Fig and Lavender Cookies

These fig and lavender cookies have a sweet slice of tiger fig tucked inside!

On our road trip in May we stopped by a lavender farm and I brought back a few things to use in the kitchen. Those things included lavender sugar and some culinary lavender.

It only took me a day or so to realize I could have just made my own lavender sugar with the culinary lavender, but that’s okay. I can be a little slow on seeing the obvious. 

So a little while back when I had all those figs that the CA Fig Board sent to me, I decided to test out some cookies. Just before I started to make the recipe, I remembered the lavender sugar. 

I decided that fig and lavender were potentially a good combo. So some of that lavender sugar went into the dough and a bit went on top of the cookies just before baking. 

I’m pretty thrilled with how these cookies turned out. Putting a slice of fig in the middle was a bit of a gamble, but it stayed tucked inside while the cookies baked. Once cooled, it’s like the cookies were filled with a fig jam – without the work and without added sugar. 

The lavender is subtle, but it adds a nice touch to the whole grain dough. And the little pieces of lavender sprinkled on the top dress the cookies up just a little bit for serving. 

What you’ll need:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons lavender sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine ground sea salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
6 to 7 fresh figs, sliced

How to make it: 
Place the butter, brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of the lavender sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on medium for 30 seconds and then cream on medium-high for about 1 minute. 

Add the egg and vanilla. Mix on low until blended in. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

Sprinkle in the salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour a little at a time. Increase the speed to medium and mix just until all the flour is incorporated into the dough. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Divide the dough into 20 equal balls. For each cookie, divide each ball in two and flatten each piece into a round disk. Place a slice of fig on one flattened disk. Place the other disk on top and form the dough around the fig slice. Place the cookie on an ungreased baking sheet, or a baking sheet covered in a silcone baking mat, and sprinkle with some of the remaining 2 tablespoons of lavender sugar. Repeat for the rest of the cookies. 

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until the edges of the cookies brown and centers are firm. Remove from oven and let rest for 2 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before serving.