After spending a long winter in the deep freeze, it’s about time to dust off the ol’ Zoku popsicle maker. If like me, you’re not quite ready to go blending up those beautiful strawberries for a taste of spring, there is another flavor that can put you in mind of sunshine and take you right out to the desert. Dates. And in this case, we’re talkin’ about a Banana Date Shake Zoku pop.
Dates have made appearances on the DailyWaffle in these spice cookies, these maple date scones, but where it all stems from are the date shakes at Hadley’s. And after years, maybe even decades, I finally had a Hadley’s date shake a couple of months ago when my friend Gina and I stopped off there en route to Palm Springs. There’s not much you can do to improve on dates, milk and vanilla ice cream (except maybe add more dates), but this Zoku pop delivers. You get the taste of a date shake without the calories of 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy.
- 4 dates, pitted and chopped
- 2/3 c. vanilla almond milk (or regular milk)
- 1/2 banana, roughly chopped
- 1/2 t. vanilla extract
- Combine dates, almond milk, vanilla and banana in a blender until the dates are very finely chopped. They should be flecks in the mixture. The mixture will be slightly thick and will make about 6 oz. of liquid.
- Place sticks in each Zoku slot. Transfer the mixture from the blender into a measuring cup and pour evenly into each slot. Tap the maker lightly on the counter to even out the pops, if need be. Chill for 10 minutes.
- Loosen with the Zoku SuperTool handle and serve.
