These bars are thick and crumbly. Not too sweet, goes great with a cup of coffee.
Filling
1 14oz. pkg. dried figs cut into small pieces (I used Kalamata whole dried figs from Randazzo's, like this)
2 cups water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup local honey
pinch of sea salt
Crust & Topping
4 cups rolled oats pulsed in the food processor
2 cups unbleached AP flour (you could use 1 1/2 cup AP flour & 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup local honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups butter (I use Smart Balance)
For filling-
Add figs & water to the pot. Bring to a boil, take it off the burner and let it sit for about 30 minutes. The figs need to soak up most of the water. If there's a lot of water left in the pot, pour some out. Once the water is mostly gone, puree' the figs with a hand blender- make it a smooth or chunky as you'd like. Add the rest of the ingredients. It should be a thick paste.
For crust-
Dump all ingredients into mixer bowl. Combine until it resembles coarse, wet sand.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the sides of a 13"x9" baking dish. Press 2/3 the crumb mixture into the bottom of the dish. Spread filling evenly over the crust. Crumble the last 1/3 of the crumb mixture over the top of the filling. Gently pat the crumbled top so it's pressed down into the wet filling. This makes the bars less crumbly when you cut them.
Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into small squares.
