Fig Bar – Low-Sugar Baked

Fig bar tastes is a good sweet snack for low-sugar healthy options. These are healthy baked even though they look like fried desserts.

And the wholesome figgy tastes are a reason for celebration in the season you’re in.

When I was growing up, Fig Newton cookies were my healthy go-to choice as a cross between an obvious sugared cookie, and a healthy snack cookie bar concept that didn’t yet exist in my young world.

When you’re a kid, you’re barely aware of good vs. bad, but you know cavities are bad and dodging them is good as verified by the dentist.

Back then, my little hands didn’t think grabbing and stuffing my mouth with a wholesome fig bar could fall in either a good or bad zone.

Fast forward decades later to a new century and a quarter century later (that’s today), and I’ve parted ways with most packaged daily sweets. The hardest part was weaning myself off a crispy nutrition or oatmeal breakfast bars that often are loaded with hidden sugar that I used to supplement sugar with.

Today, if I had a teaspoon of honey a day, that’s sometimes enough. My younger self would’ve never believed.

So I would’ve never seen that coming and parting the Red Sea was more believable to me.

But life is surprising and healthy changes gradually happen and you notice when you look back, and realize you’re happier with your changes.

And in case you think I’m a healthy food snob, I’m not at all… I’m not one to judge others if they’re enjoying themselves, especially since I’ve been there. We all have choice.

If you want to protect your body, that’s a healthy choice. And that was my choice. To replace, I use my tasting background (in catering) and healthy eating experiences.

While a banana a day can be boring, adding peanut butter or switching fruits is a game changer.

And finding healthy duos like cacao and unsweetened coconut, or fig and cinnamon can be enough. The flavor pair gives a tasty bite.

You don’t need that much addictive sugar unless you keep eating gobs of it, and then you need to keep the cycle going to keep your taste buds happy.

That was me too. 😊

And you can start with making low-sugar desserts like a homemade fig bar with wholesome ingredients you and I grew up with, and can easily source.

When you buy food ingredients that include sugar, the trick is to not use the whole jar. And look to avoid high fructose corn syrup. You’ll find the healthy jars aren’t that  much more pricey if you look around a minute or two.

For flour, whole wheat flour and gluten-free flours like almond flour or coconut flour that you won’t know is there, is a good mix.

When you add fig jam, the taste masks coconut tastes if that’s what you want. Or it complements the refined coconut flavors.

…And these healthy bars stack nicely to make a festive plate too! They ooze with fig.

So, how do you make this fig bar? 

The easy way is to roll out a rectangle to about 1/4″ thick and spread a thin layer of jam.

Then fold in the two outer sides to the center, so now you have two folded tops. It’s like easy origami. 🪅

And then cut the dough in the middle with a pizza roller or kitchen knife. It almost looks like a burrito… and it’s a fig one.

Then cut into smaller bar rectangles like shown here…

Most people cut after baking and letting the bake cool.

My tip is to cut before baking, so you lose no crumbs and get an even bake.

Look at the back side shown here ⬇. It’s golden brown on the shorter edges too. If you were to cut after baking, you would lose that additional tasty browning definition. It’s a subtle enhancement.

Bake at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes. Or until golden brown.

Some common fig bar recipe questions:

What could I substitute for whole wheat flour? 

You could substitute old-fashioned or rolled oats! To get a smoothie fig bar, you should use a food processor to make or grind into smaller, fine oats.

What type of honey should I use?

Organic and raw honey is recommended as healthy. You can use a common clover honey, Manuka, or orange blossom (that has a citrusy taste). My favorite to use is wildflower honey that’s sweet with a hint of floral, and works well in baking.

What can I use besides butter?

You can use coconut oil, a neutral olive oil, or even natural peanut butter.

Should I keep the bake in the oven slightly longer for a deeper brown? 

It is better to under bake these then over bake as they can get too crisp (instead of a softer bite). Take a look at them in the oven at around the 15 minute mark. You can also flip the bars topside down to give a more even bake and make golden tops.

Also don’t roll the fig bar dough too thin, as then you can get crackers. If you want thinner fig bars, lower the oven temperature from 350°F/180°C to about 250°F/121°C.

If you like this, you may like to make a low-sugar graham cracker too for craving a sweet tooth or just for a ‘lil nostalgia.