As the heat of summer rolls around, I crave fresh fruit and cool sweets. Unfortunately I'd be 50 pounds heavier if I indulged in ice cream as often as I'd like, so I need lots of healthy dessert alternatives. Here's one of my faves, particularly because of the gooey texture and subtle sweet, nutty flavor. And let's be honest, I douse it with loads of maple syrup and fresh fruit from the garden. Yum!
INGREDIENTS
1/2 C chia seeds
1 C raw cashews (soaked 2 hours or overnight)
4 C water
7 Medjool dates, pitted and coarsely chopped
pinch of salt
1/4t cinnamon
2T coconut butter (also known as coconut manna)
5t vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Place chia seeds in a medium bowl; set aside.
Drain soaked cashews and rinse well. Add cashews, water, dates, salt, cinnamon, coconut butter and vanilla to the blender. Blend on high speed for 2 minutes. NOTE: If you can't fit all these ingredients in the blender (mine is too small), just add as much of the water into the blender as you can and add the remaining amount to the chia seeds along with the mixture once blended.
Pour mixture into the bowl with chia seeds; stir with a whisk. Let mixture stand 10 to 15 minutes, whisking occasionally to prevent chia seeds from clumping. Refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours. Store in the fridge.
To serve, top with berries and maple syrup. Yields approximately 8 servings.
