Jammy Fig Bars

Today I decided to make a dessert that used our bag of frozen figs.  I tried to keep the sugar content minimal, but it’s a dessert; it’s not going to be healthy.  The crust turned out super-flaky and delicious, but I don’t think it would hold up as a bar. The crust would probably crumble if you tried to pick it up by hand.  To fix this, I would bake the crust longer than I did (maybe up to 30 minutes) or it’s possible that freezing the bars after they’ve cooled would allow the butter in the crust to solidify and hold up better.

Entire recipe is 85 WW points. 7 points if portioned into twelve pieces.

Ingredients

Crust:

½ cup Butter

1 cup All-Purpose Flour

Filling:

⅛ cup Sugar

1 cup Boiling Water

12 ea. Frozen figs, stems discarded and fruit chopped (this is an estimation.  I used up a bag I had and didn’t count, but I would guess it was around 12-15 figs.)

Streusel:

¼ cup All-Purpose Flour

¼ cup Brown Sugar, packed

3 TBS Cold Butter

¼ cup, heaping Rolled Oats

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x9 baking pan. In a food processor, combine the crust ingredients.  Pulse or blend on low speed until the butter cuts into the flour and eventually forms a dough ball.

2. Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan.  Make sure the dough’s thickness is mostly even (finger dents are fine).  Bake until the dough is set and cooked through, about 20 minutes.

3. While the crust cooks, combine the filling ingredients in a saucepan.  Cook over medium high heat. Stir frequently so that the sauce doesn’t burn.  The liquid should be mostly evaporated when it is done, similar to a jam consistency, about 5 minutes.  Spread the filling evenly over the crust.

4. In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and butter.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles panko.  It should form a solid ball when squeezed in your hand. Stir in the rolled oats.  Sprinkle the streusel over the filling.

5. Bake until the topping is golden and the entire dessert is sizzling, about 25 minutes.

6. Let cool for about 1 hour before slicing.