View source for Fig roll

{{short description|Snack food}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name             = Fig roll
| image            = Fig rolls (homemade).jpg
| caption          = Homemade fig rolls
| alternate_name   = 
| place_of_origin  = [[Western Asia]]
| region           = 
| creator          = 
| type             = [[Pastry]]
| served           = 
| main_ingredient  = [[Fig|Fig paste]]
| variations       = 
| calories         = 
| other            = 
}}

The '''fig roll''' or '''fig bar''' is a biscuit or cookie consisting of a rolled cake or pastry filled with [[fig]] paste.

==History==
Figs have been a popular food since [[Fig#From_ancient_times|ancient times]], originating in the areas of the [[Mediterranean]] and [[Asia Minor]].

Early [[Egypt|Egyptians]] may have invented the first fig roll—a simple pastry made with fig paste and a flour-based dough.<ref>{{cite web |title=Have a rootin' tootin' celebration of Fig Newton Day |url=https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/story/lifestyle/2018/01/10/have-a-rootin-tootin-celebration-of-fig-newton-day/116556966/ |publisher=Herald Mail Media |access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref> In the [[Middle Ages]], the Arab physician [[Ibn Butlan]] is recorded to have recommended eating figs with biscuits, or sugared bread—an early instance of what could be considered a fig roll.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Collingham |first1=Lizzie |author-link=Lizzie Collingham |title=Crumbs! A history of biscuits in 15 fantastic facts – from flatulence cure to phenomenal fuel |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/oct/18/crumbs-a-history-of-biscuits-in-15-fantastic-facts-from-flatulence-cure-to-phenomenal-fuel |publisher=The Guardian |access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref>

Fig rolls were popular with [[United Kingdom|British]] immigrants in the United States in the late 19th century.<ref name="ThoughtCo">{{cite web |last1=Bellis |first1=Mary |title=Fig Newton: History and Invention of the Cookies |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/fig-newton-history-1991793 |website=ThoughtCo. |publisher=Dotdash Meredith |access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref>

==Commercially-produced examples==
===Fig Newtons<span class="anchor" id="Mass production"></span>===
{{main|Fig Newtons}}
[[File:Fig-Newtons-Stacked.jpg|thumb|alt=two fig newton cookies|Fig Newtons]]
Fig Newtons are a popular mass-produced cookie similar to a fig roll. In 1892 James Henry Mitchell, a Florida engineer and inventor, received a patent for a machine that could produce a hollow tube of cookie dough and simultaneously fill it with jam.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWtIDQAAQBAJ&q=+fig+newtons|title=BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts|last=Parks|first=Stella|date=2017-08-15|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=9780393634273|language=en}}</ref> The machine consisted of two funnels, one inside the other, with the outer funnel creating the dough tube and the inner funnel filling that tube with fig jam.<ref name="ThoughtCo" />

At the same time, [[Philadelphia]] baker and fig lover [[Charles Roser]] was developing a recipe for a pastry based on the British homemade fig roll. Roser approached the [[Cambridgeport, Massachusetts]]–based Kennedy Biscuit Company, who agreed to take on production and sales.<ref name="ThoughtCo" />

Kennedy Biscuit Company had recently become associated with the New York Biscuit Company, and after merger to form [[Nabisco]], trademarked the product as the [[Fig Newton]]. The cookie was named after the Massachusetts town of [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]]. It was one of the first commercially-produced baked goods in the United States.<ref name="ThoughtCo" />

===Jacob's and Bolands Fig Rolls===
[[Valeo Foods]] produces two snack foods similar to traditional fig rolls - "Jacob's Fig rolls", which are sold only in [[Ireland]], and "Bolands Fig rolls" (named after [[Boland's Bakery]]) which are also sold in the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=McElwain |first1=Aoife |title=From Fig Rolls to Mikado: Can you copyright a biscuit? |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/from-fig-rolls-to-mikado-can-you-copyright-a-biscuit-1.3476394#:~:text=As%20for%20the%20case%20of,name%20still%20tastes%20as%20good. |website=The Irish Times |access-date=15 October 2025 |language=en}}</ref> 

Jacob's Fig rolls are produced by the [[Jacob Fruitfield Food Group]]. They are the most popular brand of biscuit in Ireland, with sales of 8.3 million packets each year.<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Connell |first1=Siobhán |title=How Jacob's gets the ads out of the Fig Rolls |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/how-jacob-s-gets-the-ads-out-of-the-fig-rolls-1.1203551 |website=The Irish Times |access-date=15 October 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Food}}
* [[Birnbrot]]
* [[Fig cake (fruit)]]
* [[List of cookies]]
* [[List of pastries]]
* [[Makroudh]]
* [[Cuccidati]]

==Footnotes and references==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/biscuits/fig/ 21st Century Fig Festival - a comparison of fig rolls]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2016/may/05/how-to-make-the-perfect-fig-rolls Felicity Cloake: How to make the perfect fig rolls]

{{pastries}}
{{Jewish baked goods}}
{{African cuisine}}
{{Cuisine of Israel}}
{{Cuisine of Lebanon}}
{{Cuisine of Turkey}}
{{Cuisine of Cyprus}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fig Roll}}
[[Category:Arab pastries]]
[[Category:British cuisine]]
[[Category:Egyptian cuisine]]
[[Category:Turkish cuisine]]
[[Category:Cypriot cuisine]]
[[Category:Syrian cuisine]]
[[Category:Lebanese cuisine]]
[[Category:Israeli pastries]]
[[Category:Cuisine of Northern Cyprus]]
[[Category:Pastries]]
[[Category:Snack foods]]
[[Category:Fig dishes]]