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Recipe Connection: Sugar Free Frosting Recipe (Date Sweetened!)

May 22, 2013 (UPDATED: January 16, 2021) by Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship® 27 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Creamy no sweetener frostingIt’s a “you’ll never guess what’s in it” sort of recipe today.

Like those black bean brownies from The Everything Beans Book, it’s almost unfathomable that a frosting recipe could have no dairy, no sweeteners, no egg…and still taste pretty darn awesome.

I hate to call it a “sugar-free frosting,” since that conjures up nasty images of artificial sweeteners dancing in my head, but it’s true. This one is all whole foods, no artificials, no stevia (Read More: Is Stevia Safe?).

In the past, I’ve only made two kinds of frosting: this one adapted from my childhood to be slightly healthier but still packed with sugar, and a yogurt cheese frosting with a bit of maple syrup and almond extract like I put on my healthy fruit pizza. Since my husband doesn’t care for the latter, which is actually the healthy one, it was exciting to come across something totally new.

I was quite skeptical that it would be any good and then pleasantly surprised.

I’ve been referring to my review copy of Nourishing Meals by Ali Segersten and Nourishing MealsTom Maltere, MS, CN, quite often since I received it last summer. Many of the recipes are very out of the box for me, and it’s pushed me to (finally) get into some gluten-free baking beyond stuff with coconut flour or almond flour.

This First Communion cake that I introduced in today’s Real Food Party Menu Plan was the blackberry buckwheat cake on p. 467, if you have the book, except I cut the spices, scraped a vanilla bean into it instead, and used raspberries. So it was a raspberry vanilla bean cake, I suppose, but I couldn’t have made it without Tom and Ali’s help!

I modified the Cashew Date Frosting on p. 470, although I made the test batch the week prior and used some of the leftovers to help cover the entire layer cake.Creamy no sweetener frosting

The color of the frosting in the photos is the way it is naturally; I’m not sure you could make it any other colors, especially not with any natural food coloring. The white part is actually a bit of yogurt cheese frosting since I was making yogurt cheese for the dip at the party anyway and had to have something of another color to write words in.

I added the raspberries (frozen) that morning because I knew they would bleed pink (and they did). It was fun to have raspberries both in and on the cake.

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This recipe will amaze you - real cake frosting with no sweetener of any kind, and it's still really good!

Cashew Date Frosting Recipe (no sugar!)

  • Author: Katie Kimball
  • Prep Time: 3 hours 15 mins
  • Total Time: 3 hours 15 mins
  • Yield: about 2 cups
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Description

I’m indebted to Nourishing Meals by Ali Segersten and Tom Malterre for the springboard for this amazing recipe!


Ingredients

  • 1 c. raw cashews (not the salted, roasted kind)
  • 1/2 c. dates, pitted (any kind)
  • 3/4 c. water (shoot low, you can always add more)
  • 1/2 c. soft coconut cream concentrate (aka coconut butter)
  • 1 Tbs. vanilla extract
  • pinch salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase)

Instructions

  1. You’ll need a high-powered blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec for this one; I really can’t imagine a regular blender or food processor making it through the dates and nuts this way. (See my Blendtec review)
  2. Soak the cashews and dates in the water for 3-4 hours. Measure carefully because you’re not going to drain the water. If you’re cooking anything during this time, set your jar of coconut cream on the stovetop to soften.
  3. Before you begin the rest of the process, make sure your coconut cream concentrate is soft. If it’s not almost fluid from sitting near a hot pot, you’ll want to measure the half cup and gently warm it in a pan over low heat until quite creamy.
  4. Blend the soaked nut and dates on high for 30 to 60 seconds until very smooth and creamy. Add the softened coconut cream, vanilla and salt. Blend again until smooth and fully incorporated.
  5. Scrape the frosting out into a bowl and refrigerate overnight; it will thicken up quite a bit once chilled. If you want a very soft frosting, either don’t refrigerate it or allow it to warm on the counter for an hour before spreading. You can also whip it up a bit with a spoon or fork. Only frost cakes once entirely cooled.

Notes

Store leftover frosting in the refrigerator for about a week before it starts seeming a little weird.

The frosting will do fine at room temp for a day or two when it’s on a cake that can’t be refrigerated.

You should be able to frost at least 12 cupcakes, a 9×13 cake, or, if you stretch it, a whole 2-layer cake, especially if the center layer is nut butter or something else.

The original recipe called for 3/4 c. melted coconut oil instead of coconut cream, in case you don’t have any on hand. I have a feeling that version was quite runny to begin with.

Did you make this recipe?

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Need a little help getting healthy food on the table every day? Real Plans takes the stress out of meal planning and puts the nourishing food BACK on your table. There’s a plan for every diet type, including GAPS, Paleo, AIP, Whole30, vegetarian and more! You remain totally in control: use your own recipes, accept theirs, and teach the system what your family likes…Check out how powerful it is here!

Creamy no sweetener frosting

Frosting Tip

Maybe everyone in the world knows this one, but if you’re frosting a cake on a pretty plate or stand, put parchment or waxed paper underneath all the edges, and then you don’t have to be super careful at the bottom:

Tip for mess-free frosting

Just slide it right out when you’re finished frosting (and maybe lick it before tossing it, if you’re that kind of person). Winking smile

Other cakes we love:

  • Elmo cake and one-year-old cupcakes (decorating ideas)
  • Healthy birthday cakes (coconut cake and classic whole grain butter cake)
  • Sourdough chocolate cake (this is amazing for all ages, with red wine for the adults!)
Let me know what you think and leave a rating below!
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You've probably seen 1000s of products recommended by bloggers you follow...but what would you ACTUALLY use?

Filed Under: Real Food Recipes Tagged With: birthdays, cakes, cashews, dates, party food, Real Food Recipes, sweeteners

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About Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship®

Katie Kimball, CSME is a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks. She is passionate about researching natural remedies and making healthy cooking easier for busy families. She’s been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine as well as contributing regularly on the FOX Network.

See more of Katie Kimball, CSME in the Media.

Over the last 10 years, Katie has spoken prolifically at conferences, online summits and podcasts and become a trusted authority and advocate for children’s health.

Busy moms look to this certified educator for honest, in-depth natural product reviews and thorough research. She often partners with health experts and medical practitioners to deliver the most current information to the Kitchen Stewardship® community.

In 2016 she created the #1 bestselling online kids cooking course, Kids Cook Real Food, helping thousands of families around the world learn to cook.

Certified Stress Mastery Educator BadgeA mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is a Certified Stress Mastery Educator and member of the American Institute of Stress.

See all blog posts by Katie Kimball.

27 Bites of Conversation So Far

  1. Romy says

    January 16, 2021 at 1:29 pm

    First I made this recipe as it’s written, and I hated the coconut cream. I’m not a fan of coconut flavor, but it also just felt so heavy and blegh. Personal preference. So I tossed it and tried again with Miyoko’s vegan butter (made with cashews and coconut oil). I liked it, but a whole tablespoon of vanilla extract was too much. It tasted like alcohol. Now I’ve made it again with just 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and it’s perfect. Freeze-dried strawberries would make a nice addition for strawberry frosting. Figured I’d share my tweaks. Thanks for the recipe! (Also, I have to second the comment suggesting that “without any sweetener” is inaccurate…I’d call it “fruit-sweetened” or “date-sweetened.”)

    Reply
    • Carolyn @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      January 16, 2021 at 10:53 pm

      Thanks for sharing your tweaks! I don’t like coconut butter either, too sweet and heavy for me.

      Reply
  2. Anil says

    August 28, 2020 at 8:34 am

    Hi thank you so much for this recipe. This is the only clean frosting recipe I found on internet after a long research. They all have artificial sweeteners in them.
    One question, if I use cacao would it spoil the consistency?

    Thanks again!

    Reply
    • Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      August 30, 2020 at 9:54 pm

      Great question, Anil – in my experience with other frostings, cacao is going to thicken it up but shouldn’t ruin it. You could easily try just a bit of the frosting with added cacao so you don’t have to experiment with the whole batch. If you try it, LMK if it works? Thanks!
      Katie

      Reply
  3. Chris says

    July 22, 2019 at 1:11 pm

    Ty! Made it with McCormick dye free coloring. Don’t have a high powered blender so I boiled the cashews and soaked the dates in hot water and blended with my hand blender. I let sit overnight in fridge and then rewarded, added a bit of hot water and blended again and it was very smooth! Teeeniest bit of grit but I don’t have 400 for a vitamix yet lol. I made 4 six ounce cakes for my daughters 1 yr so I had a practice one, a photo session one, an actual birthday one, and one for her party after. Wish I could share my photo! Thanks.

    Reply
    • Chris says

      July 22, 2019 at 1:12 pm

      Rewarmed*

      Reply
  4. Deb says

    May 5, 2014 at 6:55 pm

    Do you think regular butter would work in place of the coconut butter? Otherwise, I will use coconut oil, but it’s 100 degrees here, and I don’t want my daughter’s birthday cake to melt the second I take it out of the fridge.

    Reply
    • Helen @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      May 5, 2014 at 9:03 pm

      Deb,

      It’s my thinking that I’d do butter before I’d use coconut OIL in this recipe! Coconut cream is a bit thicker/firmer because it is coconut oil AND coconut solids. The coconut oil would melt before the butter would 🙂

      Reply
    • Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      May 6, 2014 at 12:04 am

      Deb,
      Coconut butter is coconut oil plus meat of the coconut, so…I’d use a combo of a bit of coconut oil and maybe shredded coconut whizzed like crazy in a blender first? If you have a highspeed blender, you can make coconut butter with normal coconut. Otherwise maybe butter or palm shortening would work, but I really have no idea! I don’t use coconut butter enough to understand its properties… hope it works out! I’d love to hear if you try any successful substitutes so I can let others know about them. Thanks! 🙂 Katie

      Reply
      • Deb says

        May 9, 2014 at 7:01 am

        I didn’t have any shredded coconut, so I used regular butter, and it came out great. I have no idea how like/unlike the original recipe it is, but it seemed to create a frosting consistency and I was able to spread it on the cake just fine (and this was my first cake frosting experience). I also used peanut butter in place of the cashews because (a) I had it and (b) I have a KitchenAid blender – a nice one, but it’s not a VitaMix/BlendTec, so I was a little nervous about that. All in all, I am very pleased with how this came out and so happy to be able to give my daughter a special birthday cake without worrying that I was feeding her garbage. Thank you, Katie!

        Reply
        • Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says

          May 12, 2014 at 10:02 pm

          Wow, wonderful – huge substitutions and still a success, and it sounds like a very healthy frosting (and yummy!). Way to go! Thanks so much for sharing your tweaks, too – Katie

          Reply
  5. Margaret D says

    May 26, 2013 at 4:30 am

    I was getting excited about this until I saw cashews. We have tree nut and peanut butter allergies. I’ll have to keeping looking for a zero sweetener icing.

    Reply
    • Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      May 27, 2013 at 12:09 am

      Margaret,
      I’m wondering if something else could be just as creamy – maybe yogurt cheese with the soaked dates? Makes me want to experiment… 😉 Katie

      Reply
  6. Jenny says

    May 23, 2013 at 3:11 pm

    I love this! And I would definitely consider dates a sweetener.:) maybe Fruit-sweetened Frosting?

    Reply
  7. Abi Craig says

    May 23, 2013 at 2:34 pm

    Haven’t managed to get a copy of their book yet, but their website (www.nourishingmeals.com) is great! The Banana Almond Butter Muffins are wonderful. Now I just need a reason to make a frosted cake!

    Reply
  8. casey says

    May 23, 2013 at 1:27 pm

    Could one not ‘dye’ the frosting with raspberry juice, or even just throw a couple raspberries in there to tint the frosting pink? (blueberries for blue – blackberries for purplish, etc).

    Reply
    • Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      May 23, 2013 at 3:39 pm

      Maybe? It would still have the brown tint…but probably possible! Great thought! 🙂 Katie

      Reply
  9. Bekki says

    May 23, 2013 at 9:10 am

    Aw, dang! I was so looking forward to this one, but I’m allergic to coconut.
    I’m interested in the Nourishing Meals cookbook… how heavily do they rely on coconut flour and other coconut stuff? The oil is fine for me, but not the flour, flakes, cream, milk, etc.

    Reply
    • Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      May 23, 2013 at 11:06 am

      Bekki,
      If you are okay with the oil, you’re in the clear – at the bottom of the notes, I say what the original was, which was all coconut oil. Nourishing Meals doesn’t use a ton of coconut flour, no…I’d say you’d be able to make most of the recipes as written and maybe have to adapt some others, but they really use a lot of other gf flours in baking. 🙂 Katie

      Reply
      • Bekki says

        May 23, 2013 at 12:31 pm

        Yay! I’ll give it a try. I never did get around to making myself a birthday cake…

        Reply
  10. casey says

    May 23, 2013 at 8:35 am

    Off topic but i figured you’d see it faster if i put this in a comment rather than email. I don’t know if you’re familiar with woot.com, but it is a ‘deals’ site. Today on the kids woot, they have
    Plum Organics snacks for 38% off – $31,99 instead of $40.00. I don’t know anything about that brand so I’m not sure if they are good or not but I figured someone on here might be interested.

    http://kids.woot.com/#

    Reply
  11. Mandy P says

    May 23, 2013 at 12:07 am

    Is there something that be substituted for cashews? My daughter is allergic:(

    Reply
    • Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      May 23, 2013 at 9:30 am

      Mandy,
      I wish I knew more about dairy-free recipes – cashews are often a sub for dairy in creamy things, but I don’t know that I’ve seen subs for the cashews…it would have to be a soft nut that got creamy…I wonder if the original authors would know? Maybe ask on their Facebook page? Sorry I’m no help!

      Although, here’s one we’ve liked in the past that uses coconut cream – http://gnowfglins.com/2009/11/16/basic-vanilla-frosting/ so you have something to work with! 🙂 Katie

      Reply
      • Mandy P says

        May 24, 2013 at 5:27 pm

        Thanks:) I’ll take a look at that one.

        Reply
  12. Stephanie M says

    May 22, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    I should have guessed cashew cream! Awesome! Maybe I’ll add some cocoa and put it on those black bean brownies…

    Reply
  13. Lisa @ A Little Slice of Life says

    May 22, 2013 at 11:32 pm

    So what does the frosting taste like? Is it vanilla?

    Reply
    • Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      May 23, 2013 at 9:38 am

      Yes? Mostly…it’s hard to describe. The consistency is a little like an almond butter, but creamier, and yes, overall, vanilla. Probably tastes like dates too…I’m so bad at describing stuff like that! 😉 Katie

      Reply

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I’m Katie, the voice of healthy kids cooking, and I’m on a mission to connect families around healthy food.

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