Recipe Gluten Free Fig Bars

These Oatmeal Fig Bars are one of my favorite ways to use fresh figs! These gluten-free + vegan bars taste like healthy Fig Neutons, but without the guilt or refined sugar. Enjoy them for breakfast or as a snack!

Are you a fig lover, like me? There are SO many fig trees that grow all around San Diego. I see beautiful fig trees loaded with figs in my neighbor’s yards and my jealousy ABOUNDS. One day, I too shall grow my own beautiful fig trees and have bounties of figs to make fig bars with.

Maybe you already grow your own figs and you’ve got a plethora you don’t know what to do with…if so, this recipe is for you!

Homemade Fig Bars — How To Make Fig Newtons From Scratch

But for now, I go on a fig hunt to the local grocery stores. Luckily, I found a BIG container at Costco, so these new-favorite Oatmeal Fig Bars were in order! They are SO good, easy to make, and the perfect way to use all your fresh figs.

Are you a Fig Neuton fan? Because if you are, you’ll definitely love these Oatmeal Fig Bars. They’re not Fig Neuton copycats exactly, and I wasn’t going for that at all in developing the recipe, but they definitely have a similar taste to them. I think these have a leg up though, in the form of a crumbly oatmeal crust.

These are made up of the most delicious oatmeal crust paired with a sticky sweet fig filling. The oatmeal crust comes together quickly and easily, and it also doubles as the crumble topping. It’s lightly sweetened with a little bit of coconut sugar and a touch of maple syrup. For the dry ingredients, we use a combo of almond flour, tapioca flour, old-fashioned oats, and baking soda to achieve the crispy texture that makes the crust so good.

Natures Bakery Gluten Free Raspberry Fig Bar

The fresh fig filling is kept simple. To make it, we’ll lightly sweeten the chopped figs with maple syrup, and cook them down until thick and jammy. At the end of cooking, you’ll stir in vanilla extract and lemon zest, and juice. They add SO much flavor and brightness to the bars.

I prefer these fig bars straight out of the fridge when the fig filling is cold and thick with a little bit of bite to it. Though they’re also fabulous at room temperature, just a whole lot gooier.

These oatmeal fig bars are gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and vegan, so I’ve got no shame in admitting they were a morning snack. ;) These are definitely a worthy way of using your much-cherished fresh figs. They are delightfully crispy, with a hearty oat flavor, and a sticky fig center. You’re going to LOVE – enjoy!If you’re a Fig Newton fan, this homemade vegan fig bar recipe is the BEST healthy swap with a fruit-sweetened filling and buttery gluten-free crust!

Healthy And Delicious Fig Newtons

I am a loyal OG fan of the fig newton cookie. I loved them long before they came in a cute little two pack and twelve different flavors. And even with all those options, the classic figgy flavor is still my favorite and always will be. It’s not just the flavor but the TEXTURE that gets me, that seedy-in-a-good-way jammy middle is unmatched. And with that buttery not-too-sweet cookie to compliment…it’s just a perfect pairing.

So of course I had to make a homemade version – healthier ingredients, a vegan gluten-free cookie made with my favorite sunflower seed butter, and an extra thick layer of fig filling – it’s a delicious DIY upgrade! And instead of taking up all your time wrapping the filling in cookie to look just like the store-bought version (been there, done that, doesn’t taste any better imo), we’re just layering cookie/filling/cookie to make this recipe MUCH easier.

This recipe does require a little bit of prep time, but most of that is passive – watching figs boil or waiting for bars to bake. The ingredients are quite simple, and I have included a few options for swaps and ingredient substitutes below…

Natures Bakery Fig Bar, Gluten Free, Pomegranate, 6 Twin Packs

Don’t get me wrong, there is PLENTY of natural fruit sweetness involved. Just no added or refined sugar thanks to a combination of the figs themselves and orange juice. Dried mission figs are sweet and seedy and delicious and the star of this recipe, they really don’t need much to make them shine. However a 1:1 combination of orange juice and water (you could use all OJ, but personally I think it’s sweet enough like this!) adds just the right amount of sweetness and a slight citrus flavor that goes great with figs. You could also use apple juice or white grape juice and a tablespoon or two of lemon juice for the citrus pop.

One VERY small but important step in this recipe is removing the stems from the dried figs. Do not skip this unless you want little hard chunks in your fig bars (you don’t). After that the process is simple: simmer figs in the juice/water until soft and somewhat thickened, then process to a jammy consistency. I like to make the filling first (or even the day before) so it has time to cool while you prep the crust.

No eggs, dairy, or gluten in this buttery cookie crust. Just a simple 8-ingredient, one-bowl dough thats split to create both the top and bottom layers. You will need:

Oatmeal Fig Bars

Whisk the dry > add the wet > mix/knead it all into a ball > divide into two. About 2/3 of the dough will be used for the bottom and 1/3 for the top layer. The bottom crust is a simple press-in situation that we are par-baking before adding everything else on top. Meanwhile the top layer needs to be rolled into a think top layer because pressing on top of that fig filling would be much too messy. The dough is too soft to roll at room temp, but if you refrigerate or free while the bottom crust bakes it become the perfect consistency for rolling and carefully plopping on top. I do recommend using wax or parchment paper to make this rolling/plopping process a bit easier.You will love these healthier Fig Bars for a sweet treat. The bars feature an almond flour crust, sweet fig filling, and a crumble topping!

Raise your hand if you are excited for fig season! I am! Actually, figs are pretty difficult to find in our area, so when I spotted them last week I scooped them up. I loved Fig Newtons as a kid and wanted to create some kind of lower carb treat that featured that sweet caramely, fig flavor. These healthy fig bars totally fit the bill.

Actually, Mr. Maebell was not enthusiastic at all when he saw the chopped up figs. It was a dessert he wasn’t interested in having. And I get it, figs look pretty weird. But when they were baking and the air was full of that sweet brown sugar aroma, he was on board.

Amazon.com: Nature's Bakery Gluten Free Fig Bars, Raspberry, Real Fruit, Vegan, Non Gmo, Snack Bar, 6 Boxes With 6 Twin Packs (36 Twin Packs)

Figs are a fruit that have a delicious sweet flavor. They can be eaten with or without the peel. For a fruit, they are relatively low in carbs and have a good dose of fiber. This makes the net carbs lower than most.

Figs pair really well with cheese for a sweet and savory combo. You may have seen them on beautiful cheeseboards with honey and crackers or on a pizza with prosciutto and gorgonzola. They are one of the rare fruits that work beautifully in desserts and also on savory, salty dishes.

While these bars do have that delicious flavor of a Fig Newton cookie, these are way better. They feature a shortbread-like cookie crust that is soft and buttery. The filling is just figs and brown sugar (or Swerve brown sugar for a lower carb version). The topping is an oatmeal crumble sprinkled with pecans. The layers are rich and perfectly complement one another.

Homemade Fig Bars

To avoid any confusion I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it is not known to affect blood glucose levels. To calculate Keto recipes listed on this site carbs - fiber = net carbs. I use Nutrifox as my nutrition calculator. This nutrition information is an estimate based on the information provided by Nutrifox and the specific ingredients I used.