This is the simplest bar there is, the one you make on a Sunday evening so you never have to open a shop-bought packet all week. The almonds turn to flour in the processor, the dates and dried figs bind them into a soft, naturally sweet dough, and the vanilla brings the perfume. You press everything into a square tin, cut, and you are done. Ten minutes, not one more.
Raw fig, date and almond bars
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Ingredients
Method
- In a food processor fitted with the S blade, blend the almonds for 30 to 45 seconds, until you reach a flour-like texture.
- Add the dates and dried figs, then blend until the mixture starts to clump together.
- Add the vanilla and blend for another ten seconds, just long enough for it to be evenly distributed.
- Spread the dough in a 20 cm square tin lined with baking paper and press down firmly with your hands.
- Chill for 30 minutes so the dough firms up, then cut into 12 bars.
Tip
If your figs are very dry, soak them for ten minutes in warm water before blending: the dough holds together better and your processor works less hard. Press really firmly into the tin, that is what decides whether the bars hold when you cut them. You can swap the figs for dried apricots or prunes without changing anything else, simply keeping the same total weight of dried fruit. The bars keep for about ten days in an airtight container in the fridge.
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FAQ: your questions about raw fig bars
What is the nutritional value of fig bars?
One bar cut from this recipe weighs about sixty grams and provides roughly 230 kcal, mostly as carbohydrates from the dried fruit and fats from the almonds. It also contains 3 to 4 g of fibre, brought by the fig, one of the most fibrous dried fruits, and around 5 g of protein from the almonds. It is a dense snack: one bar is plenty between two meals.
Do figs contain a lot of sugar?
Yes, a dried fig contains around 50 to 55 % sugars, which is normal for a fruit that has had almost all its water removed. Fresh, the same fig contains about 16 %. That concentration is exactly what allows these bars to be sweet without adding anything at all. In return, the dried fig also brings fibre, potassium and calcium, which white sugar does not.
What is the recipe for a healthy energy bar?
The principle comes down to two families of ingredients: sticky dried fruit that acts as both binder and sweetener, and blended nuts that bring fat, protein and structure. A ratio of roughly two thirds nuts to one third dried fruit gives a bar that holds without being sticky. The rest is a matter of flavour: vanilla, cinnamon, citrus zest, cacao. Everything happens in the processor, with no baking and no added binder.
Do figs raise blood sugar?
The dried fig has a moderate glycaemic index, around 60, lower than that of dates. Its fibre and skin slow down the absorption of its sugars, and eating it alongside almonds, rich in fat and protein, slows the rise further still. That is precisely the point of a bar built like this one rather than figs eaten by the handful.
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