Update: this post was originally published in August of 2016 and is still one of our top favorite recipes on this site to date! Check out this (stupid tbh) story about figs below, and try out the recipe for breakfast! If figs are not in season when you're reading this, a great substitute would be any stone fruit (peaches, plums, etc).

This week has been a huge week for figs, at least in my brain, which generally is filled with food anyway, but never so obsessively specific to one variety quite like it has been the last few days. First off there was this amazing New Yorker article about them that taught me a fig is actually an "enclosed flower that blooms modestly inward," which 1. who knew that was a thing, and 2. kind of sounds like the blurb on my résumé.

Shortly thereafter, Beau and I went through what would go down in history as the worst fig crisis to ever hit our household. We're calling it #Figmergency2016. Beau used that hashtag in our last post, the one about stone fruit tarts, and if you take a look at that, you can get a small idea of just how crazy my boyfriend got about tracking down figs to be used in today's recipe, but I want to take a moment to fully explain to you that nobody in the history of the world has ever displayed so much emotion over locating figs. If Fox were to go missing, I honestly would have expected a smaller reaction than what we got over these god damn figs.

They're supposed to be in season right now, so we didn't think for a second that we wouldn't be able to find them at our normal grocery store, but apparently there was some kind of delivery mistake that week. Okay, no problem. So Beau heads to work, and I'm tasked with getting figs elsewhere. Come to find out no grocery stores in our immediate area are currently carrying figs, so I text Beau that we should maybe choose another fruit to use with our overnight oats in place of the figs, and I honestly might as well have suggested we join ISIS because he did not like that suggestion one bit.

Among the two of us and our bff Morgan we can think of three fig trees that are in our neighborhood. I drive slowly by the first one, park about a block away, and nonchalantly stroll past it with my backpack unzipped, ready to swiftly grab the figs and sprint back to the car. This whole time, Beau and Morgan are texting our group message chain--Morgan gives me helpful leads, and Beau just keeps communicating exclusively in dramatic fig puns “figmergency, figtastrophe, figsaster.” I don’t want anyone to think this is normal behavior for Beau--this was extreme. He says he needs 10-15 figs, so I’m hoping to get at least 7 from the first one, which is the biggest of the three fig trees we know of, but as I slow my pace to “just fast enough that the nursing home employee on cigarette break doesn’t think I’m a vandal” speed, it’s clear this tree is empty. Thanks to “figging neighborhood thieves,” as Beau put it. You see where this is going? Neither of the other trees were any good either, and I’m starting to fear for my boyfriend’s sanity.

Thank whatever-you-call-the-higher-power for moms, though, because Beau’s mom is apparently a master fig finder and just seemed to immediately have some on hand the very second Beau thought to ask her for ideas. So she’s almost solely to thank for this recipe, this post, and possibly for the continued existence of this whole blog situation we have, because dang did it get dark there for a second. At the end of the day, the who fig-asco was definitely worth the trouble--these overnight oats are incredibly delicious (I’m having some for breakfast as I write this) and I honestly can’t imagine this breakfast with any other fruit! I’m giving Beau some huge props between shovel-sized bites, because dang, this recipe just has like every single thing I could possibly hope for: tahini, almond milk, figs, and some cinnamon maple syrup from cute af bb boy Casey at Bushwick Kitchen. I’ve literally seen the face of God and it is just a spoon with a bite of this stuff in it, and I ain’t mad about it. Recipe below, y’all!

Maple Fig + Tahini Overnight Oats

prep time: 5 minutes // inactive prep: 6 - 8 hours // makes 1

3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1-2 tablespoons maple syrup (we used Buschwick Kitchen's Cinnamon Maple)
2 tablespoons tahini + more for garnish (we used Seed & Mill)
2 - 3 super ripe figs, chopped + more for garnish
Pinch of salt
1 (16 oz) Mason Jar with lid

We made an instructional recipe video set to "Come and Get It" by Selena Gomez you can watch here, or check out the written list below!

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar in this order: oats, almond milk, maple syrup to taste, tahini, pinch of salt, *stir really well*, fold in figs. Put a lid on it and refrigerate overnight or for 6 - 8 hours. Remove from fridge, top with more figs and tahini if desired and eat that shit UP.

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Maple + Fig + Tahini Overnight Oats