Summary: Dates can be a useful addition to a dessert recipe that would otherwise call for refined sugar because they are sweet, moist, high in fiber, and caramel flavored. They can be incorporated into brownies, cookies, bars, cakes and other desserts whole fruit, chopped fruit, or as date paste to enhance flavor and structure.
Removing refined sugar from a dessert sounds simple until the texture changes. Granulated sugar does more than make a recipe sweet. It affects moisture, structure, browning, and mouthfeel. Simply removing it can leave desserts dry, dense, or lacking flavor. This is why creating quality refined sugar free desserts requires an ingredient that contributes more than sweetness. Dates offer a practical solution because they naturally bring sweetness, moisture, bulk, and flavor to a recipe.
What Makes Dates Sweet?
The sugars naturally found in dates include glucose and fructose, and are responsible for the unique sweetness of dates. Dried whole dates are also a source of fibre, which is missing from refined granulated sugar, and have other constituents found in fruit.
In addition, they are moderately sweet, but have a unique caramel taste. Dates are especially beneficial in chocolate, nut, oat, cinnamon and vanilla desserts, because of their rich flavor to complement other ingredients.
It’s the diversity of date matters as well. Firmer dates can be chopped for use in batters or fillings, and soft varieties like Medjool are ideal for making purees or blends.
Date Paste Adds More Sweetness
Date paste is one of the most versatile natural sweeteners used in dessert making. It is usually prepared by blending an acidic mixture of battered, pitted dates and then blending to a consistency.
This is a great alternative to using sweeten for bakers to spread sweetness evenly through a recipe. It may also add moisture and act as an ingredient binder.
Use date paste in brownies, cookies, muffins, snack bars, truffles, and no bake desserts. This should not always be used as an individual replacement for refined sugar at the same proportions, however. Not all the other ingredients in the recipe may be able to be used the same way for both sugar and date paste.
How Dates Affect Texture
The first thing to note about dates and refined sugar is that they present as a solid in the form of a fruit versus the sugarier texture of refined sugar. Granulated sugar is used for dissolving and date paste provides moisture and fruit solids to a recipe.
Thus, dates can make desserts less sweet, more filling and chewier. You can use this for fudgy brownies, energy bars, cookies and moist cakes.
Adding too much date paste can, however, result in the recipe being too heavy or too moist. This number is then taken into account when developing a recipe, as will be the amount of date paste used as well as flour, oats, fats, liquids and other ingredients.
It’s not just about making a dessert sweet. The goal is to get the desired texture into the dough and balance the sweetness.
Dates Bring Natural Flavor
Dates can be an important flavor component in a dessert. They’re richly sweet with a depth, which can be a delicious addition to cut down on the need for added sugar.
Dates and cocoa make a natural match, for instance, or dates with almonds, walnuts, oats, or coconut are a satisfying combination to make snack bars and bite-sized desserts.
Also helpful if preparing soy-free desserts where a variety of other foods are used to add richness, binding and/or texture.
Best Uses for Dates
Because their natural moisture content and fruit flavor, dates are an excellent choice for use in desserts. Common applications include:
- Brownies and fudgy cakes
- Oat-based cookies
- Snacks and energy bars
- No-bake bites
- Nut-and-date truffles
- Muffins and loaf cakes
- Naturally sweetened fillings
When making a filling, date paste will give a smoother even result. When used as raisins, they will act as concentrated pockets of sweetness.
What to Remember
There is no such thing as a “natural sweetener”! Deserts prepared using dates may be rich in carbohydrates and sugar as dates do contain them naturally.
The difference with dates is that they are a source of sweetness without the need for refined granules of sugar. Dates are beneficial for consumers who specifically want to cut down on refined sugar.
The best results are achieved with recipes created to include dates as the central focus, instead of a recipe that leaves out sugar and replaces it in the same way, ignoring the moisture and texture of dates, and concealing the structure of the sweetness.
Conclusion
Dates have a number of challenges to address when refined sugar is taken out of dessert recipes. They possess a natural sweetness, moisture and binding characteristics, a level of fruit solids, and a caramel-like flavor which can be blended together to produce “desirable” desserts with a well-rounded texture. Guilt Free Pastries is the place to visit if you are looking to explore thoughtfully prepared refined sugar free desserts and soy free desserts.
FAQs
1. Is it possible to substitute for refined sugar with dates?
Dates make a great substitute for refined sugar in several types of recipes, including against the likes of brownies, cookies, bars, muffins and no-bake desserts. The recipes may need other adjustments, since they are wet and contain fruit solids.
2. What is “date paste”?
This smooth date paste is made by mashing softened, pitted dates. Can add sweetness, moisture and binding to different dessert recipes.
3. Do dates affect the texture of the desserts?
Yes. Desserts can be made as softer, denser and chewier with the addition of moisture and fruit solids. This can work well in brownies, cookies and snack bars.
4. Do we have desserts without sugar that can be served on a children’s birthday?
Sugars are present in fruits and vegetables, such as dates. Even desserts that don’t include refined sugar can contain naturally-occurring sugars from other ingredients like dates.
5. Can dates be used in soy free desserts?
Yes. Dates are excellent sources of sweetness, moisture, flavor, and binding without the need for any soy content in dishes, and can be added to a variety of soy-free dessert recipes.