"national fig newton day" news and stories

Happy National Fig Newton Day!

Fig Newtons weren't ever the most popular on elementary school playgrounds -- kids seem to have the proclivity to scorn anything perceived to be remotely healthy, inevitably opting for the most junk-food-oriented products when it comes to snacks. However, the discerning palate has been relishing the gooey fig contents enveloped in a soft cookie shell since the late 1800s.

Cookie maker Charles Roser from Ohio is credited with creating the recipe for these sweet treats, but the Fig Newton as we know it today was popularized by Nabisco, who purchased and mass-marketed the recipe. Inventor James Henry Mitchell created the machine that would pump out the fig-filled cookies in lengths to be sliced into the sizes of individual cookies, which began mass production in 1891. Though the cookie first took the name "Newton," after the neighboring Massachussetts town, it later took on the specification of "Fig," after popular acclaim.

Get acquainted with the snack by making your own Fig Newtons from scratch with this artfully executed recipe by the Boastful Baker -- she promises they're "as good as the store kind... if not better."

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured on the site.

Here's the tricky part...

I wasn't a big fan of Fig Newtons when I was a kid. When it came to cookies, I liked chocolate chip, Nutter Butters, and...well, just about every other cookie in the universe. I started to really love Fig Newtons in my twenties and bought them on a regular basis. And today, after seeing that today is National Fig Newton Day, I realized that I haven't bought them in years. I wonder how stuff like that happens?

Here's a recipe for Homemade Fig Newtons from RecipeZaar. Me, I'm going to go to the store and buy a bag of them and a gallon of fat free milk.