Matzah Toffee Ice Cream Sundaes for Passover

This sweet treat is special for the Biblical holiday season because it utilizes the Passover favorite, matzah toffee! If you're not familiar with matzah toffee, it's a popular Passover treat. Boxed matzah is the commercial unleavened bread of choice for both Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. These thin and crunchy sheets of matzah get topped with caramel, baked, then topped with a layer of melted chocolate. There are many different versions, some add flaky sea salt, chopped nuts, or toasted coconut to the chocolate...any kind would be great in this sundae!

Creamy ice cream is offset by the crunch of the matzah toffee, giving wonderful texture to this dessert. A few raspberries add a tart counterpoint, plus a nod to the blood of the lamb, which protected the Israelites from the darkness of the angel of the death, which is symbolized in dark chocolate. Enjoy this dessert on Passover or during the week of Unleavened Bread, or any time of year!

To make Matzah Toffee Ice Cream Sundaes you'll need:

Ice cream (I used chocolate)
Matzah toffee pieces and crumbs (I used Smitten Kitchen's recipe)
Chocolate sauce
Raspberries
Whipped cream

Simply dip your ice cream into bowls, then add bite-size pieces of matzah toffee and any other toppings you like!

This dessert is easily customizable. Vanilla or strawberry ice cream would work well, instead of chocolate. Feel free to use vegan ice cream, if you prefer. You can make your matzah toffee using gluten-free boxed matzah if you'd like. Caramel sauce, berry coulis, dark chocolate shavings, or nuts would be good topping additions too.

You can make this for yourself and your family anytime during the holiday season. This also works well to serve to a larger group, like at a Passover Seder or an Unleavened Bread get together, since it's pretty hassle-free and everyone can assemble their dessert to their liking. How fun would an ice cream sundae bar be to celebrate these set apart times? The matzah toffee makes it special for Passover season.

More Passover treat posts:
Kosher for Passover Dessert Recipes
Red Sea Crossing Smoothie Bowls
Coconut Cookies for Passover

What the Bible Says about Passover

Today we are going to take a look at what the Bible has to say on the topic of Passover. While we don't hear much about it in the Christian church, the word Passover is used around 75 times in Scripture, including more than 25 times in the New Testament. The amount of times this Biblical holiday comes up should call our attention to the importance of this to the Creator. This post won't enumerate each verse, but will give us a general idea of what the Bible says about this often overlooked holiday.

What Scripture says about Passover:

"This is how you eat it: fully clothed, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover of YHWH." -Exodus 12:11

"YHWH's Passover is to begin at twilight on the 14th day of the first month." -Leviticus 23:5

"Keep the lamb until the fourteenth day of the first month. Then all the assembly of Israel shall slay it between the evenings. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted in fire - with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it." -Exodus 12:6-8

"No outsiders are allowed to eat the Passover meal." -Exodus 12:43

"All the congregation of Israel is to perform Passover." -Exodus 12:47

"And when a stranger sojourns among you, then he shall perform the Passover of YHWH. He shall do so according to the law of the Passover and according to its right ruling. You have one law, both for the stranger and the native of the land." -Numbers 9:14

"Have the Israelites celebrate Passover at the appointed time." -Numbers 9:2

"When they celebrate Passover they must follow all of its regulations." -Numbers 9:12

"The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after Passover." -Numbers 33:3

"Guard the month of Aviv and perform the Passover to YHWH your Elohim, for in the month of Aviv YHWH your  Elohim brought you out of Egypt." -Deuteronomy 16:1

"On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated Passover." -Joshua 5:10

"The King gave this order to all the people, 'Celebrate the Passover to YHWH your God, as it is written in the Book of the Covenant.'" -2 Kings 23:21

"And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the House of YHWH to perform the Passover of YHWH Elohim of Israel." -2 Chronicles 30:1

"They sent to all Israel from Beersheba to Dan, to come to perform the Passover to YHWH Elohim of Israel since they had not done it for a long time." -2 Chronicles 30:5

"Josiah provided to the lay people 30,000 lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings, and 3,000 cattle - all from the king's own possessions. His leaders also contributed a voluntary offering to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, leaders in the House of YHWH gave to the priests 2,600 Passover offerings, and 300 cattle." -2 Chronicles 35:7-8

"Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel. None of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did, with the priests, the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people in Jerusalem." -2 Chronicles 35:18

"On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated Passover." -Ezra 6:19

"Every year, Yahusha's parents went to Jerusalem for Passover." -Luke 2:41

"When he was in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles he was doing." -John 2:23

"When he came to Galilee the Galileans received him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, for they had been there." -John 4:45

"As you know, the Passover is in two days - and the son of man will be handed over to be crucified." -Matthew 26:2

"I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house." -Matthew 26:18

"The disciples did as Yahusha had directed and prepared the Passover." -Matthew 26:19

"I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you." -Luke 22:15

"Get rid of the old leaven, so that you are a new batch, as you are unleavened. For the Messiah our Passover was slaughtered for us." -1 Corinthians 5:7

"When you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the death of the Messiah until he comes." -1 Corinthians 11:26

"By faith Moses performed the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the first born would not touch the firstborn of Israel." -Hebrews 11:28

The frequency of Passover appearing in the Bible should call our attention to the importance that the Creator puts on this holiday. By comparison, birthdays are mentioned two or three times in Scripture, and the holidays of Christmas and Easter aren't mentioned at all in the Bible. Keep in mind that the verses here represent only a portion of the word Passover in the Bible, and don't go into parts of Scripture that deal with something happening on Passover, such as the last supper or death of the Messiah. Genesis 18 where Sarah makes unleavened bread for the visiting angels could possibly be another instance of Passover. Take time to study this popular theme of Scripture!

Related posts:
Things the Messiah Said at Passover
Comparing Passover and Easter
Five Reasons Why Believers Should Keep Passover

Here's When the Biblical Holidays Happen in 2022

The Biblical holidays are significant times for believers. The Creator set these times apart and throughout history he has used these feasts and holidays in big ways, from the Messiah being killed at Passover to the Holy Spirit being given at Shavuot, and we should expect him to continue that trend. Let's pay attention to when these special times are and take part in them like Scripture says we should!

Leviticus 23 tells us when these happen, but since the Gregorian calendar doesn't match up with the Creator's calendar the dates land a little bit differently each year. There are also a few different ways to calculate the start of the year and because of that there are several different calendars that believers go by. What I'm sharing here is the one that is mostly commonly used. Whether you go by this calendar or another, mark your calendars for these set apart times!

When do the Biblical holidays happen in 2022?

Passover - April 15-16

Unleavened Bread - April 16-23

First Fruits - April 23-24

Shavuot - June 4-6

Feast of Trumpets - September 25-27

Yom Kippur - October 4-5

Feast of Tabernacles - October 9-17

A couple of things about this. According to this calendar, days start in the evening at sundown. This means that Passover starts on the evening of April 15 and goes through the evening of the 16th. This calendar also gives an extra day to both the Feast of Trumpets and Shavuot, even though in the Bible they are both just one day events.

It's also important to note that while all of these are special times, some of these are also considered Sabbath days which means we shouldn't work on them. These Sabbath days are the first and last days of Unleavened Bread, Shavuot, the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and the first and last days of Tabernacles.

More on the Biblical holidays:
Why I Started Celebrating the Biblical Feasts
Reasons Why Believers Should Keep the Biblical Holidays
The Beginner's Guide to the Biblical Holidays

Kids Crafts for Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits

Here are kids crafts and activities for the Biblical holidays of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. Since I am a believer in the Messiah, many of these crafts relate to his death and resurrection, which happened on Passover and First Fruits. Others teach children about the Exodus story when YHWH brought his people out of slavery. Making crafts like these can be fun and memorable ways for kids to learn about these times and celebrate the Biblical feasts!

Please note that I am recommending the craft, and not necessarily every detail of the lesson that goes with it. The crafts are great starting points, and I'm sure we can come up with appropriate Biblical lessons to go with them if you wish. If you're not sure what that lesson could be - please reach out!

Spring feast kids crafts:

Paper Plate Sheep from Crafting the Word of God

Burning Bush Craft from Mrs. Jones' Creation Station

Ten Plagues Against Egypt Wheel from Crafting the Word of God

Red Sea Crossing Craft from Jesus Without Language

The Last Supper Craft from Crafting the Word of God

DIY Toilet Paper Roll Frog from I Am Creative

Resurrection Empty Tomb Craft from Meaningful Mama

Ten Plagues Story Craft from Torah Sisters

Blood on the Doorpost Craft from Crafting the Word of God

DIY Clay Matzah Jewelry from Land of Honey

Red Sea Parting Craft from Meaningful Mama

10 Plagues Dominoes from Jesus Without Language

Plague of Hail Mobile from Crafting the Word of God

He is Risen from Crafting the Word of God

If you're struggling to come up with a lesson regarding a certain craft, please comment below and we can all share ideas to encourage each other!

Other resources:
Spring Feast Gift Ideas for Kids
Tips to Help Kids Get the Most from Passover Seder
Feast Activity and Coloring Pages from Bible Pathway Adventures

What C.S. Lewis Was Wrong About

I want to preface this by saying that I have tremendous respect for the writings of C.S. Lewis. He is an excellent teacher of faith. He explains complex truths simply, and I pray that my own generation will produce works that help children understand the truth of the Gospel the way that The Chronicles of Narnia have done. That said, his teachings are not flawless, and I want to address one particular thing today.

Are you familiar with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? It is the most well-known and probably most beloved book in The Chronicles of Narnia series. The premise is that the Pevensie siblings enter a land called Narnia through a wardrobe, where they discover that this wonderful place is under a curse where it is "always winter and never Christmas." There is an act of betrayal when one of the siblings aligns with the witch who has cursed this place, and Aslan - the Lion who created Narnia - must die in order to redeem the people and animals from the curse. Even if you're not familiar with this book, I'm sure just from this you can see the parallels to the story of the Messiah's redemption of Israel.

I grew up in a Christian home and I loved celebrating Christmas, so "always winter and never Christmas" did indeed seem like a curse to me. However, there was one thing that never quite made sense to me about this story. When the spell begins to break it is signified by the winter thawing, and Aslan (the savior of Narnia) is said to be on the move. The weather turns to spring and Father Christmas arrives and then the spring flowers are coming up. I always found that disconcerting because who associates Christmas with spring weather? In fact, that kind of weather would have been a disappointment to myself, siblings, cousins, and peers growing up. So why did he tell the story like this?

I can see the logical sense of it. Springtime exemplifies like no other season the Creator making all things new. There is tangible joy when the earth thaws and flowers and food crops make their first appearances. Lewis's transition from the land being stuck in the darkness of Winter finally into the warmth of Spring is a superb analogy of what accepting the Messiah is like. We know this is the parallel Lewis intended because once it is Spring Aslan willingly allows the witch to kill him because of humanity's betrayal.

Lewis painted this analogy beautifully and was correct about this in every way except one: he was wrong about the holiday.

Christmas doesn't happen in the springtime, but there is a holiday that does. Unlike Christmas, it wasn't a creation of man, but an ancient set apart time made by the Creator himself.

The holiday that happens in the spring when the winter freeze has been lifted is Passover. Passover is first described in the book of Exodus when the Living God freed his people from slavery. It is perhaps better known as the day the Messiah was killed for the sins of mankind. At the end of winter we celebrate this set apart time, remembering the Savior who was killed to redeem the curse against us and those who aligned themselves with the witch of our world. Like Yahusha, Aslan was resurrected from the dead and returned to help his people destroy the works of the enemy. We would indeed be under a curse if there was no Passover sacrifice of the Messiah.

I believe that C.S. Lewis used the example of Christmas because it was all he knew at the time. Now that we know better we are called to remember and celebrate the amazing significance of the death and resurrection of the Messiah when he was killed and resurrected - on the Biblical holidays of Passover and First Fruits. These are not just for those with Jewish ancestry - they are for all of us who would align ourselves with the Savior. These holy days are placed in Scripture for a reason, and we can rejoice that we are made able by the blood of the Messiah to truly rejoice in what he did for us at these times.

Related posts:
The Beginner's Guide to the Biblical Holidays
Five Reasons Believers Should Keep Passover
Why I Stopped Celebrating Christmas
Preparing for Passover
Why I Started Celebrating the Biblical Holidays

Questions and Answers about Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits

Recently I took some questions about the upcoming Biblical holiday of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. I wanted to share them here for others wondering the same things!

What can I do to start preparing?

Get the dates put on your calendar and free yourself up from work! Be intentional about how you want to spend this time.

Make plans to celebrate with others if you can. Look into gatherings that are a doable distance for you to travel to or start making plans to host something yourself.

Check out these posts on what you can do to start preparing now, and how to host a Passover Seder.

Why should Christians keep Jewish holidays?

These holidays are Biblical! They were given to ALL the tribes of Israel (not just Judah, or the Jews) and everyone who chooses to follow YHWH and to be grafted into his people. There is absolutely nothing in Scripture about Passover and the rest of the set apart times being only for Jewish people.

The Messiah kept the Biblical feasts, and they were a significant part of his life. New Testament believers kept them and Apostle Paul expressly told us to keep them!

So Can one take part in the feasts without the ceremony or do you have to have a Haggadah? 

A Haggadah or formal ceremony is not at all necessary to participate in Passover! Most of the elements of a traditional Passover Seder are man-made. While those can be meaningful, they are not Biblical requirements. If you want to keep it simple you could do foot washing, communion, and Scripture reading.

My husband is not familiar with the Biblical feasts...would it be the right thing to do to celebrate for the first time this year?

This year is a great time to start! Keep it simple and focus on doing what you can without worrying about man-made traditions or getting everything "right." You will learn so much by studying the feasts and participating in them!

When do you begin the process of getting leaven out of your home?

About a month or so before the feast I start taking note of how many leavened products I have on hand to start using them up before Passover. I try to keep them in certain places in my kitchen and freezer to make it easier to gauge how much I have and to have fewer surprises later. Last year I used up/removed the last of my leavened products the day before Passover. You can do it sooner if you want to, but you don't get extra points for it!

What's the difference in celebrating Passover/First Fruits vs Easter?

This is such an important question!

We are commanded to keep Passover and told not even to utter the name of Easter.

The Messiah was killed on Passover and resurrected on First Fruits. Neither event happened on Easter.

Passover is in the Bible, Easter is not.

Many Easter traditions are expressly prohibited by Scripture.

See this post for more!

Can we eat rice during Unleavened Bread? No grains, right?

Unleavened Bread doesn't mean going grain free! Unleavened bread/matzah is made with grain. What you want to avoid is leaven, which is mainly taken to mean yeast and sourdough starter for bread.

Some people avoid mixing all grains with water (such as cooking rice), but I don't really see that in Scripture. Most people believe that rice is okay to eat during Unleavened Bread.

Do I need to remove never been opened yeast packets?

My understanding of the Scripture on this is that we should remove things that have been leavened, but are not required to remove leavening agents themselves.

The Israelites removed natural sourdough starter/leaven, but they would have kept their flour and water - which is what leaven is made from. In my opinion, if it's not something that's leavened and you won't be using it to leaven anything then it can stay.

Of course I always encourage people to study what Scripture says instead of focusing on man's traditions.

There are always debates about the dates every year - do you go by when the barley is harvested in Israel?

Personally I go off of Leviticus 23:11 which says First Fruits is the Sunday after Passover.

What are you supposed to do on First Fruits? I have never quite understood this.

First Fruits is the day the Messiah was resurrected so it is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate that! It is also when the counting of the fifty days to Shavuot begins.

Blessing your spiritual leaders, as well as foreigners, orphans, and widows is appropriate for this day. As is giving an offering, recognizing the provision of YHWH in your life, worship, and feasting!

See more on how to celebrate First Fruits in this post.

How do you make it fun and meaningful for the family?

Ask older kids what they think. Including them in the planning can help them to get on board. If they haven't celebrate before explain the significance of these times and ask what they think they can do to honor them.

Make it meaningful by talking about all the amazing ways YHWH has provided, and if you can, share ways that you have seen YHWH provide in your life as well as theirs to help them feel more connected to the exodus and the works of the Messiah.

Make this time memorable for kids- take time off from school and work to be together, travel to a group celebration, do a volunteer project, give gifts, have a formal meal, make lots of good food, invite others to join you, play games, read the pertinent Bible stories, and watch cinematic versions of them.

Maybe let each child pick a family activity to do during Unleavened Bread - it doesn't necessarily have to be spiritual, just something fun for them to look forward to!

What books do you recommend to learn more about these?

Edward Chumney's The Seven Festivals of the Messiah was very helpful when I was first learning about the set apart times.

How would you explain to a newbie in short what to do and how to honor this time?

Remember the awesome sacrifice of the Messiah as our Passover lamb, his resurrection, and the miracles YHWH performed when he freed his people from slavery.

Honor that with a Passover meal and/or communion. By removing the leaven from your home during Unleavened Bread, and bringing an offering on First Fruits. As well as remembering and sharing the work YHWH has done in your life.

Related posts:
A Beginner's Guide to the Biblical Holidays
How to Celebrate First Fruits
Preparing for Passover
Six Things You Can Do Now to Get Ready for the Spring Feasts