Healthy Fig Recipes

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

Forget the fork! Just pick up one of these fruit-filled pastries and bite in. Perfect for a brunch gathering, dessert, or a sweet treat with your afternoon tea.

Earthy mushrooms, fruity figs and fresh rosemary are a lovely combination in the sauce on this class roast beef entrée. It pairs nicely with roasted vegetables and has under 250 calories per serving.

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.

Grilling coaxes sweet-savory depth from endive and red onion in this delicious vegetarian side dish. Fresh figs lend a bright, jammy acidity in the summer, but don't hesitate to use dried come winter. Leave the root ends attached when trimming your onions and endive, so they hold together and don't slip through the grill grates. Serve as a salad, or eat alongside grilled chicken, steak, salmon, seared scallops or whole roasted fish.

You can serve these cake-like lemon-scented, fruit-packed whole-grain muffins for dessert or brunch.

The combination of figs, pineapple, coconut and curry gives this salsa a pleasing sweet and spicy taste that pairs well with full-flavored entrees, such as broiled seafood, pan-seared shrimp, barbecued pork or lamb.

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

This gluten-free dressing (or stuffing, if you prefer) leans on a blend of brown and wild rice for a complex nutty flavor. Look for dried Mission figs in the bulk aisle or with the packaged dried fruit in your grocery store. You can swap in dried cherries or cranberries if you can't find dried figs.

Baked figs, warm from the oven, make a heavenly dessert with cool yogurt cream and juicy late-harvest raspberries.

Snacking shouldn't be complicated--it can be as simple as a few dried figs and some heart-healthy almonds.

Drizzle these twice-baked fig biscotti with white chocolate for added sweetness.

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.

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.

Mascarpone is a rich, creamy Italian cheese with a very high fat content. A little goes a long way, so just a small amount is needed in the stuffing for this fig dessert recipe.

Brew some of your favorite tea and pause to enjoy this cherry-fig quick bread.

These Sicilian Christmas cookies are filled with dried fruit and almonds.

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.

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.

Zabaglione is a rich Italian dessert custard made with eggs, sugar and sweet Italian Marsala wine. This recipe uses low-fat dairy products to keep the calories and fat down.

Ready in just 10 minutes, these figs in an orange-cinnamon sauce are a refreshing treat.

Gorgonzola cheese meets dried figs poached in port. The result: a thoroughly elegant holiday appetizer.

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.

These muffins are the perfect start to any day.