Honey Baked Figs with Cinnamon and Almonds

I didn't realise how big a sweet tooth i have until quite recently, i guess until i started blogging and started talking to you so much. Truth is i do have a huge sweet tooth. While I love my chocolate desserts very much, i am not picky at all. I don't think i would ever refuse any kind of sweet you want to offer me. Unless i am on a self imposed sweets ban that is, like i was for two months in 2008 when i found out i had gained too many kilos in too few preceding months. (so many in fact that unsuspecting colleagues with whom i only made polite conversation were telling me i look fat!) And as far as i recall, it was a while ago, that restriction was only that i should not buy any more sweets for myself. Which means i gladly ate a piece of cake at work, one that was brought to celebrate my boss' 50th birthday - it would have been rude not to, right? After all the man rarely spoke in office and had just confessed that he had spent more than half his life in that same company. One had to raise a toast (i mean eat cake) to this man's commitment i say, whether you were on a self-imposed sweets ban or not.

So you see, i will always find an excuse to eat sweets. And on days like now when there is no restriction, i don't find it easy to show restraint. My best bet is to find desserts that are light, that are okay to have second and third helpings of and you can't easily convince me that fresh fruit is dessert. My junk food loving brain simply won't accept it. You have to do something to that fruit to make me willingly ask for it, cook it, bake it, juice it, jam it, something, anything. There's always fresh fruit at home because that's the dessert the husband prefers. So when i found some fresh figs in the Hypercity supermarket in Hyderabad, i picked up a pack. Fresh, washed, cold figs were served to the husband after dinner, warm figs baked in honey with cinnamon and almonds were served to me, by ummmmm me. Here's what i did to those figs.

Inspired from here
Ingredients

• 5-6 fresh figs
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
  

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Wash the figs and pat dry. Cut off the stems and make perpendicular cuts in each fig without cutting all the way through. See third and fourth pictures above. Arrange the figs in a single layer in a baking dish. Now on each fig pour about a teaspoon of honey, sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon powder and some slivered/sliced almonds. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. I took them out in 18 minutes. The figs will go soft and open up like a flower and the cinnamon will bring a delicious aroma. I have read that these taste good with mascarpone cheese.

But since i am linking this to Priya's event called 'fast food not fat food' being hosted by Archana, i have to tell you that this dessert tastes delicious without any fatty add-ons and has no sugar either.  
Also linking this to Smitha's event 'Healthy Cooking Challenge: Healthy Bakes' being hosted by Priya.  
Linking this to Sobha's Just 4 fun event at Good Food.