Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Got figs? Make cookies

Recipe: Quick and easy fresh fig oatmeal bar cookies

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED OCT 6, 2019

Fresh figs bring a delicious sweetness to bar cookies. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Most traditional fig cookies use dried figs for the filling. This bar cookie
makes the most of fresh figs, which are still in abundance.

These are Sierra figs, which don't require peeling.

As an added bonus, this fig filling can be used in other recipes (inside coffee cake or pastries, for example) or as a low-sugar fruit spread. It will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week.

For this recipe, I used green-skinned Sierra figs, which have light pink flesh. The skins were so thin, I didn't bother peeling. Dark-skinned figs may be used, too.

Fresh fig oatmeal bar cookies
Makes 16 bar cookies

Ingredients:

For fig filling:
1-1/3 cups chopped fresh figs, stems removed (peeling optional)
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon butter

For crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

The cookies can be cut while they're cooling.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make filling. In a medium saucepan, combine figs, water, sugar, lemon juice and zest. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Add butter. Cover. Over low heat, let figs simmer until tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

After figs are soft, remove pan from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Transfer fig filling to food processor or blender. Pulse a few times until filling is smooth. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour and baking soda. Stir in oatmeal and brown sugar. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture looks like crumbs.

Save out 3/4 cup of crumb mixture for topping.

In an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish, gently press remaining crumb mixture to form an even bottom crust. Spread fig filling over crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden on top.

Let cool. While cooling, cut into 2-inch squares.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

baking gardening Sacramento recipe recipes figs fresh fruit backyard produce fall food fall produce figs

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Flowers in My Back Yard Series

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

Local News

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Sites We Like

Garden checklist for week of April 12

After these storms pass, get to work on spring clean-up.

* Weed, weed, weed! Take advantage of soft soil and pull them before they go to seed.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.

* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant heat-resistant lettuce seedlings.

* Feed roses and other spring-blooming shrubs.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds. Avoid "volcano mulching" -- be sure to keep mulch a few inches away from tree trunks or the stems of shrubs. This prevents rot and disease.

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

Taste Summer! E-cookbook