A healthier take on frozen fudgsicles

So you may have seen my Instagram and Facebook posts about eating dates to help reduce the need for labour augmentation with oxytocin. Maybe you thought “That’s neat and would be helpful, but I don’t really eat dates”, or “How the heck can I incorporate dates into my diet?”. I hear you. Dates are not an overly popular food in Canada, although they seem to be more readily available as of late. The beauty of dates is that they pack a nutritional punch, but are also naturally sweet. They can be a great replacement for refined sugar in the right recipe.

Besides their natural sweetness, dates are full of fiber and several vitamins and minerals (calcium, magnesium, iron). The natural sugars will help give you an energy boost and the fiber will help to keep your digestive tract in order. The minerals are great for bone maintenance and help to replace any minerals taken from a mother’s bones to give to her growing baby.

Only 5 ingredients are needed for these delicious treats.

When I came across this recipe from Paleo Boss Lady V Capaldi, I just knew I had to give it a try. It’s a healthier take on the popular frozen fudgsicle treats. I was completely skeptical and just *knew* they wouldn’t taste like the chocolately fudgsicles I ate as a kid. To be honest, I often find that “healthy” recipes try to taste the exact same as the non-healthy food they are trying to imitate. This often sets a recipe up for disappointment. To me, if you use different ingredients then the end result will not and cannot be the same. This is the same for this recipe; however, the taste is so remarkably similar (from what I remember of fudgsicles when I was younger), that I was completely shocked. And the fact that my husband (who does not have a sweet tooth like me) has asked me several times to make these tells me they must be delicious. Win.

All of the ingredients conveniently fit into my single serve cup for my Ninja blender. No other bowls are needed!

So creamy, smooth and chocolatey! It’s hard not to just drink the liquid!

Now, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that just because the ingredients are all mostly healthy that you can eat as many of these as you want. Dates are naturally high in sugar, so they will spike your blood sugar. The difference between the sugar from dates and refined sugar in processed foods is that the fiber in the dates helps to regulate the blood sugar spike. So, if you’re craving a sweet treat on one of these hot summer days/nights, then these make for a perfect option. They would also be great for a potluck or BBQ if you have some way to keep them frozen.

Before freezing. These silicone liners make for easy removal of the frozen fudge and there is no fuss with trying to cut them.

And want to know the real truth? Henry (who is now almost TWO years old!) has no idea these exist. For real. They are hidden in the freezer and we only eat them when he is in bed. Part of me wonders if I’m being too rigid, but then I remember he will have plenty of opportunities for exploring the world of sweet treats when he gets older, especially when he goes to school. Don’t think he hasn’t had treats or refined sugar either! He has, but we tend to keep those things to a bare minimum. He’s young enough to not know the difference – for now.

♥ Erin

Frozen Fudge Treats

Recipe adapted from Paleo Boss Lady V Capaldi

 Prep time:     10 mins

Total time:    1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 can organic, full fat coconut milk
• 5 Medjool dates, softened and pitted
• 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp vanilla
• Pinch of sea salt
• Cacao nibs (optional)

Place all ingredients except the cacao nibs in a high power blender. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth. Poor into lined muffin tins, popsicle molds or into an 8×8 pan (to cut into squares once frozen). Top with cacao nibs (optional). Freeze for at least one hour. Enjoy!