Fig and Rum Squares

Week seven: go!  I'm sorry to report this week's Christmas cookies are late.  I was very busy snacking on the most delicious chocolate silk pie from the smitten kitchen cookbook and I seriously had no time for any other form of sugar.  It was that good.  After five days though, I'd had enough.  I threw out the very little remaining and baked up these bars.  It was Christmas in my nostrils while these baked! Christmas spice and shortbread, the combination is simply divine.

The fig and rum place these lightly sweetened cookies firmly in the adult camp.  The flavours are complex and layered, I really enjoyed them.  The crumb cookie underneath was very similar to shortbread. The fig layer, a puree of dried figs, brown sugar, spiced rum, orange and cinnamon was delicious. These flavours are very similar to those little candies I made two weeks ago and loved!  The crumble topping is a little tricky to eat, it tends to crumble all over the plate, and I personally dislike the almond mixed on top, however, the crunch is a welcome addition.  Overall I enjoyed these cookies as the mid afternoon munchies set in with a mug of milky tea.

Baking notes:
-I made a half batch of these cookies, to finish off a package of figs.
-I cooked the figs in the orange juice for 3 or so minutes to soften them before I pureed it all in the food processor.  This made them much easier to puree.
-The recipe calls for dark rum, but I only had spiced rum, so that is what I used.

The recipe for Fig and Rum Squares can be found on the epicurious website.

48/569