig preserves

1. Sift and whisk the dry ingredients. Set aside.

2. With an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, vanilla extract, lemon and orange zests.

3. Add egg. mix well.

4. Alternate adding dry flour mixture with the milk to the large bowl.

5. wrap the soft dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

6. preheat oven to 350F.

7. form dough into balls. space out 2-in apart on cookie sheet.

8. Make thumbprints with back of a spoon or your own thumb if it is a good size.

9. fill thumbprint with 1/4 tsp fig preserve

10. Bake 7-11 minutes, until golden brown.

11. cool 2 minutes on the pan.

12. transfer to cooling rack and sprinkle coarse sugar on top if desired.