Fig newtons seem to be everybody’s childhood favorite. Especially my husband’s. I made a batch of homemade, gluten free fig newtons this weekend and he ate the cookies so quickly that I had to hide some for friends.
What makes these little fig newtons so special? Well, I’m told they taste like the real thing. And besides, unlike the original, they have no white flour, white sugar or artificial flavors. They’re gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and naturally sweetened, making them a perfect treat for just about anyone –including those on the GFCF diet.
Lately, a number of parents have been in touch with me about the GFCF diet. Through these correspondences I have been introduced to TACA, as well as Jenny McCarthy’s memoir about her son, Louder Than Words, in which she discusses her journey to heal her son’s autism.
I am glad to have encountered this strongly networked group of parents and to provide GFCF recipes such as the one below that offer fun food for the whole family.
Fig Newtons
Ingredients
Filling:
- 1 cup dried figs
- ½ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Cookie:
- 2½ cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ cup agave nectar or honey
- ¼ cup yacon syrup
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place figs in a food processor and blend for 30 seconds until they are well chopped
- Add lemon juice and vanilla; process until a smooth paste results
- In a large bowl, combine almond flour and salt
- In a small bowl, combine agave, yacon, grapeseed oil and vanilla
- Mix wet ingredients into dry, then refrigerate dough for 1 hour
- Divide chilled dough into 4 parts
- Between 2 pieces of parchment paper, roll out 1 part of the dough into a 10 x 4 inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick
- Spread ¼ of the filling evenly down the right side (lengthwise) of the rectangle
- Fold the dough in half down the long side --resulting in a 10 x 2 inch bar
- "Mend" the seam so the bar is symmetrical
- Repeat with 3 remaining parts of dough and filling
- Transfer each bar to a parchment paper lined baking sheet; bake at 350°F for 10-15 minutes
- Allow to cool slightly; cut bar every 2 inches to form the fig newtons
- Serve
Valerie says
I was so excited to try this recipe. The dough was impossible to work with and stuck to the parchment irreparably. I had to painstakingly roll balls of dough in my hand and stuff them with fig paste which had far too much lemon juice. The doughy-fig balls flattened into flying saucers in the oven, (the fig paste remained ball like and the dough melted out around it). I used 2 tsp of vanilla in both the fig paste and the dough, a TABLESPOON of Vanilla seemed like way too much. They taste similar to wholegrain newtons, hearty and healthy, but oily and doughy. :( I chilled the dough for an hour like directed, i don’t know why it was so impossible to work with.
Susan Geraldi says
I have been gluten-free, dairy-free for over 3 years. Before I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease/developed Lactose Intollerance, Fig Newtons were my all time favorite snack. After watching my kids consume these heavenly cookies day-after-day- I decided to take matters into my own hands. So, I found, and used your recipe.
Sadly, I was very dissapointed after searching everywhere for the ingredients and spending over 2 hours in the kitchenking making a double batch of these.
The fig center is much too strong and it overwhelms the cookie. Also, it tastes better if the dough is thicker! The almond flour is tne; but I think I may try it with a gf allpurpose flour instead.
Kimberly says
This looks so great and I can’t wait to try it! Any ideas on substitutes for lemon juice?
I’m allergic to lemons and I’m wondering if the juice here is used for flavor or for thickening (or both?) I may try lime or orange juice (freshly-squeezed–of course).
Thoughts?
Annie says
I tried making these with fresh figs, and it worked out pretty well. I had to puree and then simmer the figs in the lemon juice for a couple of hours first. This recipe also ended up yeilding for me a lot of leftover filling, and it was rather lemony for our tastes, since we like pure fig flavor.
Overall though, everyone liked it alot. I wish I had tripled the recipe instead of just doubling it. Thank you, Elana.
Shanah says
Haha this Recipe made me Laugh and smile. I think you are so very clever and read up on you daily. I have a hate for fig newtons from my childhood. My family used to run a food bank in washington state when i lived in the USA. It was around the time of desert storm. The food bank had been donated millions of boxes of fig newtons that I had to pack into smaller lots. The smell of them to this day makes me feel Sick. That and peanut m&ms they gave them to the food bank because they had packed with soap. The m&ms also tasted like soap!
Thanks at least despite my hate for fig newtons you made me smile!
Your fan,
Shanah michele
April says
One of my 7th grade students has celiacs and loves fig newtons! A local store started carrying gluten free newtons but stopped. My student barely eats anything and he was so disappointed, so our class tried your recipe together. Elana you made my day with the smile on his face while he ate his newtons this afternoon, thank you so much! I made a few substitutions to make it a little cheaper and used vegetable oil (in place of grapeseed) and corn syrup (in place of yacon), sorry! The agave had a great flavor and I’m glad we used it in the filling. The lemon was a little strong, so I added some dates (we didn’t have extra figs) and a little sweetener and it was perfect! I look forward to making these again very soon! These were delicious and better than anything you’ll find in the store! Thanks again!!
April says
Made these for the first time today with the recipe from your book. AMAZING! Both my husband and my 17 month old gobbled them up. Fairly easy to make as well.
illnworth says
can you use fresh figs in this?
harmony says
I just made these today with 1/2 cup maple syrup plus 2 tablespoons of honey. They turned out great. I probably could have cooked them a few minutes longer. I want to eat them all right now but, am forcing myself to save some for tomorrow.
Ashley says
Hi Elana,
I found your site while researching for some gluten free recipes to make my dad who has arthritis of the spine and has felt some significant improvement since going grain free.
His all time favorite snack is fig newtons so I am happy to have found this recipe but I am just wondering if honey could replace the agave nectar yacon syrup so I don’t have to run around buying all different ingredients. Also, your breads look amazing but I noticed you do not use yeast so I am wondering how it would rise?