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These delicious grain-free Fig Bars are the perfect balanced snack! Sweetened with monk fruit and topped with a buttery pecan topping for a healthier dessert!
Back to School season always has me thinking about the great snacks we had as kids. One of my favorites were those little Fig Newton cookies! That fruity filling and soft cookie always made for a comforting, tasty, (and I thought) healthy snack.
However, did you know how unhealthy those cookies are?! The carbs, the sugars, the calories… It’s a dessert, not a healthy snack!
So thinking about my dream of a healthy option brought about these delicious Grain-Free Fig Bars! Instead of using loads of sugar, I opted for monk fruit sweetener. This lowers the carbs and calories for a healthier treat!
The crumbly topping is surprisingly my favorite part! I packed it full of almond flour, pecans (works so well with the figs), monk fruit sweetener, and butter. This still gives us that buttery cookie taste but with a bit of a crunch to balance out the textures.
These grain-free, refined-sugar-free, gluten-free Fig Bars hit that sweet balance. Chewy with some crunch, sweet but not TOO sweet, and healthy but not hiding vegetables where they don’t belong. It’s exactly what every lunchbox needs!
Ingredients in Fresh Fig Bars
As always, this is a quick overview of the ingredients you will need for this recipe. For the complete recipe and instructions just keep scrolling. To make these homemade Fig Newton bars, I used:
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe, but unsalted will work as well.
- Almond flour: do not sub coconut flour for almond flour in this recipe.
- Sweetener: I use Brown sugar Monkfruit, but coconut sugar or traditional brown sugar will also work
- Fresh figs: stems removed and quartered
- Pecans: if allergic to pecans walnuts will also work in this recipe.
- Cinnamon and Salt
How to Make Grain Free Fig Bars
- First, you’ll need to make the crust. In a small mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients until a soft dough forms. Press half the dough into an 8×8-inch foil-lined pan and bake for 7-8 minutes until lightly set and beginning to brown. Allow the crust to cool as you make the filling
- Then, move onto the fig filling. Place the chopped figs and sweetener in a small saucepan over medium high heat, stirring and breaking up the figs. As soon as the mixture begins to simmer, reduce the heat to low and stir occasionally. Remove from heat when the figs are completely broken up and the mixture resembles jam of fruit spread.
- Spread the fig mixture over the pre-baked crust and top with the remaining crust, crumbling it over the top like a crumb topping. Bake the bars until golden brown and enjoy!
Other Fruit Desserts:
- Chocolate Cherry Smoothie Bowls — Only 4 healthy ingredients and ready super quick! The perfect after-school snack.
- Keto Fruit Pizza — A sugar cookie crust topped with a cream cheese icing and fruit? What more could you want?!
- Easy Blackberry Crisp — If you love a crumbly, crunchy topping, this is the PERFECT dessert for you!
- Keto Chocolate Covered Strawberry Fat Bombs — Easy to meal prep and leave in the freezer for a treat when you need it most!
- Ginger Grilled Oranges — A handful of healthy ingredients and a couple minutes on a hot grill lead to a flavor-packed, unique dessert!
- Chocolate Almond Stuffed Baked Apples — Only 5 ingredients are needed for this healthy fall-inspired dessert!
Grain Free Fig Bars
Ingredients
For the Crust and Topping:
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 cup crushed pecans
- 1/2 cup brown sugar monkfruit
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
For the Filling
- 12 fresh figs, quartered
- 1/3 cup brown sugar monkfruit
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients until a soft dough forms. Press half the dough into an 8×8-inch foil-lined pan and bake for 7-8 minutes until lightly set and beginning to brown.
- Allow the crust to cool as you make the filling.
- Place the chopped figs and sweetener in a small saucepan over medium high heat, stirring and breaking up the figs. As soon as the mixture begins to simmer, reduce the heat to low and stir occasionally. Remove from heat when the figs are completely broken up and the mixture resembles jam of fruit spread.
- Spread the fig mixture over the pre-baked crust and top with the remaining crust, crumbling it over the top like a crumb topping.
- Bake the bars 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Notes
- If you cannot locate crushed pecans at your grocery simply add pecans to a blender or food processor until they resemeble crumbs (not powder)
- Use an 8×8 pan for the best results. Do not use a larger baking pan.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
