You’re going to want to try this fun vegan dessert on Shavu’ot, Tu Bishvat, or any time!

Shavu’ot is also called Hag HaBikurim, Festival of the First Fruits. Deuteronomy Chapter 26 codifies the ritual and liturgy for presenting the first fruits as a Temple offering, and MishnahA collection of rabbinic teachings edited in Israel around 225 CE. Organized in six sedaraim by subject matter and dealing with both ritual and civil law. Both the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmud are expansive discussions of the Mishnah. Bikkurim 1:3 clarifies that this should take place on Shavu’ot, as well as specifying which produce to bring.

The seven species are listed in Deuteronomy Chapter 8: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pommegranates, olives, and dates. For more about the seven species, check out this source sheet.

What better way to celebrate Shavu’ot than by making a delicious treat from these seven species?

I first started making Seven Species Cookies in 2013, when I lived in Israel. I really felt the passage of the seasons and the connection of the religious and agricultural calendars that year. I loved going to the shuk to see what was fresh in season. Barley appeared in the supermarket right after Pesah. Pomegranates stacked abundantly at the shuk. The freshest, juiciest figs I’d ever eaten. 

I tinker with the recipe each time I make them, but the principles remain the same.

Olive oil is the fat, silan (date syrup) sweetens the wheat dough. Barley cooked in pomegranate juice functions like the oats in an oatmeal raisin cookie, and raisins share space with chopped dried figs. Note: this cookie dough is not super sweet. I like the balance of the tart pomegranate juice and the sweet silan. If you prefer a sweeter cookie, try using more silan and less olive oil. You could even cook the barley in a mixture of pomegranate juice and silan for maximum sweetness.

Ingredients

• 1 oz pearl barley (i.e. 1/8 cup) 
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup silan (date syrup)
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup chopped dried figs

Directions:

1. In a small pot on the lowest heat, cook the barley in the pomegranate juice. Stir frequently, as the sugar in the juice can easily burn. It will take an hour or so until the barley is really soft and all of the liquid is absorbed. Let cool.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine olive oil and silan (date syrup). 
3. Stir in 2 cups of whole wheat flour until well combined. 
4. Stir in the cooled cooked barley, then add the raisins and chopped figs.
5. Chill the cookie dough in the fridge (this will make it easier to manipulate).
6. Preheat oven to 350ºF (gas)
7. Form dough into cookies – this recipe makes 36 little cookies (1.25” diameter) or 18 medium sized cookies (2.5” diameter). They don’t spread at all while baking, so you can place them close together on a baking sheet.
8. Bake the little cookies for 11 minutes; the medium sized cookies for 15 minutes. They will be just golden on top and slightly browned on the bottom. Cool on a rack.