Sometimes things don’t work out as planned. Take these beautiful swirl cookies, for example, which I intended on bringing to a holiday cookie party last week. Due to my hectic schedule, I broke up the steps over the course of a couple of days. Monday: make dough. Tuesday: make filling and complete cookies. Wednesday: attend party.

A good plan in theory, but sometimes even good plans don’t even go as planned.

Plan fail #1: I ended up working a 12-hour day on Tuesday, which left me with no time or patience for rolling out and chilling dough. So I improvised and made thumbprint cookies instead. Not ideal, as the swirl was what attracted me to this recipe in the first place, but it’d have to do. Looks aside, the cookies tasted great and I was excited to bring them to the party. Until…

Plan fail #2: I ended up working a 15-hour day on Wednesday, which meant I had to skip the party. Talk about a total drag. Luckily one of my friends was able to deliver my cookies on my behalf, but I was still totally bummed to not have the opportunity to taste everyone else’s creations.

But I did sneak a few of these for myself, though. Happy happy!

Fig and Date Thumbprint Cookies (makes approximately 24 cookies)

Recipe adapted from Lottie and Doof

What you need:

• 1/2 cup packed soft dried figs, trimmed and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup packed pitted dates, trimmed and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 cup granulated raw sugar

How you do it:

1. Put figs, dates, water and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Transfer puree to a small bowl and set aside.
2. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat together butter, cream cheese, and remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at moderate speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla and yolk until combined well. Add flour mixture and mix at low speed until just combined.
4. Halve dough and form each half into a rectangle. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
6. Cut each triangle of dough into 16 squares. Using your hands, roll each square into a ball then use your thumb to create an indent about half way into the center of each cookie. Sprinkle cookies with raw sugar, then fill each indent with a small scoop of fig and date filling.
7. Bake cookies for 20 minutes or until cookies are slightly browned at the edges.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before serving.