Here in Northern California, it has been a sweltering Memorial Day weekend with more heat in store for the week ahead.  We spent most of the weekend hunkered down inside the house except for a day trip to Folsom to see our dear friends.  We both love Folsom and the heat did not deter us from having a lovely lunch at Karen’s Bakery by the river.  The food was amazing, the service was gracious and as always the people in Folsom, very friendly.

Fig and Oat Bars

Very rarely do we stay home for a long weekend, but it gave me a chance to catch up on blogging as I have missed a couple of weeks recently.  I also have been looking for a couple of new designs for the blog to make it more user-friendly.  Wait and watch for the changes!

Speaking of the heat in California, everyone’s yard in Folsom is dry and brown but the fruit trees as laden with delicious apricots and plums.  I came back from Folsom with a handful of golden yellow apricots from someone’s yard.  Figs, I believe would start ripening around end of June, but I got some dried ones from Costco which I decided to put to good use when I have been hanging out at home this weekend.

Fig and Oat Bars

V loved the low-carb grain-free coconut and multi-seed bars I had made a couple of months back, so I decided to try a new recipe.  Now that he has eased off his low-carb diet, I was free to use some grains as well.  But I avoided sugar or any artificial sweeteners altogether and instead used ripe bananas to provide sweetness.

Fig and Oat Bars

Recipe for Home-made Fig and Oat Bars with No Added Sugar
[Printable Recipe]

Wet Ingredients:

• 8 oz (around 12) dried figs
• 4 Tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 3 medium very ripe frozen bananas, thawed and mashed up
• warm water

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats (look for gluten-free if you are sensitive)
• 2 Tbsp raw cacao powder
• 1 tsp maca powder (optional)
• 1/4 cup Costco Super Smoothie protein mix (optional)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp raw hemp seeds
• 1/2 cup dried coconut flakes

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 350C
• Dot a 9×13 inch pan with coconut oil and line with parchment paper
• Soak the dried figs in warm water to cover for around 15 minutes
• Make the flax “egg” by mixing the ground flax seeds with 1/2 cup warm water.  Set aside for around 10 mins
• Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl
• Fold in the flax “egg”, coconut oil and mashed bananas until well-combined
• Discard the water and chop the soaked figs roughly and add to the mix
• Pat the mixture in to the pan and smoothen the surface with fingers or a flat spatula
• Bake for 20 minutes
• When it has cooled a bit, scour in to bars.  Let cool completely and store in an airtight container

Fig and Oat Bars