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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.

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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

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Garden Checklist for week of May 5

Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:

* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.

* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.

* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* 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.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* 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.

* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

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