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Homemade Fig Bars

August 15, 2012

What pre-packaged treat do you most remember your mother buying you as a child? Graham crackers? Chocolate chip cookies? Gingersnaps? Oreos? In my house, it was Fig Newtons. I think my mother assumed the fig center made them a more sensible choice than the other options at the grocery. While my mom usually baked her own delicious cookies, but I don't think she ever tried her hand at homemade Newtons. Even when I started thinking about making a healthier, less sugar-filled, homemade version of Newtons I was a bit intimidated. It just didn't seem like a recipe that would be easy to pull off in a home kitchen.

Well, I was wrong. Totally wrong. In fact, in the same amount of time it takes to make a simple batch of chocolate chip cookies, I made these decadently rich bars, filled with sweet fig and tucked inside a tender whole wheat cookie. Both of my kids agreed they were superior to the store bought Fig Newtons they had tried at a friend's house -- they couldn't keep their mitts out of the tin I put them in.

One night after my two little cookie monsters had three cookies apiece and were going for more, I hid the tin. I did such a good job tucking it out of sight that five days later I realized I totally forgot about them. Figuring they would be stale I opened the container and pulled one out to try. Amazingly they were still as moist and irresistible as the first day I had baked them.

Store bought fig bars for us? Never again!

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Homemade Fig Bars  (makes 20)

  • Prep Time:15 minutes,
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes,
  • Total Time: 35 minutes,

Ingredients

  • 1 cup roughly chopped dried figs, stems removed
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

Preparation

  1. 1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. 2. Place the figs in a small bowl, cover with hot water, and soak for 10 minutes.
  3. 3. Remove the figs from the water with a slotted spoon and place in the bowl of a food processor. Add the honey and 1 tablespoon of the soaking liquid. Puree until smooth and spreadable.
  4. 4. In the bowl of a standing mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
  5. 5. Add the flour and mix until a dough forms.
  6. 6. Roll dough between two pieces of parchment paper into two 12 x 4 inch rectangles.
  7. 7. Spread the fig mixture on one half of each rectangle - spreading up the 12-inch side and leaving a 1/4-1/2 inch border.
  8. 8. Fold the dough over on top of itself and gently press the dough together at the edges.
  9. 9. Cut each log into 10 cookies and transfer to a silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet.
  10. 10. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden.
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Comments






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  1. Pingback: Homemade Kids Snacks {Lunch Box} | In The Know Mom

  2. Alan

    May 16, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    Reply

    Great to see this old standard again. Would be helpful if measures were in metric to save looking up the conversion tables. I remember these bars with orange zest and juice in the date filling. I have also done it with lemon. The taste is amazing and the kids love them even more. Cuts back the sweetness of the dates and honey a little.

  3. Nuzzette

    May 15, 2013 at 10:33 pm

    Reply

    My toddler started double-fisting double-stacked fig newmans so I decided it was time to make them at home. Made this recipe today and while he definitely liked them they were WAAAY too big for his little self. I realized this after cutting the first log and made the second log into 20 small bars, much better size for my little guy. I am going to add some salt next time (maybe 1/2 tsp ground sea salt) to see if that helps the dough rise a little more and maybe divide the dough three-ways and make smaller bars overall. Great job on this recipe! Now I just need to find a reasonable-to-make substitute for Annie’s Gummy Bunnies…

  4. Carla

    April 24, 2013 at 8:54 pm

    Reply

    so I finally just realised what these are! in Australia we call these Pillow biscuits. and they’re filled with all sorts of dried fruit flavours even berries. I definitely will have to give these a try one time.

  5. Sarah

    April 12, 2013 at 7:41 am

    Reply

    Surprised the recipe contains no salt. The cookie dough has a hard surface & doesn’t rise well without it. I also b elieve the dough would be much easier to work with if the butter is cold; i will try it that way next time.

  6. gilad

    April 11, 2013 at 1:02 am

    Reply

    can i use fresh figs?

    • catherine

      April 11, 2013 at 10:17 am

      Reply

      You can! It’s just easier with dried. You may need to add a little water to them depending on how ripe and juicy they are! It should be like a paste consistency once pureed!

  7. Audrey

    April 9, 2013 at 2:59 pm

    Reply

    Just made these. The filling definitely is delicious and tastes like the store bought fig newtons. There seems to be more filling then dough as mine were overflowing with filling and there didn’t seem to be enough dough. I baked mine for 16 minutes and they came out hard like a cookie. They still taste good but mine are more cookie like.

  8. Pingback: Homemade Fig Bars | "An Apple A Day" Blog

  9. Erin

    February 25, 2013 at 12:09 pm

    Reply

    Could I fell the fig bars with a different kind of fruit, we are in a small town and figs not the easiest to get a hold of. If so what kind of fruit would you suggest?

    • Leslie

      April 8, 2013 at 8:37 am

      Reply

      A friend of mine used prunes because she didn’t have figs and she said they were delicious!

    • catherine

      February 25, 2013 at 12:21 pm

      Reply

      You could probably use any dried fruit your prefer! Like berries or apricots!

  10. Nicolen

    February 9, 2013 at 2:01 pm

    Reply

    Have these baking in the oven as I type!! I can’t wait to try them but also for my picky 5 year old daughter as well! My one question. I have left over fig spread. Can I freeze it or keep in fridge till I make more? And if so for how long and if I can’t keep it stored what can I do with it? I hate wasting food. BTW they smell amazing so far!!

    • catherine

      February 11, 2013 at 12:50 pm

      Reply

      You can freeze the fig filling for up to 3 months or keep it in the fridge for about 5 days!

  11. Caitlin

    January 26, 2013 at 11:42 pm

    Reply

    I notice a lot of honey in your recipes and I thought that was a big no-no for toddlers. I have been substituting maple syrup in most recipes. Any thoughts?

    • catherine

      January 28, 2013 at 1:03 am

      Reply

      Maple syrup and agave are great substitutes for honey! It is recommended to wait until after 1 year to introduce honey to babies.

    • Rachel

      January 27, 2013 at 8:28 pm

      Reply

      Honey is only a no no for babies under one.

  12. Liz

    January 23, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    Reply

    The first time I made these they were too sweet for my taste (although, that did not stop us from eating them all). This time I reduced the sugar to 1/3c and reduced the honey to 1/2T – perfect!.

    After reading other posts I’ll just add that I did not have any issues working with the dough and the filling amount was just fine too.

  13. tw

    December 17, 2012 at 6:40 pm

    Reply

    This recipe makes me super happy because the dough was really easy to work with (not an experienced baker). Next time I’ll try increasing the fig filling to dough ratio, and using a little less honey though. I’m finding the honey to bea little overpowering. Thanks for giving me a new staple treat recipe… I love fig newtons and these are so much nicer than the store purchased variety.

  14. Ann

    December 3, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    Reply

    Had to substitute dates as I couldn’t find figs, but these are yummy! And, my dear anti-whole-wheat husband loved them (of course, I didn’t tell him that I used 100% king arthur flour white whole wheat!). Thanks for another winner!

  15. shirley

    November 14, 2012 at 12:56 am

    Reply

    Hi, any subsitute instead of sugar ? Xylitol or date paste perhaps as a natural sweetener…trying not to add sugar (white or brown) thanks

    • catherine

      November 14, 2012 at 1:00 pm

      Reply

      You would need to use something granulated so that the consistency stays the same. I personally am not a fan of xylitol. Maybe date sugar or palm sugar?

  16. Pingback: Homemade (and whole wheat) Fig Newtons — North Shore Mama

  17. Lisa

    October 13, 2012 at 8:23 pm

    Reply

    My husband just introduced me to your site – love it! Do you have gluten-free recipes?

  18. Julie

    October 13, 2012 at 3:15 pm

    Reply

    These are one of my favorite recipes of yours now! My sister in law has a fig tree, but they don’t care for figs so we get lots! :) I’ve made these about 4 times now, and they are SO delicious! I had looked for homemade fig newton recipe before, but many were very complicated, these are simple, come together fast, and are always a big hit, thanks! :)

  19. Victoria

    October 11, 2012 at 8:55 pm

    Reply

    Hello Catherine! i just tried this recipe and is amazing!! so I was wondering if the amount of flour is the correct, because i had to add more than what you said in the recipe, my mixure was so sticky, but still delicious!! thanks for sharing!

  20. 2brownboys

    October 3, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    Reply

    Hey there, Catherine, how can I make this recipe with fresh figs? I have always only had dried figs and I was in the farmers market the other day and saw beautiful fresh figs.. I have a newly 1 year old and 3 year old and I need some idea as to how to use them in a way that everyone can enjoy.

    thanks in advance

    • catherine

      October 3, 2012 at 12:09 pm

      Reply

      You could try this with fresh figs. Just blend them to get them to a paste. You might need to strain the liquid out, though!

  21. heather g

    September 24, 2012 at 8:47 pm

    Reply

    these are so good and suprisingly easy.

  22. Pingback: WHAT TO FEED A ONE YEAR OLD. | holdenon baby

  23. marg

    September 7, 2012 at 10:08 pm

    Reply

    I am wanting to know about freezing fig newtons, if i don’t freeze them we eat them to fast I want to try dried apricots, dates sounds good too. my recipe said to put into a sealed contaner or ziplock when still hot it keeps them soft and cakie, I just love them and are quit simple to make

    • catherine

      September 10, 2012 at 12:03 pm

      Reply

      I have some in the freezer right now! I bake them, let them cool, and then freeze them!

  24. Laura Degnan

    September 5, 2012 at 7:36 pm

    Reply

    I’d love to see a video for this recipe!

    • catherine

      September 6, 2012 at 12:00 pm

      Reply

      Great idea! It is officially on my list!

  25. Ruth

    September 5, 2012 at 8:00 am

    Reply

    Made these over the weekend – easy recipe to make! I used dried figs from Trader Joes – do you need to somehow remove the seeds? I’m not a fig cookie fan, and when I ate one, I felt like I was chewing on ground-up glass because of the seeds! The husband said Fig Newtons aren’t like that.

    • catherine

      September 5, 2012 at 11:31 am

      Reply

      Nope, you don’t need to remove the seeds, but yes figs do have a lot of seeds and create a certain texture. Fig Newtons have that same texture as far as I can remember!

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