As a healthy alternative to sugar in recipes, date paste owes everything to the fruit it’s made from. Date palms grow in desertlike conditions, and the hot sun concentrates the fruit’s natural sugars, creating an intensely sweet, caramelized taste.
With their tender texture, all dates need is a soak in hot water and a quick blitz in the food processor to be transformed into an all-purpose natural sweetener that enhances other flavors without overpowering them. Nutrition bonus: Unlike table sugar, a single Medjool date contains vitamins, minerals, and 1.6 grams of fiber.
Date paste can be stored for up to 1 month in the fridge or up to 6 months in the freezer.
Freezer tip: Scoop paste in 1-ounce (2-tablespoon) dollops onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Store dollops in a resealable plastic bag. The small portions thaw quickly and make it easy to take out just what you need for a recipe
Daily Uses for Date Paste
In baking recipes, substitute date paste for dry sweeteners using a 1:1 ratio.
Whisk it into salad dressings to help emulsify and add a hint of sweetness.
Date paste is essentially comprised of 100 percent macerated fresh dates. They are each cleaned, pitted, and softened in hot water before combining the mixture in a commercial food processor. Once blended, it produces a slightly sticky and thick consistency similar to other fruit-based spreads.
Why is date paste good for you? Because, in addition to being a great natural sugar substitute and better for you than refined sugars, dates have many health benefits including: Being high in fiber, which is incredibly important for digestion. Being a source of potassium, copper, magnesium, manganese and B vitamins.
We consider dates to be one of the healthiest sweeteners on the market. Minerals: With potassium, magnesium, and calcium in abundance, date paste promotes heart health, muscle function, and more. Fiber: High in dietary fiber, date paste aids digestion.
Date syrup is nectar extracted from dates. Its syrup like consistency is great for topping pancakes, used as a glaze in cooking, to sweeten baked goods and much more! Date paste is pitted and puréed dates best used for raw treats, smoothies and as a binder & sweetener in baked goods.
It is mindboggling how rich date syrup is in various essential vitamins, as well as minerals, including potassium, magnesium, and iron. It also contains antioxidants and dietary fiber, making it a healthier sweetener option. On the other hand, Maple syrup is high in calories and sugar, with minimal nutritional value.
Dates are rich in antioxidants such as flavonoids, carotenoids, and phenolic acids, which can help protect against oxidative stress and inflammation in the body. In fact, dates scored the highest in antioxidant content compared to sweeteners like honey and maple syrup.
A tablespoon of date syrup contains more than twice the potassium, calcium, and magnesium levels of maple syrup or honey, with up to 10 times the antioxidants. Refined sugar has none of that.
Dates contain a sugar alcohol known as sorbitol, which may increase bowel movements in some people. Therefore it's best to limit or avoid dates until your bowel movements have normalized.
Fibre helps to regulate digestion, promoting feelings of fullness and reducing the overall calorie intake. Dates are also a natural source of sugar. Therefore, they can provide a quick energy source without spiking blood sugar levels. However, it's important to note that eating dates alone can not reduce belly fat.
Apart from being an excellent substitute for refined sugar, dates can improve the skin, aid in losing weight, reduce belly fat, prevent hair loss, and provide support during pregnancy.
Healthy digestion: Due to high soluble and insoluble fiber content, dates are ideal for healthy digestion. Dates may prevent constipation, diarrhea, and inflammation of the digestive tract. Promotes good gut bacteria: Dates are rich in essential compounds, such as amino acids, nicotine, and dietary fiber.
While dates are a concentrated source of sugar, they're considered lower glycemic than other refined sugars. The fiber in dates helps balance out the sugar preventing such a drastic blood sugar spike. This along with the additional nutrients make dates a great sugar replacement!
Use raisin paste to sweeten your favorite recipes and substitute it for dates with this easy recipe. Dates are an expensive ingredient, and if you don't use them often, they dry up and go bad, which is why I long ago switched to making raisin paste to sweeten baked goods, smoothies, and more.
Although figs and dates may be sweet and fibrous, they're two entirely different plants. Dates are the fruit of the date palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera), while figs are harvested from the fig tree (Ficus carica) ( 1 , 2 ).
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