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Nana's  Cream Cheese Pastry Cookies with Dried Fruit – My Nana, Antoinette Abbruzzese, lived to be 98 years old. She was a wonderful cook and baker and my mentor. My Saturday play date was always at Nana's house. I spent most of my time while there in Nana's big sunny kitchen helping her bake cookies. Nana liked to have homemade cookies on hand to fill the pockets of the family and friends-of all ages-who liked to stop and say hello to her. She stored the cookies in her canning pot in the sewing room. We often made these dried fruit stuffed cookies. They are a moist, old fashioned cookie, not too sweet and especially good with a cup of tea. The batch is small because they aren't good keepers. But they are so good that
won't be a problem. Although Nana never froze them, I do. They freeze very well.
A Note on the Photograph The photograph shows Marie with her Nana, Antoinette Abbruzzese, who lived to be 98 years old. She was a wonderful cook and baker and Marie's mentor.
- 4 ounces (half of an 8 ounce package) cream cheese, cut into small pieces and softened
- 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Filling
- 3/4 cup dried fruit (use all pitted prunes, half prunes and half figs, or a combination of fruits including raisins and apricots)
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice or water
- 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts or pistachios
- 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
- Confectioners sugar
1. For the pastry: Place the cream cheese, butter, flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process just until dough begins to form. Turn out onto a floured surface and gather into a ball. Place on a piece of plastic wrap, flatten slightly, wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until chilled.
2. Meanwhile make the filling: Combine the prunes or mixture of dried fruits and the orange juice or water in a small saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the prunes absorb all of the moisture, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Place in a food processor and process until the consistency is fairly smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the orange zest and walnuts. Set aside until ready to use. This can be made a day ahead.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter two cookie sheets
4. Divide dough in half and roll out on lightly floured board or pastry cloth using a rolling pin covered with a cloth stocking dusted with flour. Cut into 2-1/2 inch circles. Drop a rounded teaspoonful of the dried fruit mixture in the center and fold cookies in half to make half circles. Pinch edges together. Stack the scraps and re roll.
5. Transfer cookies to baking sheets. Lightly brush the tops of the cookies with the beaten egg mixture. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool on wire rack. Dust with confectioners sugar while still warm.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies
Copyright © 2002 by Marie Simmons. All rights reserved
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