Sneaky Fruit Spread

Any PB&J eaters out there? This gal is, as is the 3 year old tyke that lives in my house! I definitely love the "J" component the best, and I would venture a guess that the little mister (LM) does as well.  I try and make freezer jam in the summer, but even though I make it myself, it's still loaded with sugar.  Because I am a big meanie of a mommy, I try to really limit how much refined sugar goes into LM's mouth (as well as mine), so I was intrigued by a recipe I found for Date & Vanilla Energy Spread in a kids cookbook I have. I managed to get dried figs instead of dates at the store (oopsie!), but I think the end result was amazing! I'm pretty sure you could adapt this to pretty much any dried fruit you want, and could add different spices depending on the fruit...I'm thinking apples and cinnamon, & strawberries and almond extract!! Yummy!! 

As far as Weight Watchers points go...dried fruit lists as 1 point for 1 piece, but when I calculated this recipe, making a serving 1 teaspoon (I got 20+ teaspoons out of this recipe), it registers as 0 points!! Just don't go overboard!! But, the great thing with dried fruit is that even though it is really sweet, there is lots of fiber in it to slow down how fast it absorbs into your system!  

This recipe was a cinch to make, and something I will definitely make about once a week!!

Fig & Vanilla Energy Spread

Recipe adapted from "Brain Foods for Kids" by Nicola Graimes

7 Ounces Dried Figs

1 Cup Water

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

This recipe is so dang easy to make that there's hardly any instructions!! My figs had little stems on the end, so I pulled those off quickly, and then rough chopped the figs.

Then throw the figs in a little saucepan with 1 cup of water, bring it to a simmer over med-high heat, lower the heat and cover.  Cook for about 20 minutes, or until most of the water is absorbed, and the fruit is nice and soft.

After the 20 minutes or so of cooking, take the pot off of the heat, and let it cool for just a bit.  Then, toss it all into a food processor or blender with the vanilla, and process until smooth (I ended up needing to add in about 2 or so tablespoons of water to get it to flow in my food processor).  You can keep it in the fridge for up to a week in an air tight container...if it lasts that long!! :)  Try it on an english muffin, pancakes, mixed in greek yogurt, and of course, in a PB&J!