Throughout my entire educational career, I never bought lunch at school. Not one single time. The long lines and terse hairnet-clad ladies terrified me—what if they counted out my change so slowly that I ran out of time to chow down on my slice of pizza before the end-of-recess bell rang? I felt much safer with my insulated purple lunch pail tucked neatly inside my backpack instead, so Dad always prepared my noon meal the night before.
For every lunch, he tucked a little treat inside as a reward for eating all of my apple slices. Since mom rarely baked homemade cookies, she bought Little Debbie desserts for us at the store. Depending on the week, she switched between Swiss Rolls, Chocolate Cupcakes, Oatmeal Creme Pies, and Holiday-Themed Cakes. Although indecisive from a very early age, the latter were my favorite. (I think… Well, I suppose it varied every few days!)
Whenever I pulled out the plastic-wrapped treats at the school picnic table, my friends clamored to search their lunch bags to find something to trade. Despite their alluring display of big brownies, candy bars, and soft sugar cookies, I rarely forfeited the rights to my Little Debbie desserts. They tasted too good!
But in middle school, I realized that exchanging those packaged treats for healthier granola bars would help me lose my last bit of baby fat. Although difficult at first, I learned to love the nutritious snacks instead. But I still grow nostalgic when passing by Little Debbie desserts in the grocery store, and I always crave something sweet after every meal!
These Chocolate Fig Squares are the perfect compromise. Each lightly sweetened bar exudes decadent chocolate flavor while actually hiding over 4 grams of protein. Speckled with oats and fruity bites of juicy dried figs, they’re a low fat snack you’ll feel good about eating—or sharing with your kids!
This recipe contains only wholesome, clean-eating ingredients. I started with a base of whole wheat flour and instant oats, which provide a subtle nuttiness. When baking 100% whole wheat goods, I exclusively choose Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flour. While other brands produce dense and dry treats, Gold Medal keeps my baked goodies light and moist. And if you don’t have instant oats, you can easily make your own. Just pulse regular old-fashioned oats in a food processor 5-7 times until they turn a little finer—that’s all there is to it!
The chocolate flavor comes from unsweetened cocoa powder and chocolate protein powder. Most grocery stores carry protein powders; I opted for Designer Whey, which I found at Trader Joe’s. You can use any protein powder you like, including soy or brown rice. (The Nutrition Information may change accordingly.)
These skinny snacks contain no refined sugar. Instead, the sweetness comes from applesauce and honey—and dried figs! I always enjoy Trader Joe’s dried black mission figs, and after I spotted a few left over from my Fruitcake Cookies, I immediately set them aside for this recipe. I diced them fairly small, which added a slight chewiness and kept the bars extra moist. A smaller dice also helps when slicing the pan into squares; it reduces the number of big chunks you have to drag the knife through!
When baking these chocolate treats, only let them sit in the oven for 15-18 minutes—no more! The hot pan continues to cook the squares as they cool, so baking them in the oven for more than 18 minutes results in dry, overdone snacks. Not good! The center of the pan will still look slightly wet when you pull it out; that’s okay. By the time it reaches room temperature, it’ll be baked through perfectly!
Little flecks of hearty oats speckle the surface of these Chocolate Fig Squares, and sweet bits of chewy dried fruit stud the interior. Each wholesome bar is packed with protein, but with the rich chocolaty flavor shining through, you’d never guess they were barely 70 calories!
After slicing the squares and setting them on the counter, I reached for one after lunch… And another after dinner… And a third the following morning with breakfast. I just couldn’t stop! They’re the perfect quick and easy snack to stash in the pantry for hungry kids after school. (Or hungry parents too!)
With how rapidly I ran through this batch, I may need to buy another bag of dried figs before the week ends…
These wholesome snack bars remind me of a healthy version of brownies. The dried figs add the perfect touch of natural sweetness, and the squares taste extra chocolaty from cocoa powder and chocolate protein powder. Store them at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat an 8”-square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats and next 6 ingredients (through salt). In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, applesauce, and honey. Add the oat mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the figs.
- Spread the chocolate mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 300°F for 15-18 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature in the pan before slicing into squares.
Oh, Amy, YUM! Let me tell you about my love affair with dried figs- it all started on the cruise Chris and I went on last April. They had them at the breakfast buffet, and after trying them for the first time, I ate them every morning thereafter with breakfast! They taste just like a fig newton to me, which was the “healthy” cookie I weirdly always liked (they’re not that healthy, I learned later). My life was devoid of dried figs until I started at Arizmendi a few months later, when I discovered that we keep a giant bin of them next to our collection of dried fruits and flours!! Now, I’m known to sneak a couple when I’m working the dough shift in the morning… shhhh…
Anyways, these sound fabulous. Pinning!
Andrea, you are way too cute! That sounds like a lovely way to start each morning on the cruise. And strangely enough, I’ve been (rapidly) munching my way through a box of Fig Newtons this week too! I didn’t like them as a kid, but now that I’ve discovered my own love affair for dried figs, I can’t get enough. We’d be a deadly combination at the bakery with that bin unattended! 😉
Many more fig recipes to come, dear friend!
Ohhhhh my goodness! I love the fact that these have chocolate in them – perfect to satisfy my chocolate cravings! And I love figs so it can’t get much better than that – chocolate and figs together. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure Katy! I can’t believe it took me this long to realize just how much I enjoy figs. There’ll be plenty of more fig recipes for you on my blog in the future! 🙂
Headed out to buy figs now…this looks great!
Thank you! Dried figs may have just become a staple in my pantry too. 🙂
I always need something sweet after my meals!! These would be SO easy to veganize, and I have been OBSESSED with dates and figs lately. In fact, I’ve just been using them as my dessert with some kind of nut butter!
Figs and peanut butter or figs and almond butter? That sounds like heaven Brittany! You’re always so creative with flavors when it comes to healthy desserts. I have jars of both in my pantry, so I’m definitely trying that!
So when you say diced figs, do you mean the dried ones?? (I want to be sure)
Yes!! I’m sorry about the confusion, and I’ve updated the recipe. Thanks for catching that Kylie!
Thank you 😀 I am trying to get back to my cleaner/healthier ways and loose a few KGs but I tend to miss my sweets, I figure making and freezing these will be I can be good whilst indulging during the week (and still have a cheat day on the weekend) hehe
My pleasure Kylie! It’s really hard for me to go without sweets too. They’re my favorite part of the day! And good luck with your weight loss goal! It already sounds like you’re putting lots of effort into it, so I’m positive you’re going to be successful. 🙂
you say 2 scoops of whey powder, what size of scoop, could I have a measurement please? Also is there a subsitute for the whey powder?
thanks
Protein powders usually come with a scoop inside of the container; for the brand I used, 1 scoop was equal to 28 grams. You could probably substitute 2 parts cocoa powder (about 38 grams) and 1 part whole wheat flour (about 18 grams) and add in an extra tablespoon of honey in place of the protein powder, although I haven’t actually tried it myself.
I love the Fig Bars. Thanks so much.
You’re welcome Liz; I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂
Hi Amy,
I like this recipe however I found the mixture to be quite dry even before it went into the oven? Not sure why, do I need to add more of one of the wet ingredients? Thanks 🙂
I’m sorry about that Prue; that must have been disappointing! How are you measuring the oats? I’ve found that if I scoop them out of the container with the measuring spoon, I end up with 1.5 times as much as when I lightly spoon and level them (like with flour). Extra oats would definitely make the bars dry, especially after baking because they absorb so much liquid. If you’ve measured the oats correctly and still find the mixture dry, try adding a few tablespoons more of applesauce, milk, or water and that should help. 🙂