Baking Is So Much More Fun!

Here is the thing: I don’t actually like to cook. Bake – sure. I LOVE to bake. What I hate about cooking is the day-to-day meal planning and find that I am just not the kind of girl who can whip something up in a flash.  One of my most profoundly held beliefs is almost all 30-minutes meals suck.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to plan elaborate meals that take hours or even days to make. Jacques Pepin’s Stuffed Salmon Wrapped in Flakey Crust and decorated to look like an actual fish – I’ve done that. It was gorgeous and delicious. Duck confit with wild mushroom risotto (confit homemade, of course!) – mmmmm. Heck, I've even carved a mellon into a swan and filled it with fruit salad. 

Also vegetables. I know I need to eat more of them, but really I like carbs. I could eat beans and tortillas in varying forms every single day (tacos, enchiladas, chilaquiles, tostadas, etc) and generally do and at almost every meal. I never get sick of beans – black, pinto, white, kidney, black-eyed peas. Sure, I mix in some vegetables. It isn’t that I dislike vegetables, but I just like other things SO MUCH MORE.

Now I have to come up with different dishes for most meals, so Georgia can try a variety of things. I kind of hate it and the entire premise of my feeding Georgia and this stinking blog is giving me heart palpitations. I fear I am passing on my carb obsession – if the kid doesn’t see me eat vegetables, why should she? They learn by example, no?

Plus, Georgia is in the midst of some sort of hunger strike/picky, picky, picky period. She will always eat almond butter and sardines, but every other past favorite is only consumed on a whim and with no rhyme or reason. Another thing she always will eat – baked goods, of course.

Luckily, I bake at least weekly and usually try to mix in a fruit or vegetable. I know. Sweet potatoes baked into a biscuit don’t really count as a vegetable serving. The homemade pear prune compote whizzed up and baked into cornmeal quick bread merely flirts with the healthy category. Yet I maintain that the fig puree I had in the freezer and baked into the middle of homemade whole grain dough is without a doubt a toddler-worthy snack full of vitamins, whole grains and fiber. Plus it was delicious.

The recipe is based on the Buttery Dried Fruit Bars from “Eat Well” by Williams-Sonoma and the figs in a Smitten Kitchen recipe. This is surprisingly easy and shockingly delicious. Georgia knew where the tin foil-wrapped leftovers were kept and would run into the kitchen, pointing and saying “More?! More?!”

Fig Bars Recipe

For the fig paste:

1 c dried figs

(You could also add some dates or dried cranberries or cherries, too)

Splash of Brandy

¼ c orange juice or water

bit of orange or lemon zest, optional

Bring the figs, brandy, water (or OJ) and zest to a boil in a small sauce pan, lower heat and simmer until figs are tender. Whiz up in a food processor when cool.

For the dough:
½ c butter, room temperature

scant ½ c brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ¼ c all-purpose flour

½ c wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

In a mixer, beat sugar and butter together until smooth. Add egg and vanilla then beat until combined.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (flours, baking powder, salt) and stir to mix together. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until a dough forms. Divide dough into two, wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Butter an 8-inch square baking pan (I used a metal cake pan).

On a floured surface, roll out one portion of the dough to ¼-inch thick. Trim to an 8-inch square and fit into the bottom of the pan. Spread the fig paste evenly over the dough. Roll out and trim other half of dough and place over top of figs, pressing into place. If the dough tears, don’t worry. Just mash it into place and try to seal up the cracks by pressing the dough back together. This will be the bottom of your bars, so it is OK if it is a little ugly.

Bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and then let cool completely in the pan. Turn out onto a cutting board and slice into bars.

This keeps well for several days at room temperature.