Fresh Figs and the season has just begun! Here’s a delicious dinner you can throw together in no time. In the interest of ease, pick up a pizza crust (or in my case, a gluten-free crust) at the grocery store. There are so many lovely ways to pull this together. Here we’ve got crispy bacon, a soft Raclette cheese, dried figs, Marinated Red Onions, then finished off with crumbled sheep’s milk feta and a big sprinkle of arugula. This would be absolutely delicious with fresh figs when they’re in season, but it’s delightful to use dried reconstituted figs the rest of the year. Use gentle flavors, and let the figs be the star of the show.

To extend the season, I like to get a big container of dried figs to use throughout the year in so many ways and combinations: in salads, in a grilled cheese, blended into salad dressings, grilled on the side, in cakes and cookies, as an ice cream or acai topping.

Did you know figs are technically an inverted flower, not a fruit? That means pollination is needed for figs to survive and thrive. 99 percent of California Grown Figs are self-pollinating, and one percent require wasps for pollination. Click the link in profile for the recipe and more info on figs.

Have you ever cooked with dried figs?

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Fig Pizza

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  • Author: nocrumbsleft
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 1 pizza
  • Category: Dinner
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Ingredients

8-10 California Grown dried figs, cut in half or quarters

2-3 bacon strips, cooked and chopped 

1 gluten-free pizza crust (we used Capellos)

1 cup shredded raclette cheese

Marinated Red Onions and the oil

½ cup arugula

1–2 oz crumbled feta

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.

 

Place the figs in a large bowl and fill with hot water until figs are completely covered. Let sit until figs are soft, about 15 minutes. 

 

Place bacon on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and cook until crispy and done, about 17 minutes. Remove and set aside.

 

Adjust oven temperature per the instructions on the store-bought pizza crust box.

 

Evenly place the cheese on the crust. Then place the figs on top of the cheese. Place in the oven and cook until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and add the Marinated Red Onions and the bacon. Return to oven and cook until crust is golden brown, about 5 more minutes.

 

Remove from the oven. Sprinkle the arugula and crumble the feta on top. Drizzle with Marinated Red Onion oil if desired and enjoy!

Peanut Butter and Fig Blondies

I absolutely love Bakerita’s book, Bakerita: 100+ No-Fuss Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Refined Sugar-Free Recipes for the Modern Baker and was so happy to write a blurb on the back for her. If you are looking for fantastic desserts, this book is the one to get.

I’m using my nocrumbsleft pottery to prep the batter for the blondies.

This Fig Peanut Butter Blondie is absolutely luscious, and one of the most delicious desserts I’ve had all summer. You’re going to feel like you’re eating something unbelievably naughty, but it’s actually a massively clean dessert! I’ve been enjoying my friend Rachel @Bakeritablog new Bakerita cookbook and wanted to make something with my figs from California, where 98 percent of the country’s fresh figs are grown on 9,300 acres of California farmland. There are two main types of dried figs: Mission and Golden, and six main types of fresh figs: Mission, Brown Turkey, Kadota, Calmyrna, Tiger and Sierra. Sounds exotic, but they are available at most major grocery stores May through November. The fact that this dessert uses non-refined sugar and is gluten-free and vegan makes it a triple treat. Rita uses fresh figs in hers, which I’m sure is fabulous, but I did mine with California dried figs, reconstituting them just for a few minutes. This is the kind of dessert you’ll want to bring absolutely anywhere. Definitely check out @bakeritrita’s cookbook and account.

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PEANUT BUTTER AND FIG BLONDIES

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  • Author: Teri Turner
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 16 Blondies
  • Category: GRAIN-FREE • VEGAN • GLUTEN-FREE • DAIRY-FREE
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Description

Excerpted from BAKERITA © 2020 by Rachel Conners. Photography © 2020 by Rachel Conners. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

In June of 2018, my older sister, Shaina, went on an eight-day silent meditation retreat. Right after she came back, she called to tell me about her experience and one of the first things she mentioned was the food. She told me about how, without distractions, she could appreciate the food so fully, tasting all the flavors and texture each bite had to offer. The meditation center had orchards where they grew their own fruit and she described eating fresh figs every morning, drizzled in peanut butter. “An interesting combo,” I noted, and she requested that I create a recipe using those flavors. So here it is: peanut butter and fig blondies, a recipe we developed together just after her retreat. She was right—the fig and peanut butter flavors pair together in a beautiful way, with the richness of the peanut butter and the sweetness of the fig. The chewy blondies also feature the warm flavors of honey, vanilla, and cinnamon, which work together so wonderfully.

Ingredients

FOR THE BLONDIES

½ cup (128g) creamy peanut butter

¼ cup (50g) refined coconut oil, melted

¼ cup (36g) coconut sugar

5 tablespoons (106g) honey

1 flax egg (see Tip) or 1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1¼ cups (120g) blanched almond flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

About 8 fresh figs, halved

 

FOR THE PEANUT BUTTER DRIZZLE

3 tablespoons (48g) creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon refined coconut oil, melted

Instructions

PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 × 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper and grease it lightly with coconut oil.

FOR THE BLONDIES: In a mixing bowl, stir together the peanut butter, melted coconut oil, coconut sugar, 4 tablespoons of the honey, the egg, and vanilla until smooth and well mixed. Add the almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and stir until incorporated. Spread evenly in the prepared pan. Arrange the figs, cut sides up, on top of the batter to make a pleasing design. Press the figs slightly into the batter.

PUT the 1 remaining tablespoon honey in a small, microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 10 seconds to liquefy. Use a pastry brush to brush the honey on top of the figs.

BAKE the blondies for 20 to 22 minutes, until golden brown. The blondies will rise a little and then collapse back onto themselves as they cool. Let them cool in the pan sitting on a wire rack. When the blondies are nearly cool, transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely.

FOR THE PEANUT BUTTER DRIZZLE: In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter and coconut oil. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag, or use a zippered plastic bag by putting the mixture in the bag and snipping a corner. Drizzle the mixture over the blondies. Return the blondies to the refrigerator for 15 minutes to set the drizzle, if desired. Cut the chilled blondies into 16 squares. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Notes

T  To make a flax egg, whisk together 1 tablespoon ground flax seed with 2½ tablespoons water. Set aside for about 10 minutes to gel.

·       To keep these vegan, use pure maple syrup instead of honey.