I can’t get enough of these oatmeal fig cookies! Like most cookies, they are super quick to make. You don’t even need to let the dough rest in the fridge! They are my go-to crumbly crispy cookies when I want to eat something sweet that isn’t overly sweet. This is a well-balanced cookie, my friends!
In one bite, you’ll get a nice crunch from the peanuts and seeds, a hint of honey and cinnamon, and chunks of chewy figs. They taste even better the day after! I love munching on them when I’m reading, with a cup of coffee on the side. Following the lockdown, I became a much more diligent reader. Maybe this year I can finally finish my Goodreads challenge! The silver lining, am I right?
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🧾 Ingredients
My oatmeal fig cookies are a re-creation of shop-bought cookies I used to buy in Turkey. I know that they came in a purple wrapping but for the life of me, I can’t remember their name. They would be next to impossible to find in France anyway so I had to create my own version!
- dried figs: I prefer semi-dried figs as they are more tender and plump. If you can’t find semi-dried figs, look for dried figs with yellow skin that are still a bit soft to the touch. As I married someone from Izmir, I feel obliged to say that Turkish dried figs, also called Smyrna figs, are the best.
- peanuts: Finely chop the peanuts! It will then be easier to incorporate them into the dough. Smaller pieces will also prevent the shaped oatmeal fig cookies from breaking when you transfer them to the baking tray.
- flour: I used to make these cookies with 1 cup of all-purpose flour + ¼ cup of wholemeal flour. The wholemeal flour was a delicious addition and made the cookies taste more like the ones I was trying to recreate. However it also tends to give me heartburn so now only I make these oatmeal fig cookies with all-purpose flour. Everybody is different though, so you’d probably be fine with the wholemeal flour!

📋 Step by step
This is a really fast recipe! You don’t need to let the butter soften to room temperature or refrigerate the dough, so the cookies can be out of your oven in half an hour. As for most cookie recipes, all you have to do is to stir a few ingredients together. Easy-peasy!

Melt the butter over low heat. Whisk the melted butter, sugar and honey together in a mixing bowl. Stir in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Shape the cookies, place them on a baking sheet and bake.
💭 Top tips
- crispy cookies: To get crispy cookies it’s important to use granulated sugar, rather than brown sugar. Brown sugar is moister due to its molasses content and will make your cookies chewy. You should also avoid anything that would soften your cookies (like eggs). For crispy cookies, the butter should be melted instead of creamed with the sugar. This way you don’t incorporate air into your dough, so the oatmeal fig cookies will spread more quickly. Thinner cookies make for crispier cookies.
- making the dough in advance: Put the shaped cookies on a baking tray, and then you can either:
→ cover the tray with plastic wrap and put the tray in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking. Or,
→ put the tray in the freezer. Wait until the oatmeal fig cookies are frozen and then put them into a sealable freezer bag. You can keep the raw cookies in the bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. There is no need to thaw them as they can be baked from frozen but add 2 min onto the bake time.
In both cases, the raw cookies will be cold so they won’t spread as much in the oven and you will get chewier cookies. If you want crispy oatmeal fig cookies, let them come to room temperature on a lined tray before baking.


Oatmeal fig cookies
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 10 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Fusion
Description
These delicious and crispy oatmeal fig cookies are crumbly, buttery and full of good stuff. The dough doesn’t need to be refrigerated, so they can be out of your oven in 35 min!
Ingredients
- 140g butter (5 oz)
- 65g granulated sugar (⅓ cup)
- 1 tbsp honey
- 175g all-purpose flour (1 ¼ cups), sifted
- 5g baking powder (1 ¼ tsp)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of fine sea salt
- 6 semi-dried figs, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp unsalted peanuts, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp rolled oats
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
Instructions
- Melt the butter. Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F). Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Cut the butter into several big chunks. Place them in a heavy-based saucepan and cook over low heat until the butter is melted. Swirl the pan occasionally and remove it from the heat as soon as the butter is melted.
- Make the dough. Pour the sugar and honey in a large mixing bowl. Add the melted butter and whisk together until combined. In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add to the butter mixture and mix well with a spatula to form a stiff dough. Fold in the chopped figs, peanuts, rolled oats and seeds.
- Shape and bake. Roll the dough into equal size balls (around 1 heaped tbsp of cookie dough per cookie). Flatten them with your palms and place on the baking tray. They should be around 7.5 cm (3 in) wide and 1 cm (0.4 inch) thick. Bake for 10 to 11 min. The cookies will be golden brown and have darker edges. Take out of the oven. Let them rest and harden for 15 min on the tray before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely before eating.
Notes
These oatmeal fig cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. I think their flavors actually get better over time!
I haven’t tried it but I think 55g (⅓ cup) of finely chopped semi-sweet baking chocolate (or chips) would be a great addition to the dough!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 231
Keywords: quickest cookie recipe, fast oatmeal cookies, fast cookies, crispy oatmeal cookies, crunchy cookie
Are you in the mood to bake more cookies? Here are some of my favorite recipes:
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