---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

     Title: Fig Star Cookies
Categories: Cookies
     Yield: 72 servings

     1 c  Shortening
          (part butter or margarine
   1/2 c  Granulated sugar
   3/4 c  Corn syrup
   1/4 ts Maple flavoring
     2    Eggs; beaten
 4 1/2 c  All-purpose flour; sifted
     1 ts Baking powder
   1/2 ts Salt
          Fig filling:
 1 1/2 c  Dried figs
     1 c  Cold water
   1/2 c  Corn syrup
     1 ts Lemon rind; grated
     6 tb Granulated sugar
          Few grains salt
     1 tb Lemon juice
   1/2 c  Chopped nuts

 Recipe by: Mary M McBride's Encyclopedia of Cooking
   Cream the shortening and sugar; beat in the corn syrup, maple flavoring
 and eggs.  Sift together the flour and salt; stir into the shortening
 mixture.  Shape the dough into two rolls about 2 1/2-inches in diameter.
 Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for several hours. For the filling, cover
 the figs with boiling water and let stand for 10 minutes; drain, clip off
 the stems and cut fairly fine with scissors. Add the cold water and cook
 for about 10 minutes until tender. Add the corn syrup and lemon rind; cook
 for a few minutes longer. Mix the sugar, flour and salt; add all at once
 and cook, stirring, until thickened and clear. Remove from heat; add the
 lemon juice and nuts.  Cool.
   Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the rolls of dough into thin slices.
 For star cookies, put a small spoonful of fig filling in the center of a
 cookie slice; then with your fingers, fold up the edges and pinch in place
 to make a reasonable facsimile of a star. For filled cookies, put slices
 together in pairs with a dot of fig filling between them; press the edges
 together and prick the top with a fork or mark with a knife. Bake either
 cookie for 8 to 10 minutes, or until delicately browned around the edges.
 Cool on racks.  Makes about 3 dozen filled cookies or 6 dozen stars. Penny
 Halsey (ATBN65B). Note:  To freshen the cookies, reheat them in the oven
 for a few minutes and serve warm.

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