Fig bars

By: Julie Montagu
From: Superfoods
Makes: 12-16

I adore figs and those moreish figgy biscuits you can buy. But this is a much healthier twist on those biscuits, which are filled with white flour, white sugar, eggs and butter. I’ve opted for coconut palm sugar, oat flour, and also use chia seeds in place of eggs. I think you’ll find these just as tasty, if not more, than the shop-bought kind!

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
2 tablespoons	chia seeds
6 tablespoons	water
180g	oat flour
70g	coconut palm sugar
1 teaspoon	baking powder
1/2 teaspoon	ground cinnamon
60g	coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon	vanilla extract
4 tablespoons	almond milk

For the fig filling

Quantity	Ingredient
15	dried figs
2 tablespoons	coconut palm sugar
dash	water
	baking tray, lined with parchment paper

Method

Soak the chia seeds in the 60ml water in a small bowl for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Combine the oat flour, coconut palm sugar, baking powder and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
Combine the soaked chia seeds, coconut oil, vanilla extract and almond milk in a separate bowl.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir well, creating a ball. Place in the fridge for about 1 hour to firm up.
For the filling, put the figs, coconut palm sugar and dash of water in a food processor and blitz to a paste.
On a floured surface, roll the dough out about 5mm thick and into as much of a square as possible. Spread the fig filling over half the dough and carefully fold the other half over the filling. Cut into 12–16 squares, arrange on the prepared baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 12–15 minutes until golden.