Date Puree – The Best Natural Sweetener

These shriveled dried dates are anything but pretty. They look prune-y, unappetizing, and are packed together tightly in their plastic containers at local grocery markets. Even when pureed into mushy nothingness, they don’t look very tasty. Yet despite their unappealing appearance, I absolutely love using dates to sweeten my baked goods. They are the absolute most natural, vegan, and healthiest way to sweeten foods. This is because they don’t only just add that extra sweet flavor, but they also contain an abundance of nutrients that will make your body thank you.

In order to make this puree more visually appealing, I filled them inside of a mason jar. Mason jars seem to automatically increase the aesthetic appearance of any type of food, no matter how ugly. This is one of those cases where my mason jar got to work its magic. The only qualm I have with it is that it causes a glare when I take photos. If anyone has a suggestion as to how to fix this, please let me know.

Although the puree is nothing more than a sugary pile of mush, it is indeed quite tasty. It comes in handy for sweetening anything besides, well, probably your coffee. For an average person, the sugar content in dates are not concerning; however, they are not recommended for diabetics. Granted, if you’re a diabetic who’s going to eat sugar anyways. This would be 10 times better for you.

Health Benefits:

Dates are complex carbohydrates because of their high fiber content. They won’t cause as much of a sugar spike in your blood. They also contain nutrients such as potassium, iron, vitamin B, and magnesium. In turn, they can reduce your risk for heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular diseases.

So should you substitute other sweeteners with date puree when baking? YES, YOU SHOULD!

Until next time, stay happy and healthy y’all.