Homemade Fig Bars Recipe (Gluten-Free!) - Maebells (2024)

You will love these healthier Fig Bars for a sweet treat. The bars feature an almond flour crust, sweet fig filling, and a crumble topping!

Raise your hand if you are excited for fig season! I am! Actually, figs are pretty difficult to find in our area, so when I spotted them last week I scooped them up. I loved Fig Newtons as a kid and wanted to create some kind of lower carb treat that featured that sweet caramely, fig flavor. These healthy fig bars totally fit the bill.

Actually, Mr. Maebell was not enthusiastic at all when he saw the chopped up figs. It was a dessert he wasn’t interested in having. And I get it, figs look pretty weird. But when they were baking and the air was full of that sweet brown sugar aroma, he was on board.

Figs are a fruit that have a delicious sweet flavor. They can be eaten with or without the peel. For a fruit, they are relatively low in carbs and have a good dose of fiber. This makes the net carbs lower than most.

Figs pair really well with cheese for a sweet and savory combo. You may have seen them on beautiful cheeseboards with honey and crackers or on a pizza with prosciutto and gorgonzola. They are one of the rare fruits that work beautifully in desserts and also on savory, salty dishes.

While these bars do have that delicious flavor of a Fig Newton cookie, these are way better. They feature a shortbread-like cookie crust that is soft and buttery. The filling is just figs and brown sugar (or Swerve brown sugar for a lower carb version). The topping is an oatmeal crumble sprinkled with pecans. The layers are rich and perfectly complement one another.

Ingredients in Homemade Fig Bars

To make these homemade Fig Newton bars, I used:

• Butter
• Almond flour
• Brown sugar
• Fresh figs
• Old-fashioned oats
• Pecans
• Cinnamon
• Salt

How to Make Fig Bars

1. First, you’ll need to make the crust.In a small mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients until a soft dough forms
2. Press into an 8×8-inch foil-lined pan and bake for 6 minutes.
3. Then, move onto the fig filling. Place the chopped figs and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium high heat, stirring and breaking up the figs.
4. 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.
5. Last but not least, the crumble topping. In a blender or food processor, combine all of the crumble topping ingredients and pulse until coarsely blended.
6. Spread the fig mixture over the pre-baked crust and top with the crumble topping. Bake until done.

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Can I Double This Recipe?

Yes! You can double the ingredients list and bake the bars in a 9×13-inch baking dish.

Can I Make This Recipe Low-Carb?

Yes! Use brown sugar swerve instead of regular brown sugar.

Tips for Making Homemade Fig Bars

• If you can’t find fresh figs where you live, substitute the homemade fig filling with store-bought fig jam.
• For gluten-free fig bars, use certified gluten-free old-fashioned oats.
• These homemade fig bars are especially delicious warm with a scoop of ice cream.

More Low-Carb Desserts:

• Keto Peanut Butter Brownies
• Keto French Silk Pie
• Keto No-Bake Cookies
• Keto Butter Pecan Blondies
• The Best Keto Lemon Bars