Date and Fig Bars + Road Trip Fun
This post is sponsored by Toyota USA. All opinions are all my own.
During the holidays, there’s a great anticipation of family and friends gathering, from near and far. This year, I decided to head “south for the winter” and share time with my brilliant family!
I spent a good amount of time living in Jacksonville, Florida and still have family and friends there. During the holidays, we ended up visiting some of my favorite places, those little out of the way places only the locals know about, and of course, we spent some time in St. Augustine (love this place).
One of our favorite afternoons, was walking on a very chilly beach collecting seashells by the seashore, then we got to hop back into our cozy 2017 Toyota 4Runner Limited SUV, a completely family friendly vehicle. The Toyota 4Runner is brilliant, with seating up to seven, and has all the bells and whistles you could wish for. With a completely gorgeous look and feel, the Toyota 4Runner is an ideal choice for road trips to off-road trips!
For more information about the Toyota 4Runner Limited SUV, visit their website HERE.
Our road trips are always filled with the “are we there yet?”, and the obligatory “I need to go to the bathroom” … just after you stopped and got back on the road. But my personal favorite, is of course, to see who drew the short straw to let us all know “I’m hungry”…. which is declared least every 30 minutes.
In order to not drag out the trip any longer than needed by stopping at every exit, I always pack a good amount of drinks and snacks, including these Date and Fig Bars. These snack bars are just the right amount of sweet and will keep you happy for, well, at least 30 minutes. 😉
When traveling, always always always be prepared, stay safe and enjoy the time with your traveling companions!
Make these Date and Fig Bars up to 3 weeks ahead and keep them in the freezer. I enjoy them as my go-to snack any time of the day, plus not only are they great for a grab and go travel snack, but they are also ideal after a workout.
Enjoy!
Date and Fig Bars
Date and Fig Bars, the perfect snack to give you a boost of energy, and are ideal as an "on the go" treat.Â
Ingredients
- 2 cups ground Almond meal (I use Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour)
- 5 - 6 oz (1 cup) Dried Mission Figs, stems removed
- 16 oz Dried Medjool Dates, pitted
- 3 Tbsp Almond Butter (can substitute Peanut Butter)
- Zest of 1 Orange
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Paste or Extract
- 3/4 tsp ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper, optional
- 3/4 cup Old Fashioned Oat Meal
Instructions
- Line an 8 x 8 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a food processor, add the Almond Flour and Figs and process until well combined and finely chopped.
- Scrape sides down, add the Dates and continue to process for a few pulses, making sure all is mixed well.
- Add in the Almond (or Peanut) Butter, Orange Zest, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Salt, and Pepper (if using), and pulse several times, scraping down sides if needed, and process until everything is well combined.
- Transfer mixture to a bowl, and fold in the Oatmeal, using your hands to mix thoroughly.
- In a parchment lined baking dish, add the mixture and using the back of a spoon or your hands, firmly press the Date and Fig mixture down evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- Remove from freezer, lift the paper and place the frozen slab on a chopping board, cut into 1 inch squares or 2 inch bars and enjoy.
Notes
You can keep the Date and Fig bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or the freezer for up to 4 weeks.Â
For easier "grab and go", wrap each piece in plastic wrap.Â
Adapted from Chowhound.
Stacey is a Southern girl with a taste for travel, thriving on the discovery of the world through food. After spending many years traveling and living overseas, she’s now back home in her beloved deep south enjoying life with her three little ones and loving the adventure. She’s a food stylist and food photographer, as well as, the creative behind Little Figgy Food, where she loves to inspire others to try new flavors and foodie techniques.
Figs and dates are two of my favorite foods, and this combines them which is awesome! Can’t wait to try these.
Hope you enjoy! Thank you Leslie!
These fig bars sound delicious! Almost like a homemade Lara bar. I am so excited to try and make them for healthier snacks!
Thank you Meredith! Yes, they are like a Larabar… hope you enjoy!
Love the combo. Recipe is so flavorful
Thank you Kushi!
I am ALL about the snack situation when I go on road trips. These bars look like the perfect thing to bring along for a drive. And that car is gorgeous!
These look like a great snack for a road trip..bet they taste great too!
Thank you Paige! They are rather tasty!
Looks like you had a great trip. I also love these fig bars-I pretty much have everything already in my pantry for them, winner!
Thank you Sharon, it was a great trip! Hope you get a chance to make them and enjoy!
Your bars look almost like our Christmas fruit bread from the color and consistency and the ingredients are almost the same too, except with the almond butter and oats. I love using almond flour in my baking too and in fact I was looking for a good bar recipe with almond flour and dates. Great timing. 🙂
These bars look like they would be good to bring on a hike or camping. They look tasty.
Thanks Ben! Yes, they are definitely ideal for a hiking or camping trip!
Oh that beach looks so fabulous! I went running this AM with a “feels like” 10 degrees…running on that beach looks SO much better! I’ve never tried my hand at making snack bars at home, but they seem quite easy. And I’ve become such a big fan of figs recently. I’ll have to give this a try
Oh my goodness, my southern blood would freeze in those temps! These are so easy to make, hope you get a chance to try soon! Happy New Years!
Dates and Figs together make wonderful snack,we get similar kind of sweet here.These look like a great snack.
Thank you, they are really nice and do make a great snack. 🙂
These are so delicious sounding. I love the flavors and textures and I bet my kids would enjoy them for snacks as well.
Thanks Amy, hope you get a chance to try them!
These look great for anytime snacking and to keep in office too for those middle of the hunger pangs! I am going to make a bunch this weekend. Love the addition of cinnamon and pepper.. perfect for the winters 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Ashima! Hope you enjoy them 🙂
Hello (from London),
I just tried making these with dried dates (not Medjool) last night, and the mixture wouldn’t bind. It became almost like a crumble topping. Do you think the choice of date made the mixture too dry? I might try adding some more almond butter or a little water to help the mixture stick.
Other than that – the mixture tastes great!
Martin
Hi Martin (from London)! 🙂 I’m glad it tastes great, but sad that it was crumbly. Yes, using dried dates would make the difference. Medjool dates are much stickier and help it bind together. I tried myself using dried dates in a similar recipe once and had that same experience, that was a sad day for me too, lol. Hopefully one of the additions will help make it come together better. Thank you and enjoy your day!