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

Hebrew Holiday Dates 2019 + Printable

Sharing the dates for the Hebrew holidays for 2019! To be sure you make note of them, grab the printable with the dates and stick it on your fridge or in your planner. Get the dates put on your calendar and be intentional about taking off work and freeing yourself up during these times so you can take part in the set apart times that YHWH has for us. 

Once again, I am giving you two sets of dates. My aim is not to convince you of the correctness of one calendar over another but to encourage you to pick a set of dates and go with it for keeping the feasts. Work is allowed during certain days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles. I have made note of where the no-work days land for your convenience.

Traditional calendar:

Remember, traditional dates start at sundown on the date listed and go until sundown the next day. For example Passover starts at sundown on April 19 and ends at sundown on the 20th. The traditional calendar always gives an extra day to Shavuot and Yom Teruah, though Scripture treats both as one-day holidays.

Passover - April 19
Feast of Matzah - April 20-27
First Fruits - April 20
Shavuot - June 8-10
Yom Teruah - September 29 - October 1
Yom Kippur - October 8
Sukkot - October 13-21

High holy days/no work days:

Passover - April 19-20 (this is not a no work day in and of itself, but since it lands on Shabbat is treated as such)
First day of Matzah Week - April 20-21
Last day of Matzah Week - April 26-27 (this is also the weekly Sabbath)
Shavuot - June 8-10
Yom Teruah - September 29 - October 1
Yom Kippur - October 8-9
First day of Sukkot - October 13-14
Last day of Sukkot - October 20-21

Click here to download the Hebrew Holidays Traditional Dates.

Torah to the Tribes calendar:

This calendar uses daylight to daylight dates. For example, Passover starts at daylight on April 3 and goes until daylight April 4.

Passover - April 3
Feast of Matzah - April 4-10
First Fruits - April 7
Shavuot - May 26
Yom Teruah - September 17
Yom Kippur - September 26
Sukkot - October 1-8

High holy days/no work days:

First Day of Matzah Week - April 4
Last Day of Matzah Week - April 10
Shavuot - May 26
Yom Teruah - September 17
Yom Kippur - September 26
First Day of Sukkot - October 1
Last Day of Sukkot - October 8

Click here to download the Hebrew Holidays Torah to the Tribe Dates.


Not sure which calendar to go by? The calendar debate can be confusing and there are other sets of dates besides the ones I am sharing. If you have a congregation or group to celebrate with I would personally adhere to what they are using, as getting to celebrate with a like minded group of believers is very special. Each calendar has pros and cons and we probably won't know with 100% certainty what the dates are for the festivals of YHWH until Yahusha returns. As always, pray about what YHWH would have you to do and be willing to adjust as your understanding grows.

Let's starting planning to keep the feasts this year!

Eat to Remember - Passover Pictures

I hope everyone had a very special celebration of Passover, First Fruits, and Unleavened Bread! Were you able to attend a Seder or did you host one yourself? Here are a few pictures from my congregation's.

We don't have our own building so for Passover we rent a small building in an area park. It's really just a large empty space with a kitchen and bathrooms. Which is perfect for us.

Other than the tables and chairs, everything is brought in for Seder. We do this potluck style with everyone pitching in. One person brings the plates, another silverware, someone else the glasses. Everyone brings serving spoons, tablecloths, and a menorah. It's a fair amount of work for everyone but it's doable.

If you're hosting a Seder or Passover celebration I would definitely recommend getting everyone involved with various tasks throughout the evening, whether that's candle lighting, refilling cups, or washing dishes afterwards. Doing work side by side with someone is a much more significant experience than having a few people cater to everyone else. More fun too!

Flowers double as decor and favors with each household getting to take some home.

Biggest day of the year for the matzah pinata!

This is my body broken for you.

Here's this year's version of the famous one page Haggadah. Would you anyone be interested in being able to download it?

Passover menu:

Smoked lamb
Roasted root vegetable medley of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and beets

Rice and lentil pilaf

Einkorn matzah

Local greens with roasted chickpeas, green olives, and shallots

Hummus two ways: garlic and jalapeno cilantro

Avocado hard boiled eggs

Grain free tabbouli

Fresh vegetables

Roasted red pepper sauce

Tahini sauce

Apple cider vinaigrette

Baked charoset

"Eat to remember this all your life." -Deuteronomy 16:3

Go to Passover dessert: two kinds of cheesecake without crust, chocolate ganache, berries, and a raspberry meringue.

Happy Passover!

Beautiful Things for Passover

I wanted to share a few items to make your Passover even more beautiful this year. Decorate your home, add a special touch to your Seder table, or use as gifts. Whether you buy things for the feast days or make them yourself hopefully you have a few special things to help set apart these special times.

Seder Plate or Dishes from Turtle Lane Pottery - $57
Talk about a family heirloom piece!

Chag Sameach Matches from Tchotch Shop - $5
Use these to light up your menorah for the feasts.

Hello Sabbath Decal from Torah Sisters -$4.95
This would be a great gift for a friend!

He is Risen Shirt from Juliet Rose Boutique - $21.99
Wouldn't this to be great to wear on First Fruits? Heart eyes.

Menorah Challah Plate from Turtle Lane Pottery - $49
This could definitely work as a matzah plate, don't you think?

Dayenu Flags from Tchotch Shop - $10.50
If you're not familiar, Dayenu is a beautiful Passover song. The word translates as, "it would have been enough," and the song extols the many things YHWH has done for us. 

Celebrate Passover Wooden Sign from HeartnSaw - $12.99
Love the idea of decor you can use year after year.

Isaiah 51:5 Pouch from Kevin Ohlin - $15
A great depiction of the significance of the Passover season.

Lotzah Matzah Spatula from Modern Tribe - $6
Mine actually just broke and I am so bummed about it. A fun design for sure.

Go Feast Card Game from Rebekah Co - $25.95
Like a regular set of cards but the suits are menorah, torah, trumpets, and crowns.

Matzah Leggings from Shalom Squad -$36/$28
Um, these are amazing! They come in adult and kid sizes. :)


Check out Spring feast gift ideas for kids here!

My Matzah Week: What Celebrating Unleavened Bread Looks Like

A unique element to the Feast of Unleavened Bread (and Sukkot) is the duration of it: one whole week. That's something Western culture is not familiar with. Holidays, from birthdays to weddings to Christmas are one and done. There is anticipation building up to one special day and then it's over. This can create a lot of pressure to make that day spectacular. One of the great things about these Feasts is that since they are so long there is less pressure to have a big blowout day. But this can also seem a little underwhelming. A few times I have come out of Matzah Week thinking that it wasn't terribly different from any other week.

I decided to intentionally make this week a little bit different. I didn't take off work entirely but I did take a few days off. I also spontaneously decided to limit my internet consumption, and didn't read the handful of blogs I check regularly. I put zero thought into this decision but it worked out super well, as when I caught up with them the following week I realized many of the posts centered around easter preparation. I'm happy to have missed that, particularly during a set  apart time of YHWH. Spiritually, I focused on the final days and statements of Yahusha.  A couple of things I did weren't really feast themed but they were things that I enjoy that make the week a little more special, like picking fresh flowers and reading a new book.  Another thing I'm glad I did was to jot down a few of the Feast centered things that I did each day. It's cool to see that not only was I taking steps to celebrate a Feast of YHWH but that this week really was different for me.

I'm sharing with you what my week was like not because I think everyone should copy my schedule, but because the first few times I celebrated Unleavened Bread I kept wondering, but what should we do? So here is what Matzah Week was like for me this year. I think we don't have more instructions on this holy day because YHWH doesn't want us to be carbon copies of each other. We have a few guidelines, the no-work days, not consuming anything leavened, and celebrating but we also have a little creative wiggle room in how we choose to honor him this week.

Monday was a no-work day. My husband and myself took the day off from our professional jobs and also set aside the perpetual to do list for the day so that we could rest and enjoy YHWH's feast.
-We read the Exodus story together.
-The house had some decorations up already but we set out the decorations I brought back from our Pesach celebration. Including my matzah pinata, chocolate Seder plate, coasters, and lots of printables.
-We ate leftovers from the Passover meal, including matzah.
-We watched The Prince of Egypt.

Tuesday:
-Made a fresh batch of homemade matzah.

-Read the Prince of Egypt story.

-Watched the Joshua episode of Stories from the Bible (since it happened right after Passover).

-I got my flair omer counter set up and ready to go.

-Made spaghetti squash with marinara for dinner.

Wednesdays I run errands with my grandmother. Our tradition is visiting a coffee shop at the end of our outing. This time we had to be mindful of not consuming leavened treats.

-Wore my matzah socks!

-Read a new cookbook from the library.

-Matzah for lunch and dinner. Homemade matzah can be soft like a pita or tortilla, so I used mine to make 'tacos' of roasted root vegetables from the Passover meal. Great with cream cheese and a sprinkle of tabbouleh.

Thursday I worked most of the day. I made it a point to still be mindful of this being a special time.

-Read a verse related to Unleavened Bread every few hours.

-Listened to some Passover music throughout the day.

-Wore my clay matzah ring.

-I baked unleavened coconut cookies.

-Watched Torah to the Tribes' Passover.

Friday:

-Made plenty of fresh matzah to prepare for the back to back Shabbats this week.

-Listened to Torah to the Tribes' Unleavened Bread teaching while cooking and getting ready for Shabbat.

-Finally assembled my clay matzah picture frame for an extra decoration.

Shabbat:

-Attended congregation.

-Had a family lunch of black bean soup with matzah.

-Read the Last Supper accounts in the Besorah.

-Got a card around to send to friends also celebrating Matzah Week.

-More Passover music.

Sunday was the other no-work day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

-We slept in.

-Began our omer counting. (There are many different theories on when to start this, so don't feel bad if you started another day.)

-Went for a walk in beautiful weather.

-Picked a few flowers. The first of the year for me.

-Read the remaining Scriptures from this list.

How do you like to spend your Matzah Week? Again, please don't feel like your week needs to be just like mine. Hopefully this gave you some visual inspiration for keeping this feast. More ideas for Unleavened Bread can be found here.
How do celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread?