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Got figs? Make cookies

Recipe: Quick and easy fresh fig oatmeal bar cookies

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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.
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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

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 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.



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RECIPE

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

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Garden Checklist for week of June 15

Make the most of this “average” weather; your garden is growing fast! (So are the weeds!)

* Warm weather brings rapid growth in the vegetable garden, with tomatoes and squash enjoying the heat. Deep-water, then feed with a balanced fertilizer. Bone meal can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit.

* Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week, but don’t let them dry out completely. That can encourage blossom-end rot.

* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias. It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* Pull weeds before they go to seed.

* Let the grass grow longer. Set the mower blades high to reduce stress on your lawn during summer heat. To cut down on evaporation, water your lawn deeply during the wee hours of the morning, between 2 and 8 a.m.

* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.

* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.

* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.

* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather. It also helps smother weeds.

* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.

* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.

* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.

* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.

* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.

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