Baking with children is one of the most naturally educational things you can do together. It builds sequencing, measurement, vocabulary, and fine motor skills — all without feeling like a lesson. Add a letter to learn and a story to go with it, and you have something even more powerful: a memory attached to learning that a child carries forward for life.
This fig bar recipe comes from the F lesson inside The Recipes of Alphabet Forest. This is part of the Alphabet Forest Collection, our nature-based early literacy curriculum for ages 2-6. In Alphabet Forest, every letter is introduced through story, nature, and a multitude of hands-on experiences, including a recipe. The recipe at the bottom of this page is taken from The Recipes of Alphabet Forest. Print it out and use it as reference as you bake! While you’re at it, try a sample of our curriculum here.
Homemade Fig Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried figs
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla exract
Tools
- a blender or food processor
- Stand or hand mixer
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Soak figs in hot water for 10 minutes.
3. Reserve 1 tablespoon of fig water. Drain figs. Blend. Add honey and reserved water. Blend again.
4. Cream softened butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Mix.
5. Add flour to creamed butter. Mix.
6. Roll the dough out. Cut into rectangles.
7. Spread fig over the rectangles. Fold the rectangles over onto themselves. Press the edges together. Cut into smaller pieces if necessary.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
