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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!

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






  1. Nicolen

    February 9, 2013 at 2:01 pm

    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

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

  2. Caitlin

    January 26, 2013 at 11:42 pm

    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

      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

      Honey is only a no no for babies under one.

  3. Liz

    January 23, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    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.

  4. tw

    December 17, 2012 at 6:40 pm

    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.

  5. Ann

    December 3, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    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!

  6. shirley

    November 14, 2012 at 12:56 am

    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

      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?

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

  8. Lisa

    October 13, 2012 at 8:23 pm

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

  9. Julie

    October 13, 2012 at 3:15 pm

    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! :)

  10. Victoria

    October 11, 2012 at 8:55 pm

    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!

  11. 2brownboys

    October 3, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    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

      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!

  12. heather g

    September 24, 2012 at 8:47 pm

    these are so good and suprisingly easy.

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  14. marg

    September 7, 2012 at 10:08 pm

    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

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

  15. Laura Degnan

    September 5, 2012 at 7:36 pm

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

    • catherine

      September 6, 2012 at 12:00 pm

      Great idea! It is officially on my list!

  16. Ruth

    September 5, 2012 at 8:00 am

    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

      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!

  17. Krystal L

    August 31, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    What about fig preserves? I have several jars from a trip to Louisiana this summer and I want to use them.

    • catherine

      September 4, 2012 at 12:57 pm

      As long as they aren’t too liquidy they should work great! You want the filling to be more paste-like!

  18. Mamta

    August 30, 2012 at 10:03 pm

    Here’s my version:

    I used 1 cup whole wheat and 1/2 cup AP flour. Dough was perfect.

    I used organic dried apricots and omitted the honey. I measured 1 cup chopped dried apricots and the filling came out too much. I divided it in half and spread all of it… Way too much…

    I ended up baking them close to 20 mins and they were overdone.

    This batch is too sweet for my taste so I’ll half the sugar in the dough and use less dried apricots next time.

    Overall, great recipe to personalize!!!

  19. Mya

    August 28, 2012 at 10:11 am

    Anyone else have super wet sticky dough? I had to almost double the flour and still have to chill the dough because its sooo sticky!

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  21. Tracy

    August 27, 2012 at 10:07 am

    My dough rolled out nicely but when I went to fold it over the fig spread it cracked , and crumbled. Any ideason what I may have done wrong? I could!’t get it to cover all the spread bit they are baking in the oven.

  22. Melissa McKenna

    August 26, 2012 at 8:24 am

    I used 1 cup brown rice flour and 1/2 cup coconut flour. Kept everything else the same. They came out great and GF :) I would give a tip of using the wax or parchment paper to help fold the dough in half since it is more crumbly. It wasn’t that bad at all though! So yummy you can’t tell they are GF!

    • Melissa McKenna

      August 26, 2012 at 8:25 am

      OH and not crumbly once cooked! Very happy with the outcome.

  23. Kim

    August 25, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    Can you use whole wheat flour instead of white whole wheat flour? Thanks!

    • catherine

      August 27, 2012 at 11:35 am

      It will be a slightly different texture, but try and let me know how it turns out!

  24. shirleynature

    August 21, 2012 at 12:46 am

    I will definitely try these. Instead of the sugar I will try xylitol which is a natural sugar (tooth friendly) made from either corn or birch tree. It acts by not raising the blood sugar levels & is actually good for toddlers teeth as opposed to sugar. Or I will try apple juice concentrate which is sugar free but sweet like sugar. Thankyou for the lovely recipe.

  25. Marishannon

    August 20, 2012 at 8:08 pm

    I made these and while they tasted pretty good, they were so difficult to work with! And the fresh figs had way too much moisture. I plan on trying again with dried.