Since I have been on a

“recreating-everything-I-once-ate-as-a-kid” kick,

I thought I’d take V-gan Jar’s inspiration, put myself to work in the kitchen,

and see if I could actually make a believable gluten-free and vegan Fig Newton.

(((Thank you, Fizzy Izzy :) )))

I even had a jar of homemade fig jam that needed a new home.

What better place than between 2 pillows of light and airy cookie dough???

Homemade Fig Newton Bars Recipe

Gluten-free, vegan

Makes 15 bars

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 1/2 c. all purpose, gluten-free flour mix (see what I use here), plus 2 Tbs more
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 4 Tbs Earth Balance, softened
  • 4 tsp flaxseed meal + 3 Tbs water, mixed and set for 5 minutes
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 15 tsps of jam of choice (I used apple fig)

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together with electric mixer. Add the flax egg and mix. Add vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.
  3. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add slowly to the wet mixture. If you need more flour, add a tablespoon at a time. You want to make sure the dough is not sticky while not dried out.
  4. Lay 1 piece of lightly flour dusted parchment paper on the counter. Using 1/4 of the dough, knead it until it is smooth. Place another piece of wax paper of it and roll out to an approx 14″x6″ rectangle, about 1/4″ thick. Cut into 3″x2″-ish squares.
  5. Place 1 tsp of jam of your choice in the middle of 1 dough square. Place another square on top of the other. Fold the seams of the 2 longer sides together to make sure it sticks together. Gentle does it–the dough is fragile without gluten so proceed with care.
  6. Transfer to parchment paper lined baking sheet (or Silpat). Bake 14-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

These fig bars are that good.

It took a couple of attempts but I finally hit the jackpot!

It’s unbelievable to me how much easier it is becoming to recreate

my favorite gluten-filled foods.

If you would have asked me back in August

whether I ever thought I would get the hang of GF/vegan baking,

I would have chucked the homemade dense piece of food

I thought was supposed to be bread right at you.

If anything, let these Newton bars

be of witness to you that if you are still struggling with baking,

stick with it.

Keep trying and making mistakes.

I cannot even begin to tell you how fulfilling

the rewards are with gluten-free and vegan baking once you get the hang of it.

And even then, you will still make mistakes.

But at least you have 15 fig bars to munch on while you do…