I didn’t grow up in a particularly culinary forward family. My parents didn’t run a restaurant, and we don’t have deep roots in a certain cultural cuisine. I remember berry picking with my grandparents and making strawberry jam every summer, and the smell of sweet strawberries simmering on the stove brings me back to those memories with every whiff. I remember making christmas cookies every year (again, with grandma,) but that was usually the extent of my time spent in the kitchen. My introduction to experimenting on my own as a kid began with baking. Boxed brownies, to be exact. This month’s Recipe Redux theme is all about kids that cook!
My sister and I would spend what felt like hours playing mario kart, and I would whip up some good old boxed brownies. You know, the kind where you dump out the box contents into a bowl, add an egg, some canola oil, stir it all around with a wooden spoon, then lick said wooden spoon while contemplating the risk of salmonella (and what is salmonella, anyway?)
Sure, they were delicious as boxed brownies go, but I really loved using my hands to create something cohesive out of different ingredients. I continued to experiment after school with chocolate truffles, (and convincing my mom to buy me chocolate liquer, and I didn’t understand why that was a big deal,) and continued to love transforming ingredients into something completely new.
As I got older and started going to school for nutrition and food science, I slowly changed my kitchen experiments to be more plant-based, and I tried swapping in unusual ingredients wherever I could. Which brings me to these Pumpkin Fig Bars!
The bars are gluten-free, grain free, and vegan. I made them pumpkin because it’s delicious, and I grew up in New England, the epicenter of all things fall. Complete with cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and vanilla, though I refuse to call them Pumpkin Spice Bars. I used a healthy dose of tahini for fat, dates & a touch of coconut sugar for sweetness, and figs because the season is almost over. These kind of taste like a “deconstructed” pumpkin Fig Newton. Kind of.
These bars combine my intro to cooking as a kid, with my developed love of food science and figs. Enjoy, and don’t forget to check out the other recipes over on this month’s Recipe Redux!
Pumpkin Fig Bars
Ingredients
- 11/2 cups almond flour
- 1 tbsp arrowroot starch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 5 pitted dates (soaked until soft)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar (or add more dates)
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 5 figs, sliced, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a square baking dish with parchment paper.
- Combine all dry ingredients (except coconut sugar) in a bowl and whisk well to combine.
- In a food processor, blend dates until a soft paste forms, adding some of the soaking liquid if needed.
- Add all other wet ingredients, and blend for two minutes until light and airy.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix well until thoroughly combined.
- Spread the mixture into the baking dish, and top with sliced figs.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the top is golden brown, and the sides of the figs begin to curl.
2 thoughts on “Pumpkin Fig Bars”
Okay, you had me at pumpkin, tahini, and dates…! Yum!
Thanks for this.
Great recipe .. I had to sub some of the stuff but it didn’t matter. The one thing I’ll add is make your own purée (make sure you use “sugar/pie” pumpkins 🎃 it’s exponentially better..
For the pumpkin if you take my advice Is just cut in half and remove seeds bake on cookie sheet at 450 cut side down 45 minutes. Skin falls right off.
Delicious. Again Great recipe. Thanks 🙏