ice cream stuffed dates

hi!!!! it's been a second <3 here's my dream dessert

Hi everyone!!! I know, I know, I didn’t publish my usual letters last week and I’m sorry!!! I felt a void in my soul. Truthfully, I was coming back from spending some time at home with my family in California and immediately got thrown into life and work in New York which is always a bit jarring and kind of a tough transition for me.

I’ve been working on some stuff for my show On The Menu (which if you are not subscribed to on YouTube and following the show on IG, I will literally sprint to your inbox to thank you for doing so, it helps me so much and I appreciate it beyond) - and that’s been taking up a lot of my time. All this to say, I’m happy to be back in New York, and excited for the fall - I think it’s going to be a good one! I hope you’re all doing well and taking care of yourselves <3

I thought I’d pop in to your inbox with a super simple mid-week recipe for Ice Cream Stuffed Dates - specifically, Coffee Cardamom Almond Crunch Ice Cream Stuffed Dates! You can see why I shortened the name.

This recipe is one of the best I’ve ever written, mostly because it combines two of my favorite things in the entire world - dates (non-romantic) and ice cream (coffee, specifically). My parents would exclusively eat coffee ice cream when I was growing up, so the apple doesn’t fall far.

What I love the most about this recipe is that it’s simple to make, made with healthy ingredients, and customizable to your liking. Of course, you can use vanilla ice cream. Sure, you can use strawberry. Chocolate? Go for it! The textural satisfaction will remain - a chewy exterior coated in chocolate, topped with flaky sea salt and a crunch — filled with creamy, cold, smooth ice cream. There are few things better, especially when it’s summer, and especially when it’s hot out.

I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! I’ll see you on Friday for another letter - back on regular scheduled programming!

Big hugs

Samah

Recipe

coffee cardamom crunch - ice cream stuffed dates

Ingredients
6 medjool dates
1/4 cup creamy almond butter
1/4 cup roasted, salted almonds, plus extra crushed for topping
Vegan coffee ice cream
Ground cardamom

1 tbsp coconut oil
Flaky salt

method
Pit the dates and place them on a parchment lined quarter sheet.

Spread about 1 tsp of almond butter into each of the pitted dates, ensure not to overfill. Press in about 1/2 tsp of crushed almonds. Spoon the coffee ice cream on top, ensuring it sits right on top of the almonds and doesn’t overflow onto the sides of the dates. Dust the ice cream with ground cardamom. Repeat with the remaining dates and freeze for 1 hour.

While the dates are freezing, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil together in the microwave in 15 second increments, stirring between intervals until the chocolate is smooth and glossy. Remove the dates from the freezer and dip each date into the melted chocolate, taking it for a swim, ensuring it’s fully enrobed. Let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl and immediately transfer to a pan and sprinkle with crushed almonds & flaky slat before the chocolate hardens (work quickly)!

Place back into the freezer for about 30 minutes. Remove, let thaw for a minute or so, and enjoy!!

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