Fig & Pumpkin Seed Snack Bars
I don’t think I could cram any more of my favorite ingredients into these snack bars if I tried. Between the flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, buckwheat flour, cinnamon, figs, almond butter, and maple syrup, I’m a happy camper.
More and more people have been asking me for egg-free recipes lately, so I think it’s about time I delivered. These bars—get this!—are not only egg-free but also gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and vegan. Replace the almond butter with sunflower seed butter and the almond milk with rice milk for a nut-free treat if needed. The recipe is also free of gluten-free “starches” (like arrowroot, tapioca, potato, etc.) and xanthan gum. It is truly a whole foods snack bar that you can feel incredibly good about eating.
I used Erewhon Gluten-Free Crispy Rice Cereal to lend some lightness to this recipe. Buckwheat flour and pumpkin seeds, while both delicious, are heartier and more robust in nature. Rice cereal offers the perfect light and crispy contrast, counter-balancing the other more assertive ingredients.
Erewhon’s rice cereal is my favorite because it’s made from whole grain brown rice and is naturally sweetened very lightly with organic brown rice syrup. Added sugars can creep into breakfast cereals so easily. I love it that Erewhon’s product contains less than 1 gram per serving!
Black Mission figs, a long time favorite of mine, add just the perfect punch of sweetness to these bars which is augmented by a small amount of maple syrup. Want a real treat? Try slathering your bar with the super-healthy Fig Spread from my book and you’ll have double-fig bars. What could be better than that?
A Quick Favor
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Fig & Pumpkin Seed Snack Bars
Makes 12
4 tablespoons ground flaxseed, divided
3 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup Erewhon Gluten-Free Crisp Brown Rice Cereal
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup finely chopped Black Mission figs
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup Grade B maple syrup
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Line an 8×8-inch baking dish with plastic wrap. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of the flaxseed with the warm water. Set aside.
In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons of flaxseed with the pumpkin seeds, rice cereal, buckwheat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Process until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the figs.
With an electric mixer, beat together the almond butter, almond milk, maple syrup, vinegar, and reserved flaxseed slurry until smooth. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.
Using slightly wet hands, press the dough evenly into the plastic-lined baking dish. Freeze for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lift the dough out of the pan using the plastic wrap. Cut the dough into 12 bars. Place the bars 1-2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-18 minutes until firm to the touch. Cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container.
I love these. They sound so “nutty” and subtly sweet. I adore pumpkin seeds. Great recipe for sure!
Love this recipe Hallie! I was just thinking of grinding the cereal for a no-bake and buckwheat flour? Genius!
Adore your book. One of the best out there :)
YUM! I love these bars Hallie. I especially love that you throw everything into the food processor. I am going to have to make a nut-free batch for Callum to take to school!
These sound fantastic!!! Im all over fig flavour always.
Husband and I are doing a gluten free month (EEEK!!!) and I anticipate your blog being a great resource! :)
Mmmm figs, sounds like a perfect fruity and nutty bar!
How long do these last stored?
Rachael: They should last for at least 2-3 days.
These look wonderful!
Can this be made without vineager? I can have vineager in my diet.
Kimberly: You could try it without the vinegar, the bars just might have a slightly different texture.
These sure do look tasty! I am pinning right now, so I can make it later.
Thanks!
What a power house snack. These sound lovely and we always have something like these kicking around for a quick grab and go snack. We’ll have to give these a try.
Well, I had to sub a few things, but it still turned out good. Question: Why do you freeze the bars? Could you, just as easily, mix it up and bake it? Here are my subs: dates for figs, coconut oil instead of maple syrup (but did add some maple syrup flavoring), sunflower seeds for pumpkin, another brand millet puffed cereal. I had to bake it longer (probably 10-15 minutes) but that could have been bcz of the coconut oil. And I subbed chia seed for 1 T of the flax. Where do you buy your pumpkin seeds? I have found them to be very expensive.
Amy: Thanks for sharing your substitution experiment. :) I freeze the bars so that cutting the dough is easier and less sticky. You could just bake the entire pan and cut them into bars after they come out of the oven, but I find they look more like traditional “breakfast cereal” bars if they are cut first. Just a preference thing.
I buy my pumpkin seeds at Whole Foods or my local co-op in the bulk bin section. They are more expensive than sunflower seeds, but I can get a small amount so that I use just what I need and don’t have to buy extra.
Hi, there-Just discovered your blog through your guest post on Whole Life Nutrition, which I truly enjoyed. I eagerly went to your website but was disappointed to find brown rice cereal in one of the first recipes I saw. It has come to my attention recently that processed cereals are about as far from whole foods as a Pringles potato chip. Take a look at the following partial quote from the Weston A. Price Foundations website (http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-foods/dirty-secrets-of-the-food-processing-industry). I’d love to hear from you if you disagree with this information, as I am trying to learn as much as possible myself. Thanks for doing your blog!
“Cold breakfast cereals are produced by a process called extrusion. Grains are mixed with water, processed into a slurry and placed in a machine called an extruder. The grains are forced out of a tiny hole at high temperature and pressure, which shapes them into little o’s or flakes or shreds. Individual grains passed through the extruder expand to produce puffed wheat, oats and rice. These products are then subjected to sprays that give a coating of oil and sugar to seal off the cereal from the ravages of milk and to give it crunch.
“In his book Fighting the Food Giants, biochemist Paul Stitt describes the extrusion process, which treats the grains with very high heat and pressure, and notes that the processing destroys much of their nutrients. It denatures the fatty acids; it even destroys the synthetic vitamins that are added at the end of the process. The amino acid lysine, a crucial nutrient, is especially damaged by the extrusion process.
“Even boxed cereals sold in health food stores are made using the extrusion process. They are made with the same kind of machines and mostly in the same factories. The only “advances” claimed in the extrusion process are those that will cut cost, regardless of how the process alters the nutrient content of the product.
“With so many millions of boxes of cereal sold each year, one would expect to see published studies showing the effects of these cereals on animals and humans. But breakfast cereals are a multi-billion dollar industry that has created huge fortunes for a few people. A box of cereal containing a penny’s worth of grain sells for four or five dollars in the grocery store–there is probably no other product on earth with such a large profit margin. These profits have paid for lobbying efforts and journal sponsorships that have effectively kept any research about extruded grains out of the scientific literature and convinced government officials that there is no difference between a natural grain of wheat and a grain that has been altered by the extrusion process.”
PM: Thanks for stopping by. I understand your concern about the brown rice cereal since it technically is not a “whole food.” In this post, I was highlighting Erewhon’s brown rice cereal simply because it is a product I use occasionally in recipes that I find to be healthier than most breakfast cereals (no oils, sugars, preservatives, etc.). I view these types of foods as “once in a while” ingredients that I incorporate into recipes once in a blue moon. Many Daily Bites readers also value convenience and saving time in the kitchen, so that is why I choose to highlight packaged foods like this once in a while.
Hope that makes sense! Thanks again for visiting my blog.
Hallie
Hi there – just a warning that some rice milks have gluten (barley malt) in them. Always check! I have never seen barley malt in almond milk, but I still check every time…
These are amazing! given the recipe you have provided, any guess to the calorie content? Or breakdown of fat/carb/sugar etc?