With the holidays around the corner, I am always looking for ways to get yummy food on the table that nourishes the body and the spirit. For me, that means incorporating lots of fruits and vegetables, taking help from the store when I can, and prepping things that I can use in multiple ways.
The recipes I have for you today are all sweet treats that will make a wonderful addition to your holiday table. When choosing a sweetener for desserts and candies, there are a multitude of options like granulated sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, and zero calorie sugar substitutes. While all of these will add sweetness to your dishes, they don’t usually bring many other nutrients, and none will supply any fiber. That’s why dates make an excellent option for sweetening your baked goods and candies.
Dates are the fruit of the date palm tree. They are considered a stone fruit and have a wonderful, sticky sweet texture and taste like caramel. Like all stone fruits, there is a pit inside that will need to be removed before eating. When shopping for dates, many brands will already have the pit removed so just check the label before eating. Not only do dates serve as an excellent way to sweeten food, they are packed with other nutritional benefits.
- Rich in polyphenols: Polyphenols are a type of antioxidant that can be helpful is reducing free radicals which may help with things like autoimmune disease and cardiovascular health.
- Packed with fiber: A serving of dates has about 7 grams of fiber which is about 25% of your daily recommended intake. Fiber is great for gut health, controlling cholesterol levels, and helping with weight maintenance.
- Low glycemic index (GI): While dates pack a sweet punch, they have a lower glycemic index than most sweeteners. Glycemic index refers to how quickly a food will raise blood sugar. Choosing sweeteners with a lower glycemic index leads to a slower more stable rise in blood sugar. Sweeteners like table sugar and honey have a GI of around 60. The GI of dates is on average 42.
The two most readily available varieties of dates are medjool and Deglet Noor. Medjool dates tend be larger, stickier, and sweeter than the Deglet Noor variety. They also may be a little harder to find or be more expensive depending on where you live and shop. Deglet Noor dates have a slightly firmer and less sweet taste and texture and can often be found in small portions in your local dollar store. The good news is that either version will work in all of today’s recipes.
One of my favorite ways to use dates is by making a big batch of date caramel. This item can pull double duty, by being a yummy dip for fruit or cookies and then being a sweet layer in an easy apple galette. Galette is just a fancy way of saying a “free-form” pie. Galettes look complicated but actually are incredibly easy, especially when taking help from the store with pre-prepared pie crust (although feel free to use your favorite homemade crust as well.
Date Caramel
15 dates, pitted
½ cup light coconut milk (canned)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Soak dates in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and add the drained dates, coconut milk, and vanilla to a blender. Puree until thick and smooth.
Apple Galette
3 large apples
1/2 cup plus 3 heaping tablespoons of date caramel
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons apple pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon milk of choice
1 prepared pie crust (not in a pie plate)
Slice apples into ¼ inch thick slices. Toss the apples with 3 tablespoons of date caramel, lemon juice, apple pie spice, vanilla extract, and cornstarch in a large bowl and set aside. Roll out pie crust and place on parchment lined baking tray. Spread the remaining ½ cup of date caramel over the pie crust leaving a 2-inch gap around the edge. Use a slotted spoon to remove the apples from bowl (avoiding excess liquid) and arrange in the center of the pie crust, leaving a 2-inch gap around the edge. Gently fold the edges of the pie crust over the outer portion of the apples. Work your way around the circumference of the pie. Place in the fridge to chill while the oven preheats to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from fridge and brush the milk over the edges of the crust to help with browning. Bake in the middle of the oven for 45-60 minutes. I recommend checking around 35-40 minutes into the baking process. You want the crust to be golden brown and the apples to be fork tender.
