This recipe is for raw fig bars. First, because I used to love Fig Newton’s as a kid (maybe because in my mind I thought they were healthy), and second because once I tried a raw fig bar from One Lucky Duck, my life changed. Just thinking about them gets my mouth watering, and they are 100x better than Fig Newtons. Since I can’t afford to buy case loads of those beautiful gems, I decided to figure out how to make them myself. The recipe below tastes almost exactly like the ones I’ve been buying, and the texture would probably be more similar if you ground the oats and almonds finer.
This is a fig bar from One Lucky Duck…if you are too lazy to make them yourself, then click the picture to head over there and pick some up.
Do you need another reason (besides the fact that they taste heavenly) to make these? They are really simple, and only have a few (normal) ingredients. Okay, they might not be *normal* to everyone, but you could easily substitute things like almond meal for coconut flour if you needed to.
Maybe not *everyone* has homemade almond meal laying around in their freezer…but if you followed my almond milk recipe you would!
For this batch, I made them pretty sloppy because we were having our home weatherization audit guys come and explain our report to us, and I wanted to get them in the dehydrator before they got there. I’ve included notes in the instructions on how to assemble them to make them prettier.
Oh and in other really exciting (and related) news…we’re expecting a new addition to our family…I ordered a fig tree! Hopefully within the next 5-10 business days I’ll have a brand new baby organic Osborne Prolific to share with you all! =)
- Crust
- 1/2 cup raw oats (or oat flour)
- 1/4 cup flax seed meal
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 7-8 dates + water for soaking
- Filling
- Figs
- Water
- Soak the dates in just enough water to cover them. Let them sit while you grind your other ingredients.
- If using whole oats or flax seeds, grind them now. Remove from blender/processor and set aside.
- Blend the dates and the water they have been soaking in until they form a paste. It doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth, but should be thick and sticky.
- Add in the crust ingredients and blend until the mixture sticks together. Set aside.
- For the fig filling, pull off the stems, and then simply blend the figs with just enough water to make a thick paste. Start with 1-2 tbsps of water, and add more until it’s the right consistency,
- Line the container with wax paper, and be sure the paper goes up the sides for easier removal.
- Press half of the crust mixture down, add a layer of fig filling, and then add the rest of the crust.
- Put it in the fridge until it’s set.
- Dehydrate the crust for 30 minutes-an hour, just enough to make it dry.
- Then add the fig filling on half of the crust.
- Layer the plain crust on top of the filling and let dehydrate for 1 or more hours.
Let the dates soak in water for a few minutes. I poured about half of this water out, and used the other half to blend them into a paste.
Flax Seed Meal
Hopefully in a year or two, I won’t have to buy these because I’ll be picking them off of our tree!
I usually use Old Fashioned Rolled Oats, but I’d guess quick cooking would work fine too. I wouldn’t use steel cut though.
The crust should still be crumbly in the blender, but should stick together if you grab it with your hand.
A much neater way would be to shape and cut squares before sticking them on the dehydrator. I let them dry for about a half an hour.
Fig Filling
Super sloppy.
Let them dehydrate for 1+ hours. I waited 2 hours this time.
Since I was rushing, I just trimmed off the edges to make the bars look neater. And ate all the extras.
Much neater.
My Vegan Adventures 
One thought on “Recipe: Raw Fig Bars”