Dark Chocolate & Fig Bites (No Bake)

I was chatting with Real Food Freaks about what to do with some dried figs I'd acquired - 3 lbs to be exact.  And though, the holidays are not an ideal time to experiment with new recipes, I thought there had to be a way to make these into a treat.  They suggested something similar to a recipe they were working on: Chocolate Covered Candied Orange (with date variation).

So, of course, I went blindly into a brand new recipe with very little input.  I was actually pleasantly surprised and it did end up turning out to be one of those recipes that gives a person "taste bud confusion" especially if you're not into dried figs or raisins.  You think you're not going to like this recipe, but it ends up being something I keep going back to "just to make sure."

In the future, I will definitely soak the figs longer and add lots of nuts to this recipe.  But, here was my kitchen science experiment for this holiday season. Trust me, one is enough!

I rinsed my 3 lbs of dried figs and combined them in a bowl with about 1/2 c. of brown sugar and 1 c. water.  I let them set about 5-8 minutes while I melted 2 bags of dark chocolate chips over low heat with about a 1/2 c. Virgin Coconut Oil.

This picture leaves much to be desired, however I combined the chocolate mixture & the fig mixture and spread it over two cookie sheets covered in parchment paper.  I promptly put them in the fridge and let them set up.

Cut into small chunks, they are a great addition to holiday assortments I'll be giving out this year!