The Nutritious Hummus Hack That Tastes Just Like Ice Cream

If you're someone who cares about healthy snacking, hummus has probably long-claimed one of the easy-to-reach spots in your refrigerator. According to Food Network, hummus is a thick dip or spread compromised of chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and salt. The additions of garlic and olive oil are more recent add-ins in the evolution of the veritable dip but are not always considered necessary ingredients.

While Food Network notes that the origins of hummus can be traced back to ancient Egypt, Entrepreneur notes how the rise of hummus in the U.S. didn't occur until 2010 when PepsiCo acquired Sabra and started promoting the nutritious dip to everyday consumers. Nowadays it's quite common to spot interesting variations of this chickpea-based snack with additions like red pepper, jalapeño, and even those with an unexpected legume base like white bean hummus.

Somewhere along hummus' upward path of growth, the nutritious spread evolved into sweeter varieties. Today notes how dessert hummus is quite different from traditional hummus in that there is usually little tahini, acid, or olive oil, yet often contains a considerable amount of sugar. Over the last decade, brands like Cedar's, and Boar's Head among others have released special dessert-like flavors and consumers are finding all kinds of ways to transform this healthy spread into their traditional favorite sweet treats from cake frosting to ice cream.

While there are certain ingredients you can use that take traditional hummus up a notch, have you ever considered adding cocoa powder or chopped apples and cinnamon? Dessert hummus has become quite commonplace to find in nearly any grocery store, yet registered dietician, Maggie Michalczyk tells Women's Health, making dessert hummus at home can prove to be a little healthier than store-bought since you can better control the add-ins, particularly when it comes to sugar. There is no lack of recipes to try either: Don't Waste the Crumbs has a recipe for chocolate chip cookie dough hummus and better yet, a recipe for snickerdoodle hummus.

How do you eat these high-protein dessert alternatives? Yahoo! outlines how dessert hummus can be enjoyed straight with a spoon like any creamy pudding or yogurt. You can also dip your favorite fruit or crackers in the spread, or even use these sweeter varieties as a healthier alternative to cake frosting. If you need your hummus to be a little runnier for cupcakes, Foods With Judes suggests adding more of a liquid sweetener like maple syrup to change the consistency from a sturdier dip to better frosting material. Beyond the many ways of enjoying dessert hummus right from the tub or as a nutritious antidote to your favorite cake, there is one way of enjoying this unique spread that may affect your ice cream consumption.

If you're looking for another way to enjoy this healthy dessert alternative, you may want to consider utilizing your freezer. Trader Joe's is one of the many brands that have jumped aboard the dessert hummus train with its in-house chocolate variety and in episode 49 of the Trader Joe's podcast titled "Trader Joe's Trips the Light Hacktastic," one crew member admittingly freezes tubs of the chocolate delight and eats it right from the tub when frozen. Even though Aisle of Shame speculates TJ's chocolate hummus may now be a product of the past, there is no reason why you couldn't freeze any other container of chocolate or dessert hummus to give it a try yourself.

Freezing hummus to mimic ice cream was not founded by TJ employees when you consider hummus ice cream's small yet mighty popularity. According to the Vegconomist, The Hummus & Pita Co. released hummus-based ice cream in 2018 at its New York City brick-and-mortar eatery due to the restaurant's popularity over The Hummus & Pita Co.'s chickpea chiller or hummus milkshake. You could simply freeze any tub of dessert hummus to change the texture of this nutritious snack. Yet, if you want to elevate this unique food even further and attempt a homemade ice cream pie, you might want to try making your own homemade hummus ice creams like the one from JVS which contains soy milk, maple syrup, and vanilla.