Figgy Fun Friday

"Fresh Fig Bars"

Our Celeste fig tree is still setting new figs…  So far we have given way almost ten pounds of figs!
I've made two batches of "jam". . .

Fig Sauce

(quotes because it is not "official" canned/processed jam, but merely a figgy sauce with a touch of cinnamon and a little sugar.)  Which I've put on cereal. . .

Oatmeal with walnuts and figs

and yogurt and ice cream. . .

Figs a la mode

and yes, even by itself as a snack.

But now it is time to find and try out fig recipes!
I've tried two cookie recipes -- the favorite is the one pictured at the top of this post.  Both are from the California Fig website

"Fresh Fig Cookies"

First recipe tryout -- Fresh Fig Cookies
Maybe if I had followed the recipe (I substituted cinnamon for the cloves and didn't add walnuts and replaced 1/2 cup of white flour with whole wheat), they may have been better.  The problem was they were so "cakey"(mushy?)  and blah.  Despite the recipe calling for a cup of sugar, they weren't sweet.   Not even sprinkling sanding sugar on top or drizzling a bit of frosting helped.  My taste testers were forewarned by my saying, "Do these taste good to you?"  Oddly I kept wanting to add raisins - I think because it had the texture of a typical soft raisin cookie.

NEXT!

Fresh Fig Bars
Yet another recipe calling for walnuts.  Which I skipped again.  This recipe shows you how to make the filling, albeit time-consuming.  I just used my Fig Sauce/Jam I had in the fridge.  There is also more than enough oatmeal mixture to cover the bottom and top.  They were a little crumbly but I had no complaints from my taste testers - at all!   Next time I will try packing the bottom a little more firmly to see if they will hold their shape a little bit better.  You definitely need to use a fork or be ready to use your fingers to grab errant, flopped off pieces.  I'm going to try and see if they can be frozen, too.  I also added four packets of Sugar in the Raw sprinkled on top, hoping for extra crunch and texture.

Cookie bottom and top:

1 cup shortening
¾ cup packed brown sugar
2 cups sifted flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Combine 2 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt and oatmeal; stir into creamed mixture. Divide and press one half oatmeal mixture into bottom of well-greased 9x13 inch pan. Spread evenly with fig mixture.

Sprinkle remaining half oatmeal mixture on top and press together lightly.

Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Cut 4x6 into 24 squares while still warm.  (no idea what that means - so here's what I did.  Then I cut these rectangles in half after removing them from the pan.)

Cool completely before removing from pan.