-adjusts sword on my belt-

A challenge has been presented! And when a challenge is presented, I shall answer.

My friend Casey recently complimented my blog, but also lamented the lack of vegan-friendly recipes on my site. I’m not one to lie – I don’t eat vegan and rarely cook that way. If there are any vegan recipes on here, it’s purely coincidental. Until now. I promised Casey I would bake vegan, and now I face the gauntlet with this!

I didn’t want to cop out by saying grilled fruit with soy ice cream or coconut milk based pudding or something easy like that. I also didn’t want something that required a list of weird,  hard-to-find substitute ingredients.  I wanted to find something delicious to bake and have the treat just happen to be vegan. And here it is. It’s like a fig newton cookie or toaster strudel on crack. A chewy oatmeal crust with a thick and rich filling of dried figs and dates, sweetened with pure maple syrup. Topped with a super easy vanilla glaze, these are the perfect treat to follow dinner, or even start your day with a good cup of coffee. So here’s to you, Casey! I hope you like them.

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Vegan Fig Bars

Based on the recipe from Fat Free Vegan.

Makes 16 bars.

Cutting up the dried fruit is a little tricky if you don’t have a hardcore food processor. You might try slicing them by hand before using a smaller (less powerful) chopper, and add a few drops of liquid to ease things along, like lemon juice or water. Do NOT use a blender – you need a wide space and it will gum up your blender in .02 seconds.

Ingredients

For the filling:

• 8 oz dried figs
• 4 oz pitted dates
• 3 tablespoons chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger

For the crust:

• 1 cup quick oats, ground in food processor until fine
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ cup natural (unsweetened) applesauce
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• ¼ cup water

For the glaze:

• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp water
• A few drops of pure vanilla extract
• A tiny squeeze of lemon juice

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 375° F with rack set in lower third of oven.

2.) Using a pair of kitchen shears, snip off the figs’ stems. Add them, along with the dates and pecans into the bowl of a food processor. Grind into a coarse paste, adding a teeny bit of water or lemon juice to loosen it up a bit if needed.

3.) Pulse in the water, lemon juice, maple syrup, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside.

4.) Lay both the ground up and raw oats out on a baking sheet and toast for a few minutes in the oven until warm and fragrant, but not brown. Remove from the oven and add to a large mixing bowl. Add the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir to combine, then add the maple syrup, applesauce, and water. Stir.

5.) Using an oiled or sprayed 8×8 brownie pan, press half of the crust mixture into the bottom of the pan using your hands. Spread the filling over the crust, and then top with the remaining crust. (This is a real pain because both the crust and filling are very sticky – try spraying your hands with nonstick spray and using them to spread things out).

6.) Bake for 20-25 minutes until the crust is golden and the filling is set. Allow to cool completely on wire rack, and then slice into 16 bars before icing.

7.) To make the icing, simply stir all ingredients together until smooth. Drizzle over bars and serve.

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Post tags: dessert, fruit, sweet, vegan

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