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This easy date paste is loaded with fiber, minerals, and natural sweetness.

Dates have such wonderful natural vanilla flavor to them. They’ve easily become my favorite sugar replacement.

My Mom has a long history of fake sugars. She’s tried them all, (I can’t handle the fake aftertaste of any of them, even stevia). Lately, she’s been trying date paste and enjoying the rich flavor you get without any nasty chemical aftertaste and no refined sugar.

Better yet, date paste is more versatile than you might originally think. It adds body and flavor to smoothies and sauces, you can use it in granola or energy bites, and you can even bake with it.

So grab that bag of dates hanging out in your pantry and lets unlock the goodness.

Why date paste is secretly awesome

What are dates?

Dates are the fruit of the date palm tree which grows in hot arid climates such as those found in the Middle East, Africa, and desert land in the United States (California, Arizona).

Dates are harvested, then dried. Most of the time, the hard seed is removed, but not always.

When making date paste, it’s important to remove any hard bits from your dates. If you hear a hard crunch, you likely missed removing a seed in your dates.

Benefits of date paste

We all know sugar isn’t the greatest for you, but thankfully date paste can help you out here.

Dates are:

Free of refined sugar, though high in naturally occurring sugars like fructose and dextrose.
Full of fiber, so when you eat a date, you won’t get hit with such a dramatic sugar spike as you would from refined sugar. Also that fiber helps your gut and
Full of vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes: iron, copper, magnesium, Vitamin A, potassium, Vitamin B6, Manganese, Phosphorus, and Zinc.
Rich in tannins: tannin is a protective antioxidant that generally protects against inflammation.

When we eat sugar, processed from either sugar cane or sugar beets, all of the nutrients have been stripped out in the refining process. By starting with whole dates as we do to make this easy date paste, you get the benefits of the whole fruit without some of the nasty side effects that you get from eating a refined sugar.

What kind of dates do I need to make date paste?

In the US, we generally have two choices of date varieties to buy:

Medjool: Large, usually very soft and moist. Sometimes you’ll see what looks like white growth on the outside of these dates. This is sugars crystallized on the outside of the date and NOT moldy. I notice this more in colder months just like you might notice your raw honey crystallizing in cold weather. Do a smell test if you’re worried, but if what you see isn’t fuzzy, it’s unlikely mold.
Deglet Noor: smaller dates with a smoother skin than Medjool.

You can make date paste with either Medjool or Deglet Noors. I find Deglet Noors more often than Medjool, so I tend to use them more, but they’re both delicious.

Date paste vs. date syrup

Date paste is NOT the same thing as date syrup. Whole dates make date paste and remain in the finished product.

Date syrup is made by boiling dates in water until they disintegrate. Then, the dates are strained and the liquid is boiled and reduced to make a sort of natural molasses.

You can use date syrup in place of other liquid sweeteners like honey, maple syrup or molasses, though know that it is not as sweet as any of them.

Date paste on the other hand is used in recipes where the added pulp of the fruit will not affect the outcome of the recipe.

Process for making date paste

First, remove any seeds or hard blossom ends from dates.
Soak dates in boiling water.
Drain the dates, reserving soaking water.
Then blend/chop up dates in a blender or food processor, scraping as necessary. Stop blending when you get a smooth, spreadable paste. If it looks chunky, keep blending.
Adjust the consistency if necessary with reserved soaking water so that your paste looks a tiny bit thinner than peanut butter.

Equipment for making date paste

Use a high speed blender or a food processor. It would be hard to break down the fibers of the dates by hand, but a blender and food processor do a fine job of helping you get a smooth paste that’s easy to add to other recipes.

Knife on a board: If you don’t have a food processor or blender place the soaked dates on a cutting board and chop chop chop. Your paste won’t be as smooth, but if you keep chopping, you’ll get close enough to use in most recipes.

Easy Date Paste

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Author: Elizabeth Farr
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: a little more than 1 cup

Print Recipe

Description

Having date paste in your fridge makes it so easy to get a little sweet taste without the sugar hangover. Bursting with vanilla caramel sweetness, you’ll be surprised at how much you don’t miss the sugar.

Ingredients

Scale

2 cups dried Deglet Noor dates, preferably organic (about 300 grams)
water to cover

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Instructions

Check your dates for any hard bits. Open each date to make sure the hard seed has been removed. Also remove any hard blossom ends (they’ll be at one end of your date).
Place dates in a small pot, then cover with water.
Bring the pot to a boil over medium heat.
Turn off the heat and cover the dates for 10-15 minutes.
The soaked dates should be noticeably softer with the outer skins loosely hanging off the dates.
Drain the dates over a bowl. Press out the water with a spoon, but reserve the water in case you need to adjust the consistency.
Place the dates in a food processor or high speed blender and process until smooth.
Scrape down the sides of your work bowl or jar as necessary. In a blender, it should take about two 45 second cycles, scraping in between. In a food processor, it should take about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl periodically.
Good date paste should be smooth with a consistency a little thinner than peanut butter. Add in a little soaking water if your paste seems thicker than that and process for a few more seconds to make a nice easily spreadable paste.

Notes

What dates to use? My preference is for deglet noor dates as I seem to be able to find them easier than Medjool. Medjool tend to be softer than Deglet Noors, so you may not need as much water when you soak the dates. Still soak your Medjool dates as your paste will be too stiff without any water.
Too chunky?: If your paste seems too chunky, scrape down your work bowl more frequently and add in a little of the soaking water.
Help! I heard a nasty crunch!: Don’t panic. If you heard a hard crunch when you turned on your blender/food processor, you likely missed removing a seed. Take out your blade, then find the offender to remove it. If you’re lucky, it’s probably embedded itself right on the sharp blade. From here, you can keep processing your date paste.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Additional Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Category: Baking building blocks

Nutrition

Serving Size: about 1 tablespoon
Calories: 52
Sugar: 11
Sodium: .38
Fat: .07
Saturated Fat: .01
Carbohydrates: 14
Fiber: 1
Protein: .46

With so many good for you benefits from these little nutritional powerhouses, you should give date paste a try. Get creative adding it to BBQ sauce in place of sugar or to sweeten your next smoothie. Have you tried date syrup or date paste in anything? Let me know in the comments what you’ve found so far that you love about dates!