How to Make Date Paste {Natural Sweetener}

Date paste is a delicious, all-natural sweetener made from nature’s candy – DATES. It’s whole30 approved, vegan and a paleo-friendly sugar substitute. This recipe is SO easy to make, too!

This post is slightly nutrition nerdy but completely mind blowing and MAJORLY WORTH saving. #justsayin. Yes, we’re going to go on a date with date. A tutorial “date” on how to make date paste. Aka, a whole 30/Paleo/refined sugar free sugar substitute for your favorite dishes and baked goods. Haha, yes, I’m that corny. But seriously, nature’s candy (aka dates) can do wonders.

More corniness stops here.

Some healthy facts about date paste:

Dates are a fruit and in the United States, you will mostly find them dried. Because of this, the calorie count will be slightly higher than eating them fresh. Also, they will need to be soaked before you can use them.

There are plenty of good reasons to add it to your diet! Here are just a few to “chew” on:

• Good source of fiber
• Rich in Antioxidants – They have several kinds of beneficial antioxidants.
• Nutrient Dense – Dates contain calcium, magnesium, potassium and other minerals that promote bone health.

Do dates raise blood sugar?

The balance of fiber with the already low glycemic index makes this a great sweetener for diabetics. It does not cause a large spike in blood sugar levels like white sugar will.

How to substitute date paste for sugar

Once you learn how to make date paste, you’ll want to use it in place of any sweetener. Just don’t expect it to taste exactly the same as if you used sugar. You may want to experiment with it a bit to get the taste the way you like it. You can experiment by using a little extra to increase the sweetness. The more date paste you use, the more cake-like the final product will be.

If you want to use your homemade date paste in place of sugar, use an equal amount of date paste for the sugar in the recipe. Date paste will make your cookies and cake a little softer and slightly less sweet.

You can also use date paste to replace other sweeteners. If your recipe calls for maple syrup or honey, you can use date paste. The ratio however is ⅔ cup of date paste for every ½ cup of syrup or honey.

Substitute the paste for sweetener in any of these types of recipes:

• Muffins
• Cookies
• Mug cake
• Coffee sweetener (A whole 30 friendly coffee sweetener ya’ll!)
• Marinades
• Brownies

Okay, so we know how to use date paste and when to use it, but here are a few recipe tips and tricks to get you started from IGTV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Lindsay || Cotter Crunch (@cottercrunch) on Sep 23, 2019 at 9:02am PDT

Recipes

This recipe makes a large batch, so you can use it in a variety of dishes. I always have a batch made and ready to use.

You’ll notice some of my recipes already use it as a sweetener. In others, you can replace the maple syrup or honey with the paste. Here are just a few of my favorite recipes to use it in.

• Almond Flour Cookies  – In place of maple syrup.
• Breakfast Muffins with No Added Sugar
• Cranberry Balsamic Chicken – Use it in place of the maple syrup to make the marinade
• Sticky Date Cake Yogurt Bowls
• Vegan Hazelnut Turkish Coffee – In place of sugar or maple syrup. Blend well!
• Bulletproof Iced Coffee Latte – To naturally sweetened your coffee, while also keeping this coffee WHOLE 30 friendly, add 2 tablespoon of date paste and blend.

STORAGE TIPS!

Store the date paste in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 – 4 weeks. I store mine in glass container and use it when needed. If you store it in the freezer, it will keep well for up to a year!

How to Make Date Paste

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★★★★★

4.7 from 3 reviews

• Author: Lindsay Cotter
• Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
• Yield: 1.5 to 2 cups (about 28–32 tbsp) 1x

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Description

Date paste is a delicious, all-natural sweetener made from nature’s candy – DATES. It’s whole30 approved, vegan and a paleo-friendly sugar substitute.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 12 ounces Medjool dates, pitted (about 12-16 dates)
• 1–2 cups purified water (enough to cover dates)

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Instructions

1. Place dates in large bowl and cover completely with purified water. Soak dates for 2 hours or up to 2 days in fridge. For a quicker version you can use 1 cup boiling hot water.
2. Once dates are softened, place dates and soaking water into high powered blender or food processor. NOTE – If you’d like the paste thicker, discard a few tablespoons of the water prior to blending.
3. Process until very smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. The thinner the paste, the less sweet it is. To use it as a sugar substitute. I recommend smoothing it out similar to the texture of applesauce so it substitutes well in baking and in marinades. That being said, you can keep the date paste thick for sticky marinades and sauces.
4. Store the date paste in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 weeks or freeze for up to a year. I store mine in glass container and use it when needed.

Notes

• See blog post for recipe tips and substitutions!
• ⅔ cup date paste is about equal to ½ maple syrup or honey.

• Prep Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 0 minutes
• Category: Condiments
• Cuisine: American

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 2 tbsp
• Calories: 50
• Sugar: 12 g
• Sodium: 0.2 mg
• Fat: 0 g
• Saturated Fat:
• Carbohydrates: 13.5 g
• Fiber: 1.2 g
• Protein: 0.3 g
• Cholesterol:

Keywords: date paste, natural sweeteners, healthy sugar substitutes

Alright friends, are you feeling intrigued and motivated to date paste? I think once you start, you’ll be hooked! I may be bias.

Thanks for the sweet date. 😉 OMG i’ll stop with puns now.

Cheers!

LC