Transforming old dried date into smooth tasty paste

Name: Transforming old dried date into smooth tasty paste
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 kg pitted dried date; 1 tablespoon butter; Almost 1 cup or a bit more water (to be added gradually -depends how dry the dates are); 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder; 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder; 2 tablespoons orange blossom water (Highly recommended to add!)

Linda L. @lindzi

Lebanese

For some reason, I ended up with almost 1kg of very dried date fruit. And, coming from a country where date is more important than chocolate, I thought it'd be good to turn them into a paste, like my mom would do.

Date paste is a great healthy alternative for chocolate, the colour is same, same sweetness, and the taste is as good if not better!

We use it as a filling in cookies (like Maamoul or Makrouta...) or to make energy balls (see this recipe https://cookpad.wasmer.app/uk/r/9196793

Date paste is a great healthy alternative for chocolate, the colour is same, same sweetness, and the taste is as good if not better!

We use it as a filling in cookies (like Maamoul or Makrouta...) or to make energy balls (see this recipe https://cookpad.wasmer.app/uk/r/9196793

Linda L. @lindzi

Lebanese

Date paste is a great healthy alternative for chocolate, the colour is same, same sweetness, and the taste is as good if not better!

We use it as a filling in cookies (like Maamoul or Makrouta...) or to make energy balls (see this recipe https://cookpad.wasmer.app/uk/r/9196793

Date paste is a great healthy alternative for chocolate, the colour is same, same sweetness, and the taste is as good if not better!

We use it as a filling in cookies (like Maamoul or Makrouta...) or to make energy balls (see this recipe https://cookpad.wasmer.app/uk/r/9196793

Saved

Ingredients

1 kgpitted dried date
1 tablespoonbutter
Almost 1 cup or a bit more water (to be added gradually -depends how dry the dates are)
Extra flavour (optional):
1/2 teaspooncinnamon powder
1/4 teaspooncardamom powder
2 tablespoonsorange blossom water (Highly recommended to add!)

Saved

Steps

1

Add the dates with the butter in a pot on medium to low heat. Keep mixing until the butter melts and the grains of date are shiny. Now turn the heat to the lowest temperature, cover the pot, but don't go anywhere! stay nearby as you need to keep stirring every few minutes.
2

⚠️ It's very important to keep stirring while cooking on low heat, because date is sugary and you don't want the sugar to burn, you just want the dates to be soft and smooth.
3

Keep mixing every few minutes. Cover. mix. cover. mix. After almost 10-15 minutes (depends how dry the dates are) the dates will start sticking to each other. Add almost half a cup of water. Stir until the water is absorbed by the date. Cover and let it cook again. ALWAYS ON LOW HEAT.
4

Keep repeating the same steps. Stir, cover, stir, add a bit of water gradually, stir, cover. until you start to see the dates sticking together and easy to mash with the spoon. before removing from the heat add the cinnamon powder, cardamom powder and orange blossom water. stir to combine the flavours very veryyyy well!
5

You should end up with a spreadable paste, but you might have small bits still visible. Depending on how you want to use it, but if you're using it as a cooking filling it's better to give it a blitz in the blender until completely smooth. I did this.
6

Because the dates a had were very dry the whole process took me around 40-45 minutes to get that smoothness.
7

You can store it in the fridge for a few weeks ~month (as long as it smells and tastes good) or you can even split into smaller flat portions, cover with cling film and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.