Recipe of the Month – Date and Quinoa pops

Recipe Title: Date and Quinoa pops

As vegans, our fear is that we will miss out on desserts. Nishma Shah’s recipe is simple and dairy free.

Headnotes:

A good snack for children. Very quick to make.

Prep Time: 10 minutes.

Cooking Time: 5 minutes.

Total Time: 15 minutes.

Contains: nuts.

Ingredients:

400 grams (4 cups) pitted dates.

30 grams (1 cup) puffed quinoa or popped amaranth.

2 tbsp cocoa powder.

20 cake pop sticks.

Optional vegan chocolate coating.

100 grams (1.5 cups) melted vegan dark chocolate.

10 pieces of roasted almonds.

2 tbsp medium desiccated coconut.

1 tbsp cocoa nibs.

Detailed Instructions:

Makes 20 pieces.

Preparation:

1. If the dates are in the block, loosen them up and check for pips.
2. Coarsely chop the roasted almonds.
3. Roast the puffed quinoa in a pan on low heat for 5 minutes. They should become crispier and fresher.

Method:

1. Add the dates, cocoa, and quinoa to a food processor.
2. Use an “s” shaped blade to blend the mixture until it becomes like dough.
3. Take about half a tablespoon of mixture and shape it into a ball with your hands.
4. Repeat step 4 until you have 20 ball-shaped pieces.
5. Apply the cake pop sticks.

The remaining steps are optional.

6. 6. Melt the vegan chocolate.
   7. Coat the date and quinoa pops with melted vegan chocolate and remove any excess chocolate.
   8. Add toppings by swirling five pops in the chopped almonds, five in the desiccated coconut, and five in the cocoa nibs and place them on non-stick paper and refrigerate them. (You can of course use other toppings of your choice, or none at all, or create a thicker chocolate coat by repeating step 8 before applying any toppings).
   9. Once the toppings have firmly stuck to the vegan chocolate the date and quinoa pops are ready.

Substitute:

Instead of cocoa powder, carob powder can be used. You can substitute puffed quinoa with puffed amaranth.

Personal Note:

I have very fond memories of various desserts made from dates when I was living in Mombasa, Kenya.

Due to the hot tropical weather the chocolate would melt almost instantly. The dates and cocoa mimic the flavor and texture of a gooey chocolate covered with nuts, desiccated coconut, etc.