How To Make Date Paste

What is date paste and how is it made? I have recently used date paste in a couple of recipes and that has resulted in many questions about dates and how to make date paste. Date paste is easy to make and only requires two ingredients. It is a form of sweetness I can feel good about using and I hope you will give it a try as well.

Date paste is a lovely way to sweeten things. Dates are a whole natural food that happen to be sweet with a rich caramel like flavor. Dates contain more nutrients than standard table sugar which is highly processed. When substituting dates or date paste for sugar remember that the dates are not as sweet as granulated sugar. I don’t know of any set ratio for subbing date paste for granulated sugar. It is doing to depend on each individual recipe. The date paste adds moisture that the granulated sugar doesn’t have so this may change the amount of moist ingredients needed in a recipe. Plus we all have a different set point for what “sweet” means to us. With this in mind you just have to play around with the recipes you want to sub date paste for granulated sugar or maple syrup and honey. Experiment with it until you get it right.

I use a food processor fitted with an S blade to blend my date paste. You can also use a high powered blender – you will most likely need a tamper in the blender – the Vitamix comes with a tamper which makes it easier to blend thick ingredients like dates.

These are fresh dates that I buy at Costco. The Medjool dates are very moist and soft and they are my favorite. Dates are high in fiber, high in iron, have more potassium than bananas, have calcium, B-complex and many more nutrients as well as being sodium free, fat free and cholesterol free.

If I can’t get Medjool dates then I would buy Deglet Noor which are semi dry, they are smaller and less moist but still very good. These are the two most common type of dates that I find in my local stores. There are many different varieties of dates to choose from and you may have different options available where you shop.

In this short video I show you exactly how I make date paste – easy peasy!

Date paste can keep in the fridge for weeks in a sealed container. You can also freeze it and thaw it out as you need it.

Date Paste

Tami Kramer Nutmeg Notebook

Date paste is a natural way to add sweetness to recipes. Dates are a whole natural food that happens to be sweet with a rich caramel like flavor.

5 from 3 votes

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Equipment

• Food Processor or High Powered Blender

Ingredients

  

• 1 pound dates, pitted
• boiling water

Instructions

 

• Pit the dates and place them in a bowl, cover with boiling water and let soak for at least 30 minutes to an hour to soften dates. How long to soak will depend on how moist the dates are. The dryer they are the more soaking time they will need.
• Drain dates reserving soaking water.
• Place soaked dates in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the S blade, or in high speed blender, add 1 cup of the reserved soaking water and process until smooth., stopping to scrape down the sides when needed. Add more water if it needs to be thinner.

Notes

Use the leftover soaking water to make hot tea or add it to your smoothies.

Store in a sealed container in the fridge or in the freeze.

Use in sweet or savory recipes.

You can cut the recipe in half or you can double it – depending on how much you need.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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