These Oatmeal Fig Cookies are made with a super chewy oatmeal cookie base bursting with crunchy pecans and sweet delicious dried figs. They’re full of amazing texture and flavor, and really are the best oatmeal cookies you will ever make!
While not your traditional oatmeal raisin cookies, I dare say that these oatmeal fig cookies are even better! They have crispy edges and are extremely chewy. If you aren’t a big fan of oatmeal cookies like I used to be, these will surely change your mind.
These chewy oatmeal fig cookies are adapted from Jessica Gavin’s Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies from Jessica’s cookbook. They are made with all brown sugar which contributes to their delicious chewiness.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- This fig cookie recipe is very easy to make, whether you have a stand mixer or not.
- The delicious cookies offer tons of flavor and texture: chewy, crunchy, crispy, nutty and with a hint of cinnamon.
- The recipe is versatile and you can make many different variations using different nuts and dried fruits, like these mango cookies or these pistachio cranberry cookies.
- Even if you’re not a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies, you may find yourself a convert after tasting these tasty chewy treats.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Butter – butter is obviously a good place to start when making cookies. I use unsalted butter in this recipe, it allows you to control the amount of salt added. If you need to, you can use salted butter, simply reduce the added salt by at least half.
- Sugar – brown sugar is used in these oatmeal cookies to give them their extreme chewiness. I use light brown sugar since it is a pantry stable for me. You can turn up the chewiness with dark brown sugar, or turn it down by substituting part granulated sugar.
- Egg – just one whole egg is used to bind everything together.
- Vanilla – pure vanilla extract enhances the flavor of these cookies and adds complexity.
- Flour – plain ole all-purpose flour will work for this recipe.
- Leavening agents – both baking powder and baking soda are used here. Baking soda will be activated by the acidity in brown sugar and baking powder will give additional lift in the oven.
- Salt – I use kosher salt for all of my recipes. If you’re using table salt, you will want to reduce the amount by half.
- Cinnamon – just a little bit of cinnamon is added in the cookie dough for a bit of extra complexity. You can turn it up or down depending on your preference. Readers have also tried other spices as well, like clove.
- Pecans – add a nutty flavor and a crunchy texture to these oatmeal fig cookies. Try walnuts if you don’t have pecans.
- Dried figs – as I mentioned earlier, instead of the classic raisins, I use dried figs in these oatmeal cookies. If you don’t have dried figs or don’t want to use figs, any dried fruits would work here. If you want to use fresh or frozen figs, I’ve compiled notes from readers who have tried it below in the FAQs section.
- Old fashioned rolled oats – is an obvious must for oatmeal cookies. Old-fashioned rolled oats will give that perfect chewiness and an oaty flavor to these fig cookies. I don’t recommend using quick cooking oats or steel cut oats as they will result in different texture. Quick cooking oats tend to be mushier and will likely disintegrate into the cookies without leaving a whole lot of texture while steel cut oats take longer to cook and will likely result in a much chewier texture.
Tools you may need
- A stand mixer or electric hand mixer will be handy to help you make the cookie dough. However, it is possible to make these cookies by hand.
- A kitchen scale will be useful for exact measurements.
- A large cookie scoop to divide the dough evenly.
How to make oatmeal fig cookies
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Cream together softened butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add egg and vanilla, and continue to beat for another 2 minutes until thoroughly combined and creamy.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and stir in the salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture and stir to form the cookie dough.
Add pecans, dried figs and rolled oats to the cookie dough and stir until evenly distributed.
Divide the cookie dough with a large (¼ cup) cookie scoop. Chill in the refrigerator and bake six cookies to a tray and one tray at a time.
Baker’s tips
- Chilling is recommended – while this cookie dough can be baked right away without needing to chill first, I recommend keeping the dough refrigerated at least while the oven is preheating or longer if you have time. Allowing the dough to rest is essential to flavor development and helping the cookies spread less in the oven.
- Don’t crowd the oven – always bake one tray at a time to ensure even cooking, especially if you’re baking in a conventional oven (not convection). This will give space for the hot air to circulate in the oven, minimizing hot spots.
- Rotating the baking sheet – while not 100% necessary, if you know your oven has hot spots, rotating the tray ⅔ of the way through baking will ensure more even browning of the cookies.
- Making the perfect oatmeal cookies – these cookies will spread, to make them round like these photos, you can use a spatula or a large round cookie cutter to reshape them right when they come out of the oven.
- Variations – feel free to use different dried fruits, nuts and spices to change up the flavors with the season or to your liking.
Storage
As with all homemade cookies, these oatmeal fig cookies taste best within 1 – 2 days. But they can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 – 5 days. To prevent the cookies from drying out, you can store a slice of bread in the container with the cookies.
You can freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months, but I prefer freezing the cookie dough instead. This way you can have warm freshly baked cookies anytime! Frozen cookie dough will last up to 6 months.
FAQs
I used Mission figs in these dried fig cookies but Turkish figs would work too.
I have not made these with fresh figs, though I suspect they may add too much moisture to the cookie dough. Some readers have come back to share their results using fresh figs. Here are their notes:
One reader substituted 1 cup of finely chopped fresh figs successfully. However, she also used Krusteaz gluten free flour blend, vegan butter and a flax egg. I suspected the gluten free flour substitution may have helped with the additional moisture.
Another reader cooked the fresh figs to reduce the water and caramelizing the sugar in the process. She used 1 cup of cooked figs with 1 stick of butter. Note that this is less butter than what the recipe called for, reducing the total amount of liquid ingredients.
You could also try to dry the figs yourself if you have a dehydrator, but I understand conventional ovens may not have a low enough setting for drying fruits and it would also take a very long time.
Along the same line with fresh figs, I think frozen figs will add even more moisture since frozen fruits release even more water when thawed. If you want to use frozen figs, I think cooking it down to reduce the water and making thick jam could work. Though you may still need to make some other modifications.
A stand mixer or an electric hand mixer will make the process easier but you can certainly make these oatmeal fig cookies by hand. The most labor intensive process is beating the wet ingredients until the mixture is well aerated.
Scoop the cookie dough into balls and freeze them solid on a baking tray first, then store them in a freezer bag, this way they won’t stick together.
You can bake the cookie dough straight from frozen, simply increase baking time by 1 minute.
Note that frozen dough balls will not spread as much. When you rotate the baking tray at the 10-minute mark, you may see that some of the dough balls haven’t spread at all. Don’t worry, by the end of the 16 minutes, they should spread out and flatten into cookies.
You can also thaw the dough first on the baking tray before putting them into the oven if you want, though not necessary.
More bakery style cookies
- Hawaiian Kitchen Sink Cookies
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
- Biscoff Butter Cookies
- Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hungry for more?
Oatmeal Fig Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, 170 g
- 1 ½ cup light brown sugar, 274 g, lightly packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 169 g
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup pecans, roasted and chopped, 114 g
- 1 cup chopped dried figs, 146 g
- 1 ¼ cup old fashioned rolled oats, 100 g
Instructions
- Toast the pecans in a skillet over medium heat for a few minutes until slightly toasty and fragrant. Roughly chop the nuts and add to a medium mixing bowl along with the rolled oats, and chopped dried figs. Stir together and set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir in the salt, and mix until evenly distributed. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, add softened butter and brown sugar, beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract, and continue beating until thoroughly combined and creamy, another 2 minutes.
- Lower the mixer speed to stir and slowly add the flour mixture, mix until just combined. Add the oat mixture and stir until evenly distributed. Give the mixture a final stir with a spatula, scraping the side and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
- Use a large (4 tablespoons) ice cream scoop to divide the dough into 16 dough balls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour, or at the very least while the oven is preheating.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place 6 cookie dough balls on a lined baking sheet about 2” apart, and bake one tray at a time for 15 minutes in the middle of the oven until the edges are golden brown but the center is still under-baked. Rotate the baking sheet at the 10 minute mark.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and immediately use a large round cookie cutter or a spatula to gather or push in the uneven edges to make the cookies rounder and more evenly shaped. This step is optional but it makes the cookies prettier since they do spread unevenly in the oven.
- Let the hot baking sheet cool on a wire rack for 5 – 10 minutes. Then remove the cookies from the baking sheet and place them on another wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Note that in this recipe softened butter is used, and not melted butter.
- Make sure to use old-fashioned rolled oats and not quick cooking oats or steel cut oats.
- Cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for 3 – 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Frozen cookie dough can be baked straight from the freezer, add 1 minute to the bake time.
- Store baked cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days along with a slice of sandwich bread to keep the cookies moist.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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OMG, I just made these….and they are truly heaven! Slightly crisp edges with a really chewy texture and buttery and slightly nutty flavor, combined with the oats and figs……AMAZING! These oatmeal cookies put your standard recipes to shame. SERIOUSLY! The only adjustment I had to make was the name time. I used 2 different types of cookie sheets, and one baked them about 2-3 minutes quicker. Not an issue for me, though, as I always monitor the things I cook and bake.
Thank you Linda! Always a good idea to watch your baked goods a couple mins before the listed time since ovens can run at slightly different temp too. But I’m so happy to hear how much you enjoy these!
This recipe was doomed as soon as I started. First off I bought the wrong oatmeal so I had to go back to Walmart and then my mixer would not start so I pulled out my food processor to beat the butter and sugar to find out it was broke also and now I had to use my hands. I only had walnuts so I use them instead of the pecans but to my surprise the cookies were amazing a
possibly my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe now my favorite cookie
Hi Angela, I’m glad to hear it turned out well even though you faced so many obstacles! 🙂
I made these and they were a HUGE hit! I used dark brown sugar and it was fantastic! Super chewy in the center and slightly crisp on the edges…a perfect cookie to me!
Thank you so much Dustin! I’m super happy to hear how much you enjoyed these cookies 🙂
I used very ripe fresh figs which I cooked down to reduce the water content and carmelizing the sugars. It was 1 cup cooked figs with 1 stick of butter and walnuts instead. They were a hit 🤗
Excellent Jane, such a great idea to cook down fresh figs when they are in season. Love it!
Hi – thanks for your recipe. I’ve used it as base and experimented with different nuts and fruit. I’ve made a few variations on your version:
1. I dont use sugar and use xlyitol instead, Only 60g (2oz?) but that may not suit everyone.
2. This of course does not result in a chewy cookie and also the sugar binds the cookie together so I add an extra egg white. I use the yolk for something else like hollandiase sauce.
3. I also use more butter about 250g (is that 9 oz?) that helps with the dryness as well
4. I don’t roast the nuts as they get roasted as part of the process of baking
5. I find that all cookie dough really benefits from time in the fridge. So after mixing I divide the dough into 2 logs and wrap in plastic wrap like a bonbon with twisted ends and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. I then slice with a bread knife (the serrated blade helps to cut through the nuts and dried fruit) into nice even portions and bake.
I have tried quite a few different nut/fruit combos: pistachio/hazelnuts/almonds/cranberry/raspberry/blueberry and they all have been great
Thanks for all the tips and modifications Anna. I hope others will find it helpful and I’m glad you enjoy these cookies. I do love all the variations, have you try dried mango and macadamia nuts version?
How well do they freeze? Baked and unbaked?
I usually don’t freeze baked cookies because it’s nicer to have freshly baked ones instead. These will freeze well unbaked, freeze them on a baking sheet first when you’re portioning them into balls, then once they’re solid, put them in a freezer bag all together is fine. Bake from frozen or put a few on a baking sheet and let them thaw while preheating the oven, they will need a couple more minutes when baked from frozen and one thing to note is they usually don’t spread as much when frozen but will taste just as good. But do not thaw them by just taking the bag out of the freezer, they will just stick together.
Perfect. I always freeze unbaked too. My freezer is full of different ones portioned ready to go for Christmas trays!
Was the best cookies I’ve made since my mother taught me!! Shared them with several people and they all loved them??? n that’s why I’m making them again??
Yay!! So glad you like them 🙂 and thanks for visiting!
I make hundreds of cookies for many families at Christmas time. I have never used a large ice cream scoop. I can’t imagine the size!!! So I used my usual scoop and got 33 cookies from the recipe 🤗. They are ssssoooo good. I will add them to my Christmas list.
Because they are smaller, I turned them after 8 minutes. And baked them for another 5 minutes. They are perfect and everyone will love something new! Thank you. I’ll be following you😊😊😊😊😊
Thank you so much Jeanne! I’m glad you found something new to add to your list 🙂
I was excited to try these cookies. They were very cold from the fridge to oven. Mine spread flat and over baked in 10 minutes. They turned out crispy, not chewy. Do not know what went wrong. They have a great flavor, if I can just get them to be chewy and lighter in color. I will try them at eight minutes, but do not know why they went flat.
Hmm… That’s strange that they over bake in 10 mins. How many did you have in a batch? If your cookies are smaller in size, they could cause them to overcook quickly. As for spreading flat:
1. Did you use new baking soda or old? Old ones lose their properties over time and cookies can spread flat.
2. Or possibly not enough leavening agent (either baking soda or baking powder) could also cause them to spread.
3. Maybe not enough flour to give them body? I use the measuring cup to scoop then level, no sifting or fluffing. Different ways of measuring can yield slightly different amount of flour.
4. Perhaps your oven temperature is slightly hotter? Try at a lower temperature next time. Bake a couple at 325F and see how those turn out, then adjust up or down as you see fit for the rest of the batch.
Can u use fresh figs and how many/ what amount?
I wouldn’t recommend fresh figs, they have a lot more moisture compared to dried figs and will completely change how the cookies bake up. Most likely, it will create mushy cookies as the moisture is released while baking unless you also change how much flour you add to the batter to compensate for this added moisture content. Without actually testing the recipe with fresh figs, I cannot say for sure what else you’ll need to change.
My daughter loved these cookies, but I did not quite follow the recipe. Here’s my answer in regards to using fresh figs: Yes, you can use fresh figs! We have a fig tree and had a surplus of figs I wanted to use. I actually looked up how to make dry figs from fresh figs and started to do that, boiling them and was going to dry out on a pan, but since the oven temperature did not go low enough and it would take so long to do it, I gave up on drying them. However, I did cook them first, which removed some moisture, plus added baby oatmeal (I think more flour might have been better than trying to use up expired baby oatmeal, but it didn’t make too big a difference, as my almost-four-year-old said they were delicious!) Sorry I do not know how many I used….must have been a few cups? And of course I cut/mashed them into small pieces first and added them to the butter and brown sugar, not in with the dry ingredients, beating them into the mixture better with the egg beater. Then my daughter decided she wanted to add chocolate, so we melted some Hersey’s Kisses in the microwave and also added some cocoa and hazelnut spread. So it’s not exactly the same recipe, as I said, but fresh figs worked!
Thanks for the detailed comment, Robyn!
Okay I tried on your recipe. An Chile I’m talk good. I’m about to TURNUP on the recipe to make it my own.
Thank you for sharing.
I tried the recipe, great taste! But mine came out puffy and dry, did I miss an ingredient? Thanks!
Oh no, it shouldn’t be too puffy or dry. These cookies are very chewy. Did you use brown sugar? Granulated sugar would dry it out since there’s no molasses. Or perhaps you added a bit more flour? If you add too much dry ingredients, it could dry out the batter also. If you refrigerate too long, it could seem puffy because the cookies wouldn’t spread as much. I’m not entirely sure, but if you try it again, let me know if I can help troubleshoot.
The figs look great in these, I’ll have to see if I can get some. I quite like oatmeal cookies but you’re right, those ones that get handed round the office are always off the mark somehow.
What about less brown sugar? How would that work? Or Any substitute for the brown sugar?
Hi Niki, the brown sugar contributes to the chewiness of the cookies. If you don’t have brown sugar, granulated will work to sweeten, but it will turn out less chewy.
Thank you!
You’re so welcome!
Love this recipe. Delicious soft cookies. This will be a favorite dessert.
Thank you, Reina! I’m so glad you love these oatmeal cookies, they sure are our fav too!