A hedgehog date could mean this:

Or this:

I have done my “being an Arab living in the west is like petting a hedgehog” rant in a previous blog post. I won’t bore you by repeating it here. However I would rather tell you that dates used to be the main export of Iraq before the discovery of oil. Iraq was nicknamed the land of blackness, because right before date harvest time, the land looked all black from the air because of density of the date groves. In Arabic, oil is called the black gold. But I think it is this marvelous fruit that deserves the moniker. Containing 80% sugar it is nature’s candy. When I make date cookies (kleicha) I add no sugar to the recipe. It must be the only cookie recipe that contains no sugar or sweetener of any kind. The dates are so sweet on their own, adding sugar spoils the taste.

Thinking about making hedgehogs, I experimented with several approaches for the face. I tried creating a rose water icing that looked good but I didn’t like the taste of. It was too sweet. To the point of being sickly. Then I experimented with mixing honey with tahini sauce. Now that tasted heavenly with the dates, but it was too messy, dripping all over the place. Finally, I had the idea of brushing the end of each date with some coconut oil to act as glue and dipping it into coconut shreds. That tasted great plus it had the right look. Perfect!

Should you make your peace with how things are or should you fight and resist? At what point are you creating more friction in the world with your own actions? How do you know if you are creating more good?

So here is my creation in all its glory.
Ingredients:

medjool dates
almonds
pine nuts
coconut oil
coconut shreds
a few oreo cookies

Shred the coconut in a food processor for a finer consistency. But not too fine. You still want to the coconut to have some substance.

Cutup each date lengthwise and place an almond in place of each pit.

Brush the end of each date with coconut oil

Dip into coconut shreds.

Separate the oreo cookies and scrape the sugar part away

Cut up the cookies into pointy shards.

Choose the sharpest cookie pieces to make hedgehog eyes

Stick pine nut into hedgehog back for spikes.

Play with all your hedgehog creations before eating them.

I have to say I was happy with the end result. It tasted fantastic and it looked adorable.

To my surprise, the hedgehog date looks and taste like a fine truffle. My husband suggested that I make them again when we are hosting a large dinner party. Considering how healthy this thing is. Super easy, no bake recipe. My mind is blown. Given where I stared from, how did I end up at with this on my hands? Wow! life is full of surprises.