Making date puree is simple and will save you a huge amount of money rather than buying the commercial stuff. Why bother? Why not just use less sugar, honey, maple syrup, or agave? Or just use artificial sweeteners? If you're diabetic or cutting back on sugar, date puree is a good, natural substitute for refined sugar and other sweeteners in baked goods. Date puree tastes good--sort of like brown sugar--and it has what I would call food value. Dates, unlike refined sugar, are loaded with nutrients that are actually good for you. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), one serving of dates (about 100 grams or four dates) contains a high percentage of your recommended daily amount of copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and vitamin-B6. Dates also are rich in antioxidents. Date puree has sugar in it--fruit sugar, which is less likely to cause blood sugar spikes because of the high amount of fiber in the dates. Honey and maple syrup are slightly better than refined sugar but not by much, and they will cause greater blood sugar spikes than date puree. Artificial sweeteners and "natural, low calorie sweeteners" (like stevia) are generally heavily refined, and, although they may not spike your blood sugar, they tend to keep your desire for sweet things high. Plus, some of the alternative sweeteners taste weird. I'm convinced it's best to avoid them.
All that said, date puree isn't magic. Dates, like most fruits, are sweet and have carbohydrates in them that will spike your glucose levels if you don't keep your portions in check. Date puree also is harder to use for baking than refined sugar. You won't, for example, get crisp cookies easily (I'm still working on that one). Because sugar acts as a preservative in foods, the less sweet baked goods made with dates will need to be refrigerated or eaten quickly, as they tend to spoil more readily than treats made with refined sugar.
Despite some of the challenges to using dates for sweetening foods, I think it's worth the effort. Cutting back on refined sugar is a good thing, whether you're diabetic or not. I'm also convinced it's critical for children to eat less refined sugar and avoid artificial and ultra-processed sweeteners. Dates provide a good way to have sweet treats that have nutritional value rather than empty calories. Making your own date puree enables you to minimally process the dates and allow them to maintain their nutritional value. So make some date paste soon and check out some of the recipes on the blog that use date paste as an ingredient. The recipes generally are listed as "diabetic friendly." Enjoy!
How to Make Date Puree -- Makes about 4 cups
4 cups of dates or about 16-21 ounces (dates vary in size--I use deglet nour dates
because they often are less expensive than medjool dates)
Hot/boiling water to cover the dates
Put the dates in a large bowl or measure--I use a Pyrex quart measure. Cover the dates with boiling water, stir them well, cover them loosely, and let them sit until they cool and have absorbed most of the water. Alternatively, cover the dates with water from the tap and microwave the dates/water for about 5 minutes until the water is hot/mostly boiling. Stir the dates/water well, cover the mixture loosely, and let the dates/water sit until cool and the dates have absorbed most of the water. Put the dates and any remaining water in the bowl into the food processor (with the s-blade) or a blender and process the date/water mixture until the mixture is smooth. You'll need to scrape down the sides of the food processor a couple of times. Put the date puree in sealed containers in the refrigerator. The date puree, depending on the type of dates you use, may be a light brown or a deeper shade of brown. It's fine.
If you need only a small amount of date puree--1/4 cup or less--pour just enough hot water over the dates to cover them, let the dates/water cool, and mash them with a fork or spoon or use a mini-food processor.
This is what the dates will look like before you pulse them in a food processor or blender. Note that the dates have absorbed most of the water.
