fig bars, part deux
Do you know or maybe even love someone who has celiac disease?
Perhaps you should give them a hug.
Or, you could present them with these fig bars.
And, yeah, maybe give them a hug, too. A life spent dodging even trace amounts of wheat sounds like kind of a bummer.
I loved these soft and spicy little cookies. If you’re not a crazed lunatic who insists that their fig bars assume the form of fig newtons, I imagine you can make the process a bit easier by baking the dough/filling as one giant cookie, a la the original recipe.
xoxo
pssst…a recipe for fresh fig filling is here.
the recipe
Gluten-Free Fig Bars
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
- 1/2 a pound 227 g dried figs
- 1 cup 240 mL pomegranate juice
- 1/4 cup 60 mL orange juice
- 1 cup 160 g brown rice flour
- 1 cup 130 g sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup 60 g tapioca flour
- 1/2 teaspoon 2.5 mL baking soda
- 1 teaspoon 5 mL baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon 2.5 mL xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon 6 g salt
- 1/4 teaspoon 1.25 mL nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon 1.25 mL ground ginger
- 1/2 a teaspoon 2.5 mL cinnamon
- 1 cup 200 g turbinado sugar
- 1 stick (1/2 a cup) 113 g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large 50 g egg
- 1 teaspoon 5 mL vanilla
- 2 tablespoons 42 g molasses
- To make the filling: roughly chop the figs, then throw into a saucepan with juices. Simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes, then cover and let cool to room temperature. Put mixture in a food processor and blend until smooth. Store in refrigerator.
- To make the dough: Whisk together dry ingredients.
- Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream for a couple of minutes until well-blended, scraping down the sides occasionally.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and molasses. Mix until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients and mix just until blended.
- Wrap dough in plastic (shape into a rough rectangle) and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- To shape the cookies: On a silpat or "floured" surface, roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 10×14 inches (25×36 cm). Cut dough in half length-wise. Spread two lines of fig filling down the center of each piece. You'll have some leftover filling; this is a good thing, I think. Good on toast! Fold the dough over the filling, making sure the dough overlaps itself. Press seam closed, then flip each log over and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces. Transfer to a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or parchment.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to get golden and toasty. Cool on pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
each column is one step, working left to right — hover a cell for the full instruction
- 1/2 a pound 227 g dried figs
- 1 cup 240 mL pomegranate juice
- 1/4 cup 60 mL orange juice
- 1 cup 160 g brown rice flour
- 1 cup 130 g sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup 60 g tapioca flour
- 1/2 teaspoon 2.5 mL baking soda
- 1 teaspoon 5 mL baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon 2.5 mL xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon 6 g salt
- 1/4 teaspoon 1.25 mL nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon 1.25 mL ground ginger
- 1/2 a teaspoon 2.5 mL cinnamon
- 1 cup 200 g turbinado sugar
- 1 stick (1/2 a cup) 113 g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large 50 g egg
- 1 teaspoon 5 mL vanilla
- 2 tablespoons 42 g molasses
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
To make the filling: roughly chop the figs, then throw into a saucepan with juices. Simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes, then cover and let cool to room temperature. Put mixture in a food processor and blend until smooth. Store in refrigerator.
To make the dough: Whisk together dry ingredients.
Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream for a couple of minutes until well-blended, scraping down the sides occasionally.
Add the egg, vanilla, and molasses. Mix until smooth.
Add dry ingredients and mix just until blended.
Wrap dough in plastic (shape into a rough rectangle) and refrigerate for at least an hour.
To shape the cookies: On a silpat or "floured" surface, roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 10×14 inches (25×36 cm). Cut dough in half length-wise. Spread two lines of fig filling down the center of each piece. You'll have some leftover filling; this is a good thing, I think. Good on toast! Fold the dough over the filling, making sure the dough overlaps itself. Press seam closed, then flip each log over and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces. Transfer to a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or parchment.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to get golden and toasty. Cool on pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
— adapted from 101cookbooks