Too Many Dates At Home? Try Including Them In These 5 Delicious Dessert & Snack Recipes
Dates are the easiest food to give away in Ramadan, which means more often than not, you’ll end up with more than you can eat.
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Dates are no stranger to Ramadan. As it is a fruit that our prophet likes, it’s sunnah for Muslims to break their fasts with a few dates before eating anything else.
READ MORE: This Is Why Everyone Eats Dates During Fasting Month
So, most Muslim households would definitely have dates. Some, more than others. So what do you do with them if you have too many dates?
Well here are some simple dessert and snack recipes for you to use up all those dates!
Here we go:
1. Oat Date Milkshake
This is a recipe shared by Khairulaming in 2020 for his Sahur series. It’s a good and filling drink to have during sahur that could last you for quite a while.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of oats
- 1 cup of fresh milk
- 4 – 5 dates
- 1 cup of water
- 1 banana (optional)
- A spoonful of Nutella (optional)
Steps:
- Soak the oats in a cup of milk and the dates in a cup of water overnight in the fridge.
- Blend both mixtures in a blender the next morning.
- Add in bananas or Nutella to make it sweeter.
- You can also add ice to make it an ice blended.
Here’s a video by Khairulaming to illustrate the steps in making this energizing dessert.
2. Date Pudding
If you want a simple and quick date dessert, you can try this type of dessert. But you’ll need a food steamer. The texture is a bit like a concentrated pudding.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of dates without the dates
- 2 cups of coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
- A pinch of salt
- 2 pandan leaves
Steps:
- Mix the ingredients together and carefully whisk them.
- Sieve the mixture to remove clumps.
- Steam it in a preheated steamer for 15 minutes.
- It can be served hot or cold.
Here’s a tutorial for you.
3. Date Fritters
In Malaysia, we have a ton of fritters from Cucur Udang (prawn fritters) and Cucur Ikan Bilis (anchovy fritter) to Cekodok (banana fritters) and Cucur Jagung (corn fritters). This Ramadan, let’s get more creative with Cucur Kurma or Date Fritters.
Ingredients:
- 10 -15 dates (according to liking)
- 2 cups of wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon of rice flour
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of yeast
- 1 & 1/2 cups of warm water
Steps:
- Cut the dates into tiny pieces. You can soak them first overnight or for a few hours to make them softer.
- Put them in a bowl with all of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Fry them in hot oil using a spoon to drop the batter scoop by scoop.
4. Date Bread Pudding
If you love bread pudding with custard sauce, you can add dates to diversify the sweet fragrant taste. It’s perfect for a dessert after dinner or after tarawih prayers (more).
Ingredients for pudding:
- 5-7 pieces of bread
- 2 cups of fresh milk
- 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
- 2 tablespoons of melted butter
- 3 tablespoons of raisins
- 1/4 cup of almond flakes to decorate
Ingredients for custard sauce:
- 1 tin of evaporated milk
- 2 tablespoons of custard powder
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
Steps:
- Blend the dates into a puree
- Mix in the eggs, cinnamon powder, sugar, vanilla essence and fresh milk.
- Whisk them together until the batter is smooth.
- Tear up some bread pieces and soak them in the mixture. Wait for around 10 minutes to let the bread fully soak in.
- Sprinkle the raisins and almond flakes on top of the pudding.
- Then pop them in a preheated oven at 170°C for 35 minutes.
- Meanwhile, for the custard, in a pan, pour the milk from the tin and mix well with the sugar and custard powder.
- Swirl the mixture until it thickens.
- Then both are ready to be served.
Here’s a video for you by 3 Cups of Spice.
5. Date Butter Cookies
If you like bite-sized cookies for some nibbling, then this recipe suits you.
Ingredients:
- 100 gm dates (without the seeds)
- 125 gm butter (Use premium butter like Anchor or Lurpark for a richer taste)
- 40 gm brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 2 tablespoons of milk powder
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon of rice flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 cup of flour
Steps:
- Chop the dates into tiny pieces. You can puree it too if you want.
- Mix the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla essence together.
- Add in milk powder, cornstarch, rice flour, baking powder, baking soda and flour to the mixture and mix well.
- Add in the chopped dates or pureed ones.
- Refrigerate the batter for 20 minutes.
- Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop the batter out into a greased baking tray.
- Bake in a preheated oven of 140°C for 20 minutes.
Here’s a tutorial by ButterLaici on these scrumptious cookies.
Pro Tip: If the dates are hard and dry, soak them overnight for a softer texture.
Now that you’ve got all these ideas for date desserts, go use up all those free dates you’ve got from your friends or families and serve them to your guests.
READ MORE: 5 Khasiat Air Rendaman Kurma Untuk Kesihatan Diri Ketika Berpuasa
READ MORE: Have You Tried These Sunnah Superfoods For An Energizing Ramadan?
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