Soft & chewy gluten free fig & oats bars made with a cinnamon-spiced and brown sugar sweetened oat-y cookie crumble and a sweet, fig jam filling for the fruity middle.
Gluten Free Fig Oat Bars
- One bowl:
- The bottom crust and the crumb topping are one in the same which means less work and bowls to wash out later.
- Filling options:
- Fig jam: Keep the process (and the bars) sweet and simple by using your favorite store-bought/premade/farmer’s market fig jam. If it’s the right time of year with fresh figs aplenty you can make your own homemade fig jam quite easily.
- Dried figs: No matter the time of year, you can make a delicious fig filling by blending up dried figs with a bit of water and a little sweetener.
- Easily made vegan:
- Simple swap out the dairy butter for vegan baking butter (the kind that’s sold in block form – not in a tub) and you’re good to go.
Homemade Fig Bars In Bite-Sized Steps
Fig Filling
You’ve got 3 options:
- premade or store bought jam
- homemade fig jam with fresh figs
- (40-60 minutes)
- blended fig paste made from dried figs, water, vanilla & brown sugar
- (5-10 minutes)
Make the crumble
- Dry Ingredients: Whisk together in a large mixing bowl until combined.
- Butter: Add the melted butter.
- Mix together: Stir together until fully combined in a soft, crumbly dough.
Assemble
- Bottom Layer: Firmly press about half the crumble mixture into the bottom of a square pan.
- Middle Layer: Spread the fig jam evenly over the crust.
- Top Layer: Sprinkle the remaining crumble topping over the jam.
A Few Tips & Things to Know When making These Oatmeal Fig Bars
- Use certified gluten-free oats: Though oats are inherently gluten free, they are often grown and processed right alongside wheat and other gluten-containing grains which can easily expose them to cross contamination.
- Make it oat free: Leave out the oats and use 2 cups (280g) gluten free all purpose flour total. If you want to see what this might look like, check out my GF Blueberry Crumb Bars or my Cranberry Crumble Bars for examples.
- Make dairy free/vegan bars: Use vegan baking butter in place of regular butter.
- Is xanthan gum totally necessary? No, but its binding abilities do help make the bars less delicate after baking. If you’d like to make this recipe without xanthan then you must be patient and let the bars fully cool down and firm up before slicing and serving.
- Filling alternatives: Feel free to swap out the fig preserves/jam for another flavor – you can really use whatever jam you like here. Here are a few more crumb-bars you might also like to try out:
- Apple Crumble Bars – fresh apples
- Strawberry Rhubarb Bars – fresh strawberries & rhubarb
- Raspberry Crumble Bars – gently stewed fresh raspberries
- Date Squares (Matrimonial Bars) – blended up dates
More Oat-Based Snacks & Treats
Enjoy!
Let me know if you try these gluten-free fig bars! Leave a comment and review with your thoughts. I always appreciate the feedback and serving suggestions that you come up with!
Yield: 9-12 portions
Gluten Free Fig & Oat Bars Recipe
5.0 Stars (1 Review)
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
35 minutes
Additional Time
1 hour
Total Time
1 hour 50 minutes
A sweet & fruity fig filling surrounded by a soft, buttery and cinnamon-spiced gluten free oat-y cookie crumble.
Ingredients
Filling made with dried figs (optional in place of fig jam)
- 1½ cups dried, chopped figs - packed (230g)
- ½ cup warm water (120ml)
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar (30g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Fig Bars
- 1¼ cups gluten free all purpose flour blend (175g)
- 1¼ cups certified gluten free rolled oats or quick oats (115g)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar (165g)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp xanthan gum - optional*
- ¾ cup salted butter, melted (170g)
- ¾ cup fig jam (275g)
Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.
Instructions
Dried Fig Filling
- Skip this step if you plan on using a premade fig jam: Add the chopped figs, water, brown sugar and vanilla extract to a blender or food processor and blend on high until you end up with a chunky, paste-like fig mixture. Scrape down the bottom of sides of the blender as needed and set aside until it's time to assemble the bars.
Fig Bars
- Oven prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease and line an 8x8 inch metal baking pan with parchment paper then set aside.
- Dry ingredients: Add the flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt to a large bowl and mix together until evenly combined.
- Melted Butter: Stir the melted butter into the flour mixture until a soft, crumbly dough forms.
- Assemble: Press half of the dough across the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer. Spread the fig jam or blended fig filling evenly over the bottom crust then crumble the remaining dough over the jam.
- Bake: Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 35 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan fully before slicing and serving.
- Store: Cool to room temperature then store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make it oat free: Leave out the oats and use 2cups of gluten free flour total.
- Make it dairy free: Use a vegan block butter in place of the regular butter.
- Xanthan gum: Xanthan gum helps make these bars a bit more sturdy. You can leave it out, but your bars will be a bit more delicate overall. The bars need to fully cool & firm up before slicing and serving.
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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