Healthy Fig Recipes

Sweet figs and a filling of tangy goat cheese give a surprising twist to these hearty breakfast muffins. Make a batch of these on the weekend and enjoy them for breakfast all week long. If you're not a fan of goat cheese, try them with cream cheese instead.

When the selection of fruit in the winter is lacking, poaching shelf-stable dried fruit in lemon-infused green tea creates a luscious fruit compote. Serve topped with low-fat plain yogurt and chopped pistachios for breakfast or dessert.

We love how the ground flax adds a nutty flavor and the brown sugar caramelizes on the outside of these thumbprint cookies. Fig preserves make this cookie special; other fruit preserves could be used as well.

Perfect for a lazy Sunday morning, these not-too-sweet grain-rich muffins have a surprise center “nugget” of gooey honey and figs, eliminating the need for jam or butter. Freeze leftovers for a midweek breakfast treat.

The early American yeast bread, anadama bread, made with molasses and cornmeal, inspired these delicious dinner rolls. We think the sweet figs and floral aniseeds enhance the rich molasses flavor and make the rolls extra festive. Any type of cornmeal works in this recipe, but we especially like how stone-ground cornmeal looks on top of the rolls.

Sweet figs, creamy ricotta and crunchy almonds make this healthy oatmeal recipe a breakfast treat. Short on time in the morning? Try our overnight oatmeal variation.

Vanilla-infused ricotta cheese is the perfect foil for saucy poached figs.

These savory black-pepper-and-fig-flecked biscotti are perfect for cocktail parties--just spread with softened goat cheese and serve with glasses of Sauvignon Blanc.

This dish showcases how deliciously pork complements the sweet and tart tastes of fruit.

Each of these bite-size savory treats has a bit of dried fruit tucked inside for a slightly sweet surprise. They make wonderful holiday gifts as well as elegant little hors d'oeuvres.

Not your Irish grandmother's stew, this version was inspired by ingredients commonly used in the south of France: figs, green olives and herbes de Provence. To shorten the cooking time, we use ground lamb instead of lamb stew meat. Serve with toasted focaccia and a tossed salad.

Better than their store-bought cousins, these bars have a richly flavored fig filling, with a little bit of crispness to the crust.

This tangy yogurt cheesecake is topped with ouzo-poached figs inspired by sikomaida, a traditional delicacy from Corfu made with dried figs macerated and kneaded with ouzo and pepper, which are formed into disks and dried in chestnut leaves. It's also delicious with seasonal fruits, fresh or dried and poached, or with whole preserves.

Pecans are ground into a nut butter, which forms the base of these wholesome treats. Baking these scaled-down snacks in mini muffin pans is a good way to control portion size. If you do not have a mini muffin pan, spread the batter in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish (coated with cooking spray) and bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan, then cut into 24 squares.

In this healthy cheese toast recipe, crusty bread is topped with a touch of sweet jam, salty blue cheese and crunchy nuts for a perfect soup pairing or an easy snack.

Fresh figs, blue cheese and a drizzle of honey top toasted baguette slices for a magical, flavorful combination in this easy appetizer recipe. Look for fresh figs May through December in well-stocked supermarkets and specialty-foods stores.

For this celebratory tart recipe, a smooth, creamy, lemon-scented Greek yogurt filling, adorned with a ring of dried figs, is layered on a bed of honey-sweetened polenta. Real, Italian-style polenta is made from medium- or coarse-ground whole-grain cornmeal. Products labeled polenta, medium-ground cornmeal and corn grits (not instant) can be used interchangeably in this recipe

Orange zest, aniseed and allspice, along with honey, lend this full-bodied fruit bread an intriguing flavor. The medley of three dried fruits gives it a chewy texture, eye-catching color and healthful fiber. For a festive look, the bread is baked in a tube pan: a 10-cup Bundt, Kugelhopf or other pan with a center tube and decorative shape is ideal. This bread is nice as a snack or, when drizzled with the sugar glaze, as a dessert or fine companion to tea. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

Here we pair a luscious strawberry-fig sauce with grilled duck for a simple yet elegant main dish. Serve with rice pilaf and grilled vegetables.

Cook the figs in this compote down until they can be spread with a knife or spoon. The compote is equally delicious as a condiment on a cheese plate, as an accompaniment for roast pork or as a spread on toast. If you're giving this as a gift, include a card with serving suggestions.