I hope you enjoy this “rerun” of a recipe I associate closely with Christmas. It’s my low-fat, veganized interpretation of the fig-filled cookies my husband’s grandmother always made for Christmas. D looked forward to those cookies every year, and once he married a vegan, his grandmother often made a special egg-free batch just for us. Sadly, she’s no longer with us, but I think of her whenever I make these fig bars.
I made an impulse buy the other day, one of those “rings” of dried figs. I’ve been missing fresh figs all summer, so when I saw these dried figs in the store, I bought them without thinking. But then they sat on my kitchen counter taunting me with memories of my yummy, but definitely not low-fat, Holiday Fig Bars. Since I’ve been trying to cut down on sugar and refined foods lately, making a batch of those bars would not be in my best interest.
But visions of fig bars persisted, as such cravings will when you have the primary ingredient sitting right on your kitchen counter. I finally broke down this afternoon, just in time for my afternoon pot of coffee (another substance I should probably give up but won’t), and made fig bars. Actually, I decided to make fig bars healthy. I revamped my recipe so that the oil is gone, the refined flour is history, and the sugar is . . . well, the sugar is reduced. It’s gotta have something in it besides figs, you know!
You will be amazed at how good these are. They’re low in everything, except flavor.
Skinny Figgy Bars
Ingredients
Filling:
8 ounces dried figs (one round package)
4 ounces pitted dates
2 tbsp. slivered or chopped almonds (optional)
2 drops anise extract (optional)
1 tbsp. agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener)
2 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ginger
Crust:
1 cup regular or quick oats, ground in blender until fine
1 cup regular or quick oats, unground
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces unsweetened apple sauce
3 tbsp. agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener)
1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Make the filling: Snip off the figs’ stems, and put the figs, dates, and almonds into the food processor. Grind to a coarse paste. Stir in the remaining filling ingredients and process until mixed. Set aside.
- For the crust, combine the oats (ground and unground), baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in the apple sauce, agave nectar, and water, mixing well to a thick consistency. Press half the crust mixture into the bottom of an oiled, eight-inch square cake pan (use a wooden spoon or your hands). Spread the fig mixture evenly over the crust. Smooth the remaining crust mixture over the filling. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.
- Icing (optional): Mix powdered sugar (about 3 tbsp.) with a little water (Start with 1/2 tsp.) until the right consistency. Add vanilla or almond extract to taste (just drops). Drizzle over top of bars before cutting.
Preparation time: 15 minute(s) | Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 16
Makes 16 bars. Each bar (with almonds) contains: 117 Calories (kcal); 1 g Total Fat; (10% calories from fat); 2 g Protein; 26 g Carbohydrate; 0 mg Cholesterol; 67 mg Sodium; 4 g Fiber
Happy Holidays to you all!
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{ 85 comments… read them below or add one }
I don't have a food processor..Could I use my blender for the food processor part?
I'm afraid that the mixture would just bog down in the blender. I think it'd be more successful if you chopped everything by hand and mashed it together in a bowl. Much more time consuming, though!
Hi Susan,
This is an excellent recipe, I'll try it these days. I wonder what can be used instead of agave nectar; it seems that is not as healthy as they say, might be a health food fraud
Thank you for the wonderful recipes,
Lucia
Tried these tonight! Tasty! I did not have oats so I used 1 c of sorghum flour, 1 c of brn rice flour, and 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum and I used blended mix raisins in water for sweetener. My kids and husband loved it! yay! Another vegan hit!
Thanks a mil, Susan!
I'm amazed by the looks of these fig bars already! what a delicious skinny treat!
I made these once before and despite going out with the dog and forgetting about them (had an extra 30minutes in the oven =P ) they were delicious! I had forgotten about them until now!
Hi Susan,
A comment above just reminded me that I forgot to report back on using fresh figs. I peeled and then pureed the figs and then cooked them in a saucepan until the figs had reached a paste-like consistency. This seemed to work out fine as they were delicious fig-newton-alikes!
I'm sure the dried figs would be even easier/less work, but for those who have fresh figs, there's definitely an option
I just picked about 5# of figs over the last two days and didn’t want the trouble of making jam. My husband mentioned that I should make homemade Fig Newtons, but I dreaded all of the sugar. I, too, am trying to cut back. This looked like the perfect recipe, except for the dried figs.
Thank you, Lexi for sharing your experience with fresh figs. It’s just what I need. I’m excited to see how they turn out. Keep you posted.
This recipe looks good but it calls for dried figs. My Brown Turkey fig tree produces fresh figs not dried figs. How much fresh figs should I use? Do I have to reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe?
Also, how much liquid Stevia sweetener should I use?
I haven’t tried it with fresh figs, so I’m going to hope someone else answers you. (I would think that you would need less water.) Since all brands of stevia measure differently, I usually suggest just adding it to taste.
Thank you Susan V for yet another spectacular recipe.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to a -hands down -all time BEST vegan blogger on the net.
Have a Healthy Happy and Peaceful New Year. Rosemary
Hi again Susan!
Talk about being on the same page–I was making these yesterday as you were posting the recipe again, without knowing you had posted it. . .:) They do seem very Christmasy to me, too, and what a wonderful way to honor the memory of D's grandmother, and all our grandmothers who made us special Christmas treats.
To the person who asked about subbing quinoa flakes for oats at the top, here's my subjective experience: yes, they can work nicely alone or in combination with oats. In this particular recipe, which I have made many times, using certified gluten free oats, since I need to be gluten free too, I would suggest doing some combination. I think all quinoa flakes AND quinoa flour might be too strong of a taste, or a more grassy and less sweet taste that the oats seem to have. if you don't have gluten free oats available, I would try the quinoa flakes, and maybe sorghum flour, or a combination of sorghum and brown rice flour. .
Happy Holidays to all–this is one of my favorite recipes of Susan's and I love reading all the happy comments about them!
moonwatcher
these look so delicious! I can't even believe looking at the picture that these are butter-less
A wonderful keeper recipe!
my dad is obsesssedddd with fig newtons… I'm going to make him these as a healthy alternative! (he says fig newman's don't come close) I'll let you know how it goes! if you ever want to check out a raw dessert-my blog (thephilosophie.com) has a few! thanks again!
i'll be in touch!
I made these last week for my toddler in lieu of the pricey (albeit healthy) cereal bars he loves. We both LOVED them! I want to experiment with some different fruit fillings, since organic dates and figs are spendy where I live. Do you have any tips?
p.s. I love your blog. I'm normally a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of girl in the kitchen, but have always relied on fats to make things taste good. You're changing my palate (and hopefully my waistline will follow!).
These can be made gluten free by getting oats that are safe, like Bob's Red mill or Lara's brand. I grind the oats and have done chocolate chip cookies this way. I'm dying to make these in the next few days!! Thanks for creating this.
I really don't know how to do things in the kitchen so I probably be contented looking at the figgy bars.
I am so thankful for your blog. I have tried some of your recipes and my family usually likes them a lot!! We are trying to be Vegan and Mcdougall style, so your blog is helpful. We sometimes will have some fish or meat on occasion.
I tried this Skinny Figgy Bar and I really love it. I have to be Gluten free , but I don't have a problem with oats. There is some controversy about oats, however Bob's does make a gluten free oat! Regular oats have not bothered me however.
Wow, these look GORGEOUS! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe, I've been looking for a great fig cookie and now I think I've found it. Can't wait to give them a try.
These are really beautiful and tempting. And, I'm so happy I can actually make and eat them (gluten-free & egg-free). Thanks for posting the recipe.
I want to try these sometime! I love how they look so good but are so healthy! Thanks!
These look fabulous Susan. This year I toyed around with the idea of drying some of the figs from our overly prolific trees…this is an inspiration to do so we can enjoy them all year. I love a recipe that reminds me of someone…it's like having them in the kitchen with you! Happy New Year…
This looks like an amazing recipe and I will try it for sure.
Do you think it's possible to swtich the oats for buckwheat or millet flakes?
Also I don't use isolated sugars like agave, any advice if I want to cut it out? Maybe add a bit more applesauce to the crust and dates/figs for the filling?
Thank you for an awesome blog!
As a coffee drinker myself, I'm always looking for a good reason to keep it in my menu. As a researcher who keeps up on projects, I have come across several studies that show numerous health benefits of coffee, so don't feel guilty about it! Enjoy!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/search/?keyword=coffee
OMG, just made these and I am in heaven, so glad to read they freeze well because otherwise I might eat the whole batch today and that would kind of negate the healthy aspect…
p.s. I am seeing these as healthy apricot squares too, keeping the dates for sweetness and subbing for the figs for dried apricots, will be sure to comment back if I try it. Anyone else tried a different fruit filling?
whoa, mama – do these sound fabulous!!! Since becoming gluten free, I have missed fig newtons more than any other cookie. I am going to try these this weekend using Bob's Red Mill gluten free oats. thank you for such a fabulous recipe!
delish. if i do apricots do i sub it for the figs or dates… thanks
I haven't tried it but for apricot bars, I'd replace the figs with apricots.
I have done this in the past. I posted about it but don’t see the comment anymore? Anyways I replaced the figs with apricots and they came out great although I still prefer the figs. I would really like to try them with dried apple though, or maybe apple and fig?
Ok I lied, I do see the comment, clearly I’m blind
HI Susan,
You know I love these figgy bars, and have made them more times than I care to count, but the other day I was musing about how to get more cranberries in my diet, and I started wondering if I could come up with a cranberry filling for these, using your filling recipe as a template. This is what I did:
I plumped about a cup of dried cranberries in some water that had come to the boil in the tea kettle for a few minutes. I also threw in a handful of raisins.
I put the drained cranberries and raisins in the food processor with two dates (that was all I had, but it really was all I needed), a tbs of orange juice instead of the lemon juice, for the water I used the soaking water, some orange zest, a dash of anise extract, and to the ginger and cinnamon, I added some cardamom. I also used the almonds.
This filling spread quite easily, even with a spatula. I also added a pinch of anise extract to the batter.
Anyway, here's another version, to stand alongside these wonderful fig bars.
Thanks for inspiring me!
moonwatcher
I do not have much experience with figs. Does it matter in this recipe which type of dried figs are used? I have some Turkish dried figs at home now and thought I could incorporate them.
Tia, I think any dried figs should do.
Susan,
(I also just posted a similar comment on the Pumpkin and Black Bean Casserole recipe) My recently vegan-convert and gluten free roomie and I made these bars, gluten free of course, and we can't stop drooling over them! They are seriously good and we both agree that they don't taste homemade and could easily have come from a high end bakery or something!
I have referenced you and your recipes multiple times in my own blog and I really hope vegans and non vegans alike will give these bars a try. They're too good to miss!
Thank you for sharing this one, I know this is only the first batch of many!
Claire
girlwhoplayswithfood.blogspot.com
WOW! sure looks delicious!
Thanks for the recipe.
This has become a regular in our house. Just the right amount of sweetness, easy to make, Works despite various mistakes like not having dates, putting all the crust on the bottom (open faced!) Thanks Susan.
mmmmmmmm, this oat-ie base will definitely be used in the future, anything to recreate digestive biscuits, that i think are oatmeal cookies in the u.s!!!!!!!
Think of the summer time possibilities for this recipe!
very happy student sending ‘figgy’ toothed smiles lol Xxx
I’m a bit confused when you say
“1 cup regular or quick oats, ground in blender until fine
1 cup regular or quick oats, uncooked (not instant oatmeal)”
does that mean the first cup IS cooked and put in the blender as well?
No, both are uncooked, but one cup is ground and the other isn’t.
Damn you and your skinny figgy bars!!!! They are so good, I can’t stop eating them. I did not add the icing, they were plenty sweet without that. I love sweets and these are addictive! Great recipes here, I have made several, but the figgy bars are my favorite.
I made your fig bars (which I am still obsessed with after making them over a year ago) for Thanksgiving and at the last minute realized I didn’t have the applesauce. I melted banana that had been frozen and used that in the crust instead and WOW. Not only did I use waaaayyyy less sweetener (about1tbsp only so shouldn’t affect the nutrition too much but probably healthier) but they had a teeny hint of banana flavor and were super sweet and moist. I think the crust was even better this way and I will definitely be using the modification for the future!
I have also found that I prefer double the amounts of water called for in both the crust and filling to get the best results.
Wow! I can’t wait to make these when I get home from university for the holidays. *drools* After a shockingly unhealthy semester, I’m trying hard to pick up the exercising/nutritious eating habit again, and these will help to keep me in line over Christmas. Thanks, Susan!
I purchased organic figs and dates today solely for this recipe — made it tonight and was wondering: do you think this can this be refrigerated overnight and then sliced and eaten without baking? I know it contains baking powder, so it’s kind of silly, but I was just wondering how you thought a “raw” version might fare. Thanks for your blog!
I hadn’t thought of it, but except for the baking powder, it should be safe to eat raw, but a little messy. I’m no expert on raw food, but I would think that it would be better to leave out some of the liquid in the crust and maybe put it into a dehydrator, rather than eat it right after mixing.
Just wanted to let you know that I have indeed done this — twice, now! Leaving off the top crust (using all the crust ingredients for the bottom) and topping with the “filling,” then refrigerating it overnight in an uncovered dish and slicing after letting it firm up has worked wonderfully. The crust is a bit moist (not dry/crumbly), as you suspected, but nevertheless delicious; the whole family loves it. They also freeze beautifully and solidify even better. I hope to feature this adapted recipe idea–with credit/link to you, of course–on my blog sometime soon. Thank you, Susan!
What a healtthy, delicious recipe! I was just craving something like this, and was so happy to find it online. Since I didn’t have figs, I used dates, dried apricots, prunes, cranberries and whole dried blueberries, also substituting walnuts for almonds. For the apple sauce, I threw a cored (but not peeled) apple into the food processor.
Thank you for such a super-healthy, super-yummy recipe; just what I was seeking.
Thanks for a great recipe, Susan!
I substituted quinoa flakes for the oatmeal and date sugar for the agave nectar; left out the salt; and left off the frosting. They were very nice eaten warm out of the oven. I poured soymilk over one in a bowl and ate with a spoon and that was good, too. I just realized I misunderstood the quantity of oats, so I only used 1 cup of quinoa flakes instead of 2. The crust still turned out great.
I really like everyone’s ideas for other fruit fillings, too. I look forward to trying some other variations!
These look so good! Thank you for posting! I just found your website and I think it is great
Excelletnt, just what I was looking for!!! Making these right now!
Hi Susan, I’ve made this several times and love it! The crust came to the rescue this Christmas for low fat vegan mince-pies. I don’t know if these are popular in the US but in the UK they are essential Christmas fare (and I do love them!). I used a ready made low fat ‘mincemeat’ and chilled your oat crust so that it could be cut and crimped in mini pie tins. Delicious…. Thanks!!
These look great!! I cannot wait to try them!
Hi Susan! I made these bars just yesterday and thought they were fantastic! I used your picture on my web site though simply because the photo I took from my Iphone wouldn’t upload and I didn’t have any other options! I will be giving you full credit for the photo/recipe etc but I hope this is okay! I know you have your web addy right on the pics so I’m assuming you wouldn’t mind. If you do though, let me know!! Thanks so much!
Hi Susan – I just took mine out of the oven and followed your recipe to a t, but was concerned when the crust seemed too moist so didn’t use all the wet ingredients. Is this the was the crust is supposed to be, opposed to the traditional dry crumbly mixture seen for most recipes like this? I thought 4 ounces of applesauce plus the other wet ingredients were a bit much so left about a couple TBS out. I also used a 9″ square pan, which i think is just a wee bit too big. consequently the crust didn’t quite cover the top. but, what the heck, i’m sure it will be delicious. thanks for the recipe.
p.s. – my neighbor keeps giving me fresh figs from her tree. so i dried them and hence – your skinny bars!
I finally plucked up the courage to make these, as we are (uh oh, might be…. its not definite now due to weather) going to a BBQ this afternoon. Just taken them out the oven, am a little worried that the crust looks a little dry on top at the moment, as i just realised i used 4oz of fresh apple to make my apple sauce rather than 4 oz of apple sauce. I called my step dad from the supermarket & he read out “apple juice”, i got home a saw it was sauce not juice. Grrr. Not that we seem to get unsweetened apple sauce in English supermarkets anyway. But this has shown me how easy it is to make my own too! Anyway they are cooling but will update this comment once i have tried one. Hopefully only one, the thought of all of them sitting in the house stresses me out. (Eating Disorder hasn’t quite left me alone yet.) I hope it stops raining & we go to the BBQ so i can share them!
All of these recipes look so amazing! For some reason when I saw this one I had a vision of kiwifruit in place of figs (this is probably because I have a few kiwis getting desperately ripe). So I tried it. I also changed a few other things; since the kiwis were fresh I used no additional wet ingredients, I added wheat germ and almond meal to the whole thing, I also used pureed raisin-water in place of a sweetener for the crust…. so how’d it turn out?? Well, the kiwi is definately ripe which gives it a distinct flavor (not a sugary sweet), and the rest of it is not very sweet at all; but this balances well. I do think next time I will the crust more crust like because it came out almost like a struedel. Overall, amazing experience, fun recipe, and I’ve already had more than one! Thanks Susan!
Can I use fresh figs instead of dried? If so are their any adjustments I should make in the recipe?
Wow I made these today and they are gorgeous, so easy to make and taste delicious!
The only problem I had was my dates wouldn’nt chop up in the food processor very well, I used dried ones, did I do the wrong thing? Should I have soaked them before or used fresh ones?
Some are harder than others–sounds like you got the hard ones. Soaking them would be a good idea if you make them again.
I made these, exactly as suggested (minus the glaze drizzle), and they were delicious! I don’t have a glass pan with anything close to the suggested dimensions, so I made mine in a deep dish pie plate. Fig Better-Than-Newton’s Pie! At first I thought 16 pieces was going to be way too small, but that little sliver isn’t so little – and it’s just the right amount. I took some of the extra pieces to work, and everyone loved them. I rarely make desserts twice (because there are some many delicious new ones to try), but I’ll be making these again for sure! I’m already planning on when
This was my first time working with figs, fresh or dried, and I found them very similar to dates, which I’m very familiar with. So yea me! And yea for Skinny Fig Bars!
Can you use Bob’s Oat flour in place of ground oats. Or is it too fine?
That should work just fine.
Those look really yummy!
I tried the Skinny Fig Bars today and have a couple questions. The dough seemed kind of wet and gummy before baking. Should it be that way? I weighed the 4 oz. of applesauce on a scale but got to thinking that maybe you meant 1/4 cup instead of exact weight. After baking and cooling, the top crust seemed kind of hard, dry and uninteresting. Maybe it needs the little touch of icing to compensate for that. Have you ever tried cutting a little cold almond or cashew butter into the oat mixture to give it more of a pastry-like texture? (and then adding enough moist ingredients just to crumble it.) Just a thought. I was just a little disappointed in the recipe but maybe it was something I didn’t do quite right…
I just made these today and they turned out delicious! I didn’t have an 8×8 pan, so I just baked them in a fluted round tart pan. And I made the mistake of putting 2 Tbsp lemon juice in the filling, but that worked out just fine. I also added a bit of vanilla powder to the crust. All in all a very successful recipe. Both my husband and 1.5 year old loved it. (as did my guest for afternoon coffee) Thank you!
btw. I also doubled the cinnamon and ginger in the filling after tasting it according to the recipe. It was really yummy, both with and without the icing.
These were so yummy!! especially warm.
I just put a batch of these in the oven! So excited… our neighbors always give us big bags of figs every summer, and I never know what to do with them.
I only had one question/issue. How do you effectively spread the top layer of crust on top of the figs? My crust turned out too dry to spread without totally destroying the figs… should it be more of a watery consistency?
So glad I found this site… I am a long-time partial vegetarian, recent vegan, and your recipes look amazing! Thanks for sharing!
I plop the top crust on in clumps and then spread them out to cover. If yours wouldn’t do that, maybe it did need a little more liquid. The dryness of ingredients can vary, so maybe mine were a little more moist than yours.
That’s kind of what I ended up doing. I’ll try making it a bit more moist next time.
Thanks again!
i wish i was your neighbor. you are amazing. thank you, diana
You don’t have to let this get posted to the comments. Just wanted you to know I caught a typo in the ingredients. You wrote SILVERED instead of SLIVERED (all caps to make it easier to read) for the almonds.
Wow, I can’t believe I never caught that all these years! Thanks so much for pointing it out. I’ll correct it as soon as I’m able to.
Hello
I love your recipis!
Buuut here in Denmark, we dont have applesauce at the store, so do you have a suggestion to what i can use instead of applesauce?
Merry Christmas
Maria !
Maria, I think it’s pretty easy to make apple sauce at home. You just cook chopped apples until they become tender and then mash them or purée them.
Made these for Christmas and have not felt guilty eating three a day! They’re so delicious and nutritious!
Made the Skinny figgy Bars today. They were tasty, but I had a difficult time making them. Maybe someone can help. I almost burnt up my Vitamix trying to chop the figs and dates and they were hard to get out of the blender. Can they be softened with warm water or something. Is there a trick or better way? The lemon and spices give a nice zing to the fig mix. The crust is rather chewy and I may have overcooked them a bit. I will give this another try and use the tip of one respondent to pre-chop the figs and dates. Thanks for the recipe, we really appreciate some added healthy sweets to our No oil, vegan diet.
Do you have a food processor? That’s what I use to make the filling. I can imagine that it would be very difficult to get out of a blender and recommend using a food processor next time, if possible. Soaking the figs in hot water would soften them up, but I don’t think that will make it any easier to get them out of the blender, and it may make them too wet to work right in the recipe.
I made the filling with dried mixed fruit, apricots and dates, lemon juice and spices and then the oat bit with porridge oats, water, baking soda, sugar substitute and a little orange juice. It actually worked. I thought the oat mix was too squishy but it’s fine. Gorgeous hot. will be interesting to see what it’s like cold.
I made these this afternoon, and they are wonderful! I tried to follow the recipe as closely as I could the first time, but next time I will make twice the crust and spread it in a 9×13″ pan to make the filling thinner. It was great the way it was, but I have been buying Whole Foods fig bars, and I would like to have a similar amount of filling. Anyway, thank you for a great recipe. We are four months into “low-fat plant-strong,” and this is a keeper. I really appreciate it.
I just found this recipe and I am so excited to try it! My son is gluten free and I just found out that I have Crohn’s and have to go on a very restricted diet. I can have figs, dates and natural sweeteners, but finding good desserts with that is hard! I cannot wait to try this, going to make it tonight for Easter brunch! Do you mind if I share your recipe on my blog?
Hi Tracy, feel free to share the link to the recipe but please don’t copy it to you blog. I hope you enjoy it!
These look delicious!
Someone just sent me a HUGE bag of figs in a package, so I’d love to use them in this recipe. But I don’t have dates on hand right now — do you think I could just use more figs, since I’ve got plenty of those?
More dried figs will work instead of the dates, but they will be less sweet. If that bothers you, you can add a little sweetener or sugar to make up the difference. Hope you enjoy them!
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