HOW TO MAKE DATE PASTE (A HEALTHY SUGAR SUBSTITUTE!)

I’ve been on a mission to sweeten more of my dessert recipes with dates lately. If you ask me, dates are the BEST natural sweetener because they are loaded with fiber and essential minerals, like calcium and iron.

Are dates good for diabetics?

I know some people are scared of the “sugar” in dates, but research has shown that dates are a low glycemic food. A study that tested the effect of eating dates on healthy individuals and on those with diabetes found that dates do not cause significant glucose spikes in the blood, and therefore may be beneficial for diabetics as part of a healthy diet. (source)

How to Make Date Paste

The ratio I’ve been using to make date paste is 1 cup of tightly packed dates (about 8 ounces by weight) + 1/4 cup of water. I wanted to use as little water as possible, so as not to add too much hydration to a recipe when making sugar substitutions, but this seems to be just enough water to also make the dates blend in a normal food processor. (That way you don’t need a fancy high-speed blender!)