RECIPE {fig oat bars}

You know how you stumble across that recipe, have it saved for months and months, and then finally decide to make it…and then you pull it out of the oven and sample a bite and you just want to eat the entire pan right then and there? Yeah, that’s what this recipe did to me. I refrained from eating the entire pan, but it’s not taking long for them to disappear around this house.

Ben loves Fig Newtons (the store kind), and I had made some homemade ones for him when we were dating that I think were maybe what pushed him over the edge in deciding I needed to be his wife (hehe!). I like this recipe better than the original because its easier (the original version called for rolling out the dough, layering on the filling, and folding over the dough) and tastier. I feel like you get less dough and more filling with this recipe, which is awesome in my opinion considering I ate the filling straight up on top of waffles yesterday morning.

Fig Oat Bars
adapted from here

1 1/4 cup spelt flour (or flour of choice)
1 3/4 cup oatmeal (I used mostly rolled oats but also some quick oats)
1 T. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
2 T. butter
1 1/4 cup fig preserves (see below)

Preserves
Dates
Dried figs
Orange juice/apple cider/water

For the preserves – I don’t have a solid recipe for this, but I took roughly a cup and a half total of chopped dates and figs, simmered them in splashes of orange juice + apple cider for thirty minutes or so, and then mashed them together with a potato masher once the fruits were soft. I did need to add additional liquid towards the end of cooking, so keep your eye on it. You could also just use fig preserves from the store.

For the bars – Whisk together flour, 1 1/2 cups oats, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Whisk together brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and applesauce (I also threw in a spoonful of molasses which lended some tasty flavor). Mix wet + dry ingredients together – it will be thick like cookie dough.

Line a 8 x 8 baking pan with foil or parchment and grease. Press two-thirds of the dough into the pan and spread preserves on top. I added dark chocolate chunks to one half of the pan as well (i highly recommend this), although why I didn’t add this to the entire pan I do not know.

Add the remaining 1/4 cup oats and 2 T. butter to the remaining dough and mix well with your fingers. Crumble on top of the preserve layer – it will be messy and sticky but no worries because it is worth it.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until top is browned.

Let cool, cut into bars (easiest is to lift out of the pan using foil lining and then cut), and try not to eat them all at once.

What about you: what are you baking this holiday season? 

I’d love to hear your thoughts + recipes!