Figs have got to be my favourite fruit around! Fresh figs, dried figs, fig salads, figgy pudding I love them all. Their season in the UK is normally from late June to October, luckily for me dried figs can be found all year round!

To save my bank balance slightly I needed to find a way of making my dried figs last longer, if not I tend to work through the bag in one or two days! I’ve started using this recipe to make oaty, figgy, crunchy, soft, delicious bars meaning I always have a fig supply in my cupboard.

Being high in potassium, iron, fibre and a great source of vitamin C and fibre they’re a brilliant raw food to add to your diet. I’ve paired them with oats for a perfect quick snack with a cup of tea, as part of your breakfast or heat up and top with Greek yoghurt as a desert!

Most of all, the recipe is crazy simple and takes no time at all to whip up!

– Ingredients –

The Filling 

150g dried figs

50g dried, pitted dates

100ml hot water

Juice of half a lemon

1 tspn. cinnamon

2 tblsp. honey

The Crust

200g gluten free oats (obviously normal oats work great as well!)

Pinch of salt

30g sugar

1 tspn. baking powder

1.5 tspn. cinnamon

1 banana mashed

100ml almond milk

Dash of vanilla essence

– Instructions –

Preheat your oven 180ºC

Cover your dried figs and dates with the hot water and leaved to soften in a separate bowl.

While they are soaking, mix all your dry ingredients together – the oats, salt, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon.

Aldi are stocking gluten free oats at the moment! I couldn’t be happier, for one they’re about half the price of other supermarkets. But also, I’ve really missed the rolled oats which I’ve found a lot harder to find. I much prefer to bake with these compared to the ground oats. So please aldi, keep these in the store!

In a jug whisk together your mashed banana, almond milk and vanilla essence, then add to the dry ingredients and mix together. Set this aside while you make the filling.

Drain the figs and dates and place in a food processor or blender. Add in your honey, lemon and cinnamon. Blitz up until smooth, you may need to add more water to get the consistency you want.

Now its time to make up your bars. Spread half the oaty mix on a greased baking tray. This mixture will make about 9 small sized bars so judged how much to spread the mixture out.

Cover this bottom layer with your figs and then layer up with the last of the oats on top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown. When warm press in lines which you will cut into when cool.

Its a healthy, nutritious match made in heaven – so get baking!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx