Sweet tea could possibly be the thing I miss the most when it comes to my pre-paleo diet. However, the amount of sugar that it takes to make true sweet tea is ridiculous and when I think about what it does to your body in terms of blood sugar and insulin levels it makes me cringe.

One of the beautiful things about the paleo diet is that there are always ways to enjoy versions of what used to be our favorite foods, we even have the chance to create new favorites. I say “used to be” because the longer we stick with a diet, lifestyle the more our taste buds and preferences start to change. If I had sweet tea now I’m not actually sure I’d enjoy it as much as I once did because I simply can’t consume sugar the way I did without feeling horrible. So I’ve decided to make a new “favorite”, naturally sweetened tea, sweet tea.

You’re probably thinking, well just add agave or honey to your tea and then it’ll be sweet. I could do that but I wanted to see if I could take it a step further and make it more natural. So I decided to see if I could sweeten my tea with dates! I know it sounds crazy but I actually often eat dates with my ice tea and it’s a great flavor combination. Here we go!

INGREDIENTS

2 dates (pitted)
12 ounces of water
black tea
a few ice cubes
*This recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled and so forth to make the quantity you need.

RECIPE

In a blender or processor, blend your dates (make sure they’re pitted), then set aside. A note: if you like super sweet tea you may choose to use more dates.

Boil 12 ounces of water and brew tea according to package instructions.
Remove tea bags or strain tea, immediately add blended dates.

Stir occasionally until tea cools to room temperature.
Strain out dates and pour over ice(if you’d like you can always keep the date pieces in the tea and enjoy as is).

It’s important to remember that as soon as the tea is done brewing that you must add the dates as quickly as possible. The hot water helps to pull the natural sweetness out of the dates.

Enjoy!

Melissa Van Dover

@mvandover | melissavandover.com

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