Fig Cheesecake Bars

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The following recipe and photography is courtesy of Lauren Schulte. To see more of her bites and meals, visit her Instagram @TheBiteSizePantry. Food Stylization is adapted from yummly.com.

They’re Fig’alicious pie pie, Figgy Pie Bars are super delicious. You’re going to want to taste cause they’re Fig’alicious, pie pie! You probably remember that holiday song that goes, “bring us some figgy pudding. Now bring us some figgy pudding.” Well, if you bring these, your guests are going to be singing a different tune. It’s fall and figs are easy to find and delicious to add to your seasonal meals.

The deep burgundy exterior is one of my favorite fall colors to incorporate into daily dishes. Not only are they a great source of antioxidants for your daily health, but you can conveniently buy them raw, dried or jammed. This gives you endless options when it comes to working them into a dish.

For my Fig Cheesecake Bars, I used Dalmatia Fig Spread, which you can easily find on the shelves above Heinen’s cheese coolers nestled amongst the artisan crackers. I love this spread because it’s so rich in figgy goodness and is easily spreadable, which is why it worked so well mixed into the cream cheese topping of my bars. It’s also a product that natural ingredients,  so you taste the true nature of the fig itself.

The pie crust adds a nice chewiness and another layer of delicious texture to the dessert. You’ll want to bake the crust first before adding the cream cheese and fig filling, this helps to prevent the pie bars from breaking apart when picked up. No one wants to cry over crumbly crust. The no-bake cream cheese fig filling is great because you don’t have to wait long to “fig-in!”

Fig Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients

For the Pie Crust

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, you can also use coconut or almond flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cold water

For the Cream Cheese Filling

• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3-8 oz. packages of low-fat cream cheese, at room temperature (you can use full-fat if you like)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Fig Topping

• 1 jar (approx. 8 Tbsp.) Dalmatia Fig Spread

Instructions

1. Set your oven at 375°F.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, egg and brown sugar. You can use a standing or hand-held mixer for this.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Then, gradually combine the flour with the wet ingredients, adding the water little by little until soft dough starts to form. The dough will be a little wet.
4. Grease a 9x9x2-inch baking pan. You want to make sure the baking pan has 2” or higher sides.
5. Pour the dough into the pan and spread out evenly with a spatula.
6. Bake the crust for 25-30mins at 375°F until it turns a golden brown color. You can test to make sure it’s done by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, it’s done. A few crumbs left clinging to the toothpick is fine.
7. Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool while you make the cream cheese filling.
8. Beat the heavy cream for approx. 7mins until it thickens and peaks start to form. If peaks don’t form, that’s ok, this is just allowing air into the cream which makes the filling lighter and creamier.
9. In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, white sugar, greek yogurt, lemon juice and vanilla together. Mix well because you want to make sure there are no lumps of cream cheese left. Then fold in the heavy cream until all is incorporated.
10. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the cool pie crust and spread evenly.
11. Use a spoon to spread the fig spread in parallel lines about a 1/2 inch apart across the top of the cream cheese filling.
12. Run a knife across the fig spread lines in a perpendicular direction. You want to make sure you are alternating directions when going back and forth so that you create a nice wavy effect.
13. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours to let it set, or the freezer for about an hour. Slice and serve!

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