Candy junkies looking for a healthier stash have reason to rejoice – and it’s not because of another brightly colored package hitting the shelves. Instead, the source of this sweet party is none other than the oldest known fruit: the date.

Nature’s candy: Known as “nature’s candy” by farmers and consumers alike, fresh dates are soft and smooth, and offer a caramel-like intense sweetness. There are many different types of dates — each with ranging sweetness and softness. The sweetest, juiciest (and most popular) dates include the Medjool, Zahidi and Honey Date varieties. Meanwhile, drier dates like the Deglet Noor are often ground into a paste and used as an ingredient in commercial goods.

The dating process: When first picked, dates look similar to very large yellow grapes on a vine. They are exceptionally hard and crunchy and similar to sugar cane, with high tannins that immediately dry out the mouth. Recently, at a local farmers’ market in Southern California, I had the privilege of trying fresh-off-the-vine yellow dates. I found them rather inedible at this stage, but it’s at this crunchy point in time that farmers will often harvest the fruit from the date palm trees.

Dates waiting to ripen

Next, the dates are laid out in the warm sun for a few weeks to fully ripen. The wait is patient, but the transformation is incredible. Once hard and uninviting, the dates turn brown and wrinkly, developing into the softest, most wonderful gems of sweetness — each with a smooth caramel-like flesh and sweet syrupy nectar, protected by a delicate skin.

Prime energy: Dates provide instant energy in the form of glucose, and are one of the best natural sources of potassium – containing up to three times more potassium than bananas (when compared ounce per ounce). They are full of dietary fiber, along with iron, vitamin A, magnesium and may B vitamins as well. And of course, a handful of dates equal a serving of fruit!

Sweet diet: With the highest natural sugar content of any fruit, dates make a fantastic sweetener. Easily peel dates in half to pit them, and enjoy plain, mixed with nuts, or pressed into a paste for unlimited applications. I use pressed dates frequently as a natural sweetener in my healthy dessert recipes to replace the empty calories of sugar.

Date tips: The way to test a date’s freshness is by its moisture level. Generally speaking, a fresh date is soft, while an un-fresh date is dry. Dry dates can be soaked in water for 10 minutes to restore a bit of juiciness. If fresh dates are unavailable, avoid the mediocrity of dry dates and experience fresh dates in their full glory through ordering them directly from farmers online. Dates should be stored in the refrigerator, where they can be kept for months at a time.

At least that was the plan.

The slugs ate the dill, the oregano never grew, the cilantro disappeared (in all seriousness… where did it go?), and we’ll just refer to the parsley as “pre-dried.”

On the other hand, the mint is practically taking over the entire garden. So in the spirit of making lemonade out of lemons, I thought it might be a good idea to make chocolate mint ice cream sandwiches out of mint. With off-the-charts levels of cool vibrant flavor, this is a recipe I’m going to be making as much as possible.

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Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Another persuasive example of junk food without all of the junk. Luxurious and decadent, yet full of living whole foods, this innovative recipe is loaded with essential minerals and healthy fats.

INGREDIENTS:

(For the ice cream):
½ cup hemp milk, almond milk, or other non-dairy milk beverage
2 frozen bananas
½ medium-sized Hass avocado
2 Tbsp agave nectar
½ tsp peppermint extract
1 Tbsp minced fresh mint
several drops of liquid chlorophyll (optional – enhances green color)

(For the cookie):
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
1 cup almond flour (ground almonds)
8 dates
¼ cup agave nectar
1/3 cup raw cacao nibs, plus a little extra for rolling

DIRECTIONS:

Blend: In a blender, combine non-dairy milk of choice, bananas, avocado, agave nectar, mint extract and fresh mint. Blend until smooth. Stir in liquid chlorophyll if desired. Transfer to a small bowl.

Freeze: Freeze the ice cream for 1-2 hours.

Mash: Combine all of the cookie ingredients in a food processor, and process until thoroughly chopped. Form “dough” into two even halves.

Assemble: Use a muffin tin, and line 6 of the muffin molds individually with saran wrap or tin foil. Sprinkle lightly with cacao nibs. Using one of the cookie dough halves, place a spooful of dough evenly into the bottom of 6 the lined and “nibbed” muffin molds. Press firmly to form a “cookie.” Next, fill each of the molds evenly with the partially frozen ice cream. Line an empty muffin mold with saran wrap, and use to form 6 more cookies from the second half of the cookie dough, sprinkling with cacao nibs prior to pressing each time. Top each mint ice cream with a cookie to form a sandwich.

Freeze: Freeze sandwiches for 2 more hours. To serve, simply remove ice cream sandwiches from the saran wrap or aluminum foil and serve whole or sliced, if desired. If wrapped tightly, these sandwiches can keep in the freezer indefinitely for future enjoyment.

Makes 6 sandwiches.

Raw, vegan, & gluten-free

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