No-Bake Fig Newton Bars

Prep: 25 minutes Cook: 0 minutes Serves: 12 bars

From Hannah:

Okay so I had this giant bag of dried figs that somehow got pushed to the back of my pantry and completely forgotten about. They were too hard to eat so instead of letting them go to waste, I turned them into these no-bake fig newton bars and oh my gosh they taste exactly like the real thing.

Ingredients

Filling Ingredients

300 g dried figs (about 2 cups, stems removed)
½ cup hot water (plus more as needed)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt

Dough Ingredients

1¾ cups oat flour (175 g)
3 tbsp almond butter (48 g)
1/2 cup maple syrup (80 g)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

Place figs in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let soak 15–20 minutes until soft, then drain, reserving a few tablespoons of the soak water.
Blend softened figs, 2–3 tbsp soak water, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until thick and jammy. Add a little more water if it’s too thick to spread.
In a bowl, mix together oat flour, almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt until it forms a soft dough. If too dry add a touch more maple to get it to form into a ball.
Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick. Spread the fig filling evenly down the center third, then fold each side over to cover the filling. Press gently to seal.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before slicing into 12 bars. Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 1 week or freeze for longer.