Taya Starling

When I was little my mom loved Fig Newtons. You know, those grainy little cookies with fig filling? I couldn’t stand them. I still don’t eat them but I have developed a taste for figs, especially fresh figs. Sometimes I slice them up and gobble them down with Greek yogurt, granola, and a drizzle of honey. Other times when I’ve got a pinch of time & have friends over I like to make fig bites. They’re a perfect little mix of sweet & savory & take next to no time at all to whip up. Here’s what you’ll need:

Fresh figs of your liking

Goat cheese or ricotta 

Honey

Yup. That’s it. Pretty simple right? Okay so here’s what you do:

First wash and dry the figs. 

Set your oven to 300• 

On a cutting board, line up your figs. Then take a knife and cut just a bit past half way down from the top of a fig down the middle. Then make the same cut but across this time so essentially you’ve just cut a big X into the top of the fig. It should splay out a bit and that’s how you’re going to fill it. 

Scoop a bit of the cheese into the splayed fig and try to keep it all together by pressing the fig slices back in towards one another so the fig is giving the cheese a nice little hug. Do this with every fig so none of them feel left out. 

Place the filled figs standing up on a foil lined tray and pop them into the oven for about 10 minutes.

When they’re warmed & the cheese looks softer than usual, take them out and allow them to cool just a bit before you drizzle honey over them and serve with a smile (or a smirk if you feel extremely accomplished).