Homemade Fig Newtons Recipe (2024)

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These easy Homemade Fig Newtons have a jammy fig center enveloped by a slightly sweet, soft cookie. Every bite takes us right back to our childhood! Yep, these are pretty much perfect cookies.

Homemade Fig Newton Cookies

There are certain cookies that instantly take me back to my childhood—Dunkaroos, Famous Amos, animal crackers. Lunches where you’d eagerly open up your brown paper bag to see what Mom packed for dessert. Afternoons coming home from school when you’d reach into the snack drawer for a treat.

Though I’d like to believe all cookies were created equal, there was one that always stood out for me. A cookie that I couldn’t get enough of.Fig Newtons.

What are Fig Newtons?

If you haven’t had a Fig Newton yet, I want to start off by expressing my deepest condolences. Fig Newtons are an iconic packaged cookie with a jammy fig center enveloped by a slightly sweet, soft cookie. The crunch of the fig seeds as you bite in. The slight citrus tang you get in each and every mouthful. Yep, they’re pretty much perfect.

So in making my own homemade Fig Newtons, I channeled my inner child and tastedevery step of the way, and wound up with a pretty damn good recipe. The cookies have the same shape and texture as the real thing, and the fig tastes spot on thanks to some fresh orange zest and a hint of cinnamon.

Plus, nearly everyone that sees them will be instantly transported to their childhood, making the sharing of these cookies extra special!

Also, dipping these in milk is not optional 😉

Fig Newton Ingredients

If you’re ready to get to fig newton making then you’re going to need to stock up on the following ingredients:

Butter: any unsalted butter will do, just make sure to fully soften your butter to room temperature
Brown Sugar: Brown sugar will help to deepen the flavor of these
Eggs:Use large eggs at room temperature! This will ensure that the eggs incorporate seamlessly into the room temperature butter.
Vanilla:High quality vanilla is seriously a game changer. It will really elevate your baked goods to the next level and give these fig newtons the perfect flavor profile.
Flour:We used a mixture of all purpose and whole wheat pastry flour to give these homemade fig newtons a hearty chew.
Cinnamon:Cinnamon gives these fig newtons a warm, cozy spice. Don’t leave it out!
Baking Soda:Baking soda gives just the amount of rise for these soft and tender cookies.
Figs:Uh duh! Black mission figs will form the chewy, figgy center of these homemade cookies.
Oranges:You’ll use both orange zest and orange juice in this recipe for a zesty, juice punch to round out the flavor profile.
Honey:Nothing wrong with a little honey 🙂 The honey will sweeten and bind the fig layer together for a sweet, chewy finish.

Tips for Making Homemade Fig Newtons

The individual parts of this homemade Fig Newton recipe are fairly straightforward. Make a batch of cookie dough and refrigerate it for at least an hour. Make the fig filling and blend it up a food processor until it’s the right consistency. Easy, right?Right!

But once you’ve prepped the cookie dough and the spiced fig filling, you have to assemble the cookies. This is the part that requires a little extra brain power. To make these cookies, you’ll first need to roll out the cookie dough into a large rectangle. Then, cut the rectangle into three large strips.

Once you’ve cut the cookie dough, fill a plastic bag with the fig filling. Snip off one edge of the bag and pipe a thick line of filling into the center of each cookie dough strip. Then you simply have to fold the dough over the filling (be careful!) and seal the edges as best you can.

The filled cookie dough logs get baked as is, and then you need to cut the logs into Fig Newton-sized cookies once they come out of the oven. The whole process goes by surprisingly quickly and is really easy! As long as your cookie dough logs are sealed properly you should have no problems making these homemade Fig Newtons.

How to Store Fig Newtons

These cookies keep well in a sealed container on your countertop for up to a week. You can also store them in a freezer bag for up to 3 months!