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- Hey munchies, welcome to the channel.
If you're new or if you're not I'm Alyssia
and I am stoked you're here either way.
The holidays and food go hand in hand.
So I always get so excited to make videos this time of year.
It is a special time of year,
and this is a very special day
because I have a gift for you.
Today, I am sharing some fun holiday recipes
to inspire your holiday spread.
And I'm giving you a free ebook
with these recipes in this video and more.
Twelve in fact, for the 12 days of Dried Fruit campaign
that I'm hosting with one of
my favorite partners, Sunsweet.
Their dried fruit is seriously the best.
And all of the recipes in this book
are inspired by Sunsweet Amazin Prunes,
as well as Sunsweet dates and dried cherries.
You can get it for free by clicking the link
in my description, no email address is required.
It's a direct download.
Now that really is a gift, am I right?
Let's get started with these gingerbread truffles.
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It starts with pecans, which I like to toast for flavor,
but it is optional.
They just go into the pan and into the oven
for a few minutes, until fragrant and browned.
Then they go into a food processor,
along with Sunsweet dates
for natural sweetness and texture,
molasses and ground ginger for the gingerbread flavor,
along with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt.
That gets pulsed together,
and then let it run until the mixture forms a dough.
It should hold together easily on its own.
I use a cookie scoop to create the little truffle balls
and then freeze for a few minutes
before dipping into your coating of choice.
I melted some chopped chocolate bars.
You can either temper your chocolate,
if you have the patience
or add a small bit of coconut oil for a simple coating.
Let the chocolate drip off of your truffles
before adding them to a plate.
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And then add your holiday flair.
I used sprinkles, chopped nuts and cocoa powder
with both milk and white chocolate coating today.
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These are so easy and super cute.
The dates add so much natural, delicious sweetness
and the dates really compliment
and enhance the gingerbread flavor.
Not to mention the stickiness
helps the truffles maintain their shape.
The ground ginger and molasses
give it a gingerbread holiday vibe
without being too intense or overwhelming.
So adorable.
I am personally a white chocolate person,
so that coating was my favorite,
which would you prefer, milk or white?
Let me know in the comments.
Next up, a simple and delicious date cake.
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I start by chopping Sunsweet dates.
And then adding them to a sauce pan
with baking soda and water.
I bring them to a boil over medium, low heat,
and then set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
Soaking in baking soda makes the overall flavor
of the dates sweeter and more pronounced.
It won't change the texture of the cake,
but I do recommend this step.
And Sunsweet's Deglet Noor dates
are the best for baking and cooking
because they are really rich, sweet and plump.
While that cools, cream together
softened butter and sugar until fluffy.
Then add eggs one at a time and beat until integrated.
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And then the Greek yogurt and vanilla extract.
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Separately, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
By now the date mixture has cooled
and you can add it to the food processor
with some cinnamon and blend until smooth.
That flour mixture gets added with the date mixture
into the butter mixture in a few batches, alternating.
Mixing until combined.
Sunsweet dates are naturally sweet.
And in this recipe, even helped to substitute
the amount of fat that we need from butter or oil,
which helps reduce the overall calories
without losing flavor.
I prepare a bundt pan with some spray
or butter and then dust with flour.
I really want to make sure that that cake can come out clean
because getting a stuck cake out of a bundt pan is not fun.
Then the batter goes in and it's ready to bake.
Bundt cakes take about an hour, so be patient.
But trust me, it is worth the wait.
Cool for about 20 minutes
before removing from the pan.
Wow, one amazing thing about this cake
is that the dates add so much sweetness and moisture
that you really don't need a frosting.
I like to just dust it with a little bit of powdered sugar,
which also adds a nice holiday vibe.
It is so simple.
It's elegant, flavorful, and really delicious,
I love serving this with tea or hot chocolate.
I have got one more, but as a reminder,
I hope you will subscribe and hit the bell
to tune in for new holiday and food videos.
Okay, last of the day is an apple cinnamon trifle.
A trifle is a layered dessert.
And I am sort of taking some creative liberties here
by making my own layers and assembling them in trifle form
without adhering to any strict British baking rules.
Do forgive me, and of course,
feel free to make this your own.
I start with an apple filling mixture.
It's diced apples, I used a mix
of Granny Smith and honey crisp
along with Sunsweet prunes, which I chopped.
This is a great way to add all natural flavor
to your desserts without added sugar.
There's three grams of fiber per serving of prunes.
And did you know that prunes may help to prevent bone loss?
I also add lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg,
brown or coconut sugar and salt into a sauce pan.
First with the heat off,
just toss them to coat and let them macerate
for 10 minutes or so before cooking.
Once they've sat, cook over medium, high heat
for 10 to 15 minutes until softened.
And then allow that mixture to cool before assembling.
I like to make my date caramel sauce during that time,
which is just dates, mostly.
I actually shared this recipe last year
in my holiday brownies recipe video with Sunsweet.
I made these salted caramel blondies, which were amazing.
I will link the recipe and the video below
if you want to check it out.
I soak the Sunsweet dates in hot water for an hour,
and then I drain and add them to a food processor
with salt and vanilla extract to blend until smooth,
adding warm milk as needed to smooth and thin it out.
And that's it, that caramel is ready to go.
A trifle usually also has a custard or cream,
and I decided to make a holiday spiced whipped cream today.
It's just heavy whipping cream with powdered sugar,
cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg,
whipped on high with a hand or stand mixer
until stiff peaks form.
I love a fresh whipped cream.
I go light on the sugar because I don't think
fresh whipped cream really needs
that much sweetness to be delicious.
It is tough to beat.
Most trifles also have a cake.
Some use a sponge or lady finger cookies.
One option would be to use that date cake
that I showed you earlier.
But for this recipe, I used a holiday spice granola,
which I think adds a nice texture.
This recipe is made with oats, pecans, walnuts,
pepitas, dates, prunes, maple syrup, and holiday spices.
It's easy and delicious.
And the full recipe is in that 12 days of Dried Fruit ebook
that you can download for free in the description.
To layer my trifles, or you could call them parfaits,
perhaps, I did individual trifle cups
and started with some of that apple mixture,
followed by a dollop of holiday spiced whipped cream,
and then granola, the date caramel.
Again, did the apple mixture,
more granola and apples, whipped cream,
and I finished it off with some of that caramel on top.
There are no rules here with assembly.
Just get all of the components layered into the cup.
Holy moly.
This was actually one of the most delicious recipes
in the ebook in my opinion.
That whipped cream and granola have so much holiday flair.
The granola adds a delicious crunch
to compliment the sweet and soft cooked apples,
which are paired perfectly with Sunsweet Amazin Prunes,
along with the salty sweet date caramel.
The textures and flavors are on-point
and I love that it doesn't need to look refined
to still be beautiful and tastes great.
So there is a little visual taste
of what's in that free e-book.
It is filled with sweet and savory recipes
for your holiday inspiration.
I do hope you'll download it.
It was really fun for me to make
because it brought together some of my favorite things.
We've got food, we've got the holidays
and I even got to use my
graphic design skills with the ebook.
If you didn't know, I was a graphic designer
before I did YouTube and all of this
was made possible thanks to Sunsweet.
I have worked with them for years now,
and I'm so grateful because they make
super fun projects like this possible.
So thank you Sunsweet.
I hope that you can try out Sunsweet dried fruits
like their dates and Amazin Prunes soon,
they really make a great addition
to holiday recipes and spreads.
If you enjoyed this video and appreciate the ebook,
I would love it if you would send this video link
to a friend and share it on social.
Please do that rather than sharing the ebook itself.
As I said, it doesn't even require an email,
which I know many of you appreciate.
I hope to see you next time.
Thank you for being here.
Have a happy holiday season.
Enjoy the deliciousness thoroughly.
And remember, it's all a matter of mind over munch.
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