My friend Liz shared this healthy recipe with us for vegan fig bars. She adapted her version ever-so-slightly from Fat Free Vegan. These marvelous squares make a delicious afternoon snack, a lunchbox treat, or even a quick breakfast on-the-go. They’re naturally dairy-free, egg-free, and even gluten-free, and use everyday ingredients from your pantry.
Liz says these bars are firm, but perfectly moist and delicious. They were a big hit with her family, who declared them better than store bought.
Special Diet Notes: Vegan Fig Bars
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, optionally gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
Vegan Fig Bars
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Each of these healthy treats contains less than 4 grams of added sugars, is low sodium, and even boasts about 50 milligrams of calcium. But more importantly, fig bar fans love the taste!
Author: Liz
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Serves: 16 squares
Ingredients
- 2 cups regular or quick oats, divided (certified gluten-free, if needed)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 4 ounces unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tablespoons + 1 tablespoon agave nectar or other liquid sweetener, divided
- ½ cup + ¼ cup water, divided
- 8 ounces dried figs, stemmed
- 4 ounces pitted dates
- 2 tablespoons slivered or chopped almonds or walnuts
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F and grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
- Grind 1 cup of the oats into a flour in your blender, food processor, or spice grinder.
- To make the crust, add the freshly made oat flour, remaining 1 cup oats, baking powder, and salt to a medium mixing bowl, and whisk to combine. Add the applesauce, 3 tablespoons sweetener, and ½ cup water, and mix well. Let it sit while you make the fig filling.
- To make the fig filling, put the figs, dates, and nuts in your food processor and grind into a coarse paste. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon sweetener, lemon juice, cinnamon, and ginger, and begin processing. Gradually add the remaining ¼ cup water as it processes, until mixed.
- The crust mixture should have thickened a little, so mix it again.
- Press half of the crust mixture into the bottom of your prepared pan. Spread the the fig mixture evenly over the crust. Smooth the remaining crust mixture over the filling.
- Bake the bars for about 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Allow to cool completely (a few hours is best), before cutting into fourths each way, to create 16 squares.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 square Calories: 117 Fat: 1.2g Carbohydrates: 26.5g Sugar: 15.9g Sodium: 14mg Fiber: 3.5g Protein: 2.2g
More Healthy Vegan Bar Recipes
Perfectly Peanut Butter Oat Bars (Better than Clif Bars!)
Raw Superfood Energy Bars
The Best Chewy No Bake Granola Bars
5 Comments
Hello Alisa
Just about to start making these yummy looking figgy bars but not sure how many almonds to use. You mention them in the filling description (“and the almonds into a food processor”), but they are not listed in the items. I’ll take a guess and add 1/2 cup and see how it works out. So look forward to tasting this. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Sandie, oops! Sorry about that error. I’m trying to reach Liz to see if she has something on this. But I think you could either omit the almonds for a pure dried fruit filling, or I would add about 1/4 cup. They will thicken the mixture quite a bit, but 1/2 cup could work!
I DM’d you back! Hope it helps, I apologize for my delay 🙂
Got it, thank you!
I hope they worked out well for you Sandie! I’ve corrected the recipe – it is 2 tablespoons almond pieces.