Sunday, April 29, 2012

Butterscotch Figgy Bites


Some of my favorite recipes have been developed on the fly.  Combine a little of this with a little of that and often the result is something quite delicious.  That's what happened when I made these Butterscotch Figgy Bites.  I usually don't keep desserts in the house unless we're having company, but Jon was in the mood for something sweet.  So I stared at the pantry shelves for a minute until some promising ingredients revealed themselves to me: figs, butterscotch chips, and bran cereal flakes.  I never combined figs with butterscotch before but somehow I thought their flavors would be wonderful match.  And they really are.

Into the food processor went about 1 1/2 cups of figs (just cut off the hard tips).  The first time I made these I used kalmyra, this time I used mission.  The figs should be dried (as opposed to fresh) but moist, not all dried out. To the figs I added about 1/2 to 3/4 cup vegan butterscotch chips (the Food Lion store brand is vegan, although there may be other vegan brands available).  To hold it all together I added about 3/4 to 1 cup of ready-to-eat bran cereal flakes.  I processed the ingredients until everything was well chopped and would hold together when pressed.

When I made these the first time, I pressed the mixture into an 8-inch baking pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  For this batch, I pressed them into a mini muffin tin (also sprayed with cooking spray).  They could actually be eaten as is but I think the flavor is better if you bake them for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  The baking lets the butterscotch chips melt a bit and allows the flavors to combine.

For only containing three ingredients, these little bites are extremely rich-tasting with a great depth of flavor. If you can't find butterscotch chips, they might be good made with chocolate chips, but I haven't tested out that theory yet.  If you try them (with either butterscotch or chocolate chips), let me know what you think. 

 P.S. Yes, that's a glimpse of this year's lilacs in the photo.  They bloomed a full month earlier than usual and are now almost gone, when normally they'd just be starting to bloom!




8 comments:

  1. Thanks, Alessandra. They really are quite yummy -- and easy to make, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't find vegan butterscotch chips anywhere -- even online. Every lead turns into a dead end. But I'll keep looking, as the recipes you've created with them (including in one of your books that I have) look great!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eve, If you don't have a Food Lion in your area, you can order them online from Vegan Essentials. Here's the link: http://store.veganessentials.com/vegan-butterscotch-baking-chips-by-liebers-p3422.aspx

    (They're not a healthy ingredient by any stretch, but once in awhile they do made a fun addition to dessert recipes.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have some vegan white chocolate chips and I will have to see how they work since we don't have a Food Lion nearby. I'll let you know how they turn out.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's great, Linda. Can't wait to hear how they turn out with white chocolate!

    ReplyDelete
  6. but in addition require you to submit a bill to your insurance supplier before you are reimbursed. Malaysia Insurance

    ReplyDelete

I'd like to hear your comments What do you think?.