How to Make Date Paste As A Natural Fruit-Based Sweetener?

Ingredients:

2 cups (300 g) dried dates pitted

Directions:

1. Place dates in a bowl.

2. Blend with a hand blender until smooth.

Storage:

Keeps up to three months in the fridge.

Additional Information:

This is really easy - only one ingredient and hand blender, and you are ready to go :-)

I like to use dates as my sweetener in smoothies and have been mixing water with dates. Today, I found out that others are also doing it. And it can be made into date paste too.

Date paste is a more nutritious sweetener, although you still have to limit yourself as it is still super sweet like sugar. Use date paste as you would use honey. Date paste can be used in place of honey, maple syrup or sugar in recipes.

Since it is still a form of sugar, albeit more a much more natural and nutritious sugar - dates is a good source of fiber, potassium, magnesium, copper, manganese and vitamin B6, one still has to consume them in moderation.

All recipes I found use water. But I don't think it is necessary, as the date paste will last longer without water in it. Mine is very thick, like those thick honey. I prefer to add water, when I am about to use it, if need be.

If you use a hand blender, you won't need to use water. If I use my Magimix blender jug, I will need water to make it run. Thus, to make date paste, it is best to use a hand blender. It is done in five minutes, and without the hassle of transferring it between bowls and blender.

I weighed them and found out that one tablespoon of date paste weighs 17 g and it is about 1 - 1.5 date. My dates weighs between 10 - 15 g each. If I am using it for smoothie, I will add two tablespoon of date paste, which is roughly equivalent to 3 dates.

References:

https://thehealthyfoodie.com/date-paste/
https://thecoconutmama.com/date-paste/
https://detoxinista.com/make-date-paste-healthy-sugar-substitute/
https://getinspiredeveryday.com/lifestyle/natural-sweeteners-dates/
https://www.wholekitchensink.com/5-ways-to-use-dates-instead-of-sugar/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/date-recipes-healthy_n_56af7951e4b0010e80eac28c

You will need natural dried dates. It cost 25 DKK for a pack of 600 g at Netto or Lidl supermarket at the vegetable section. Use half a packet or approx. 2 cups to make date paste.

  You can use any amount you want, just sufficient amount for your hand blender to work.

 Place the dates in a big bowl.

    Blend them with your hand blender until smooth...

 About 5 minutes.

Now it's done :-)

 Transfer to an air-tight jar. I recycle jam jars.

  Use like you would with honey... put 2 TBS into smoothie...

Nutritious & Healthy Danish Wholemeal Biscuits Knækbrød

Adapted from Meyers' recipe

Makes 2 trays

Ingredients:

1. 1 dl rolled oats
2. 1 dl sesame seeds
3. 1 dl flax seeds
4. 1 dl sunflower seeds
5. 1 dl pumpkin seeds
6. 2 TBS wheat germ
7. 3.5 dl white whole wheat flour
8. 1 tsp salt
9. 1 tsp baking powder
10. 1 dl olive oil
11. 2 dl water
13. 10 dried dates pitted

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 175 degree celsius.

2. Blend the dates with water to make date paste. I use Magimix power blend for 1 run under the smoothie program, but any blender will do.

3. In a large mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Add olive oil and mix well.

5. Add the date paste and mix well into a dough. The consistency should be like ordinary dough, firm but not sticky.

6. Divide into 2 portions.

7. Take a portion out and roll it with a rolling pin in between two pieces of baking paper, until they are approx. 2-3 mm thick and covering the whole area of the baking paper.

8. Place it on the baking tray.

9. Cut the dough across and down with a pizza-knife to form a grid.

10. Bake for 15 minutes until golden and crispy. If the pieces are still a little soft, bake them for another 5 minutes or so.

11. Let it cool down and enjoy.

Storage:

Can last for 2-3 weeks in an air-tight container.

Additional Information:

Baby FECS really like the store-bought beet root Danish biscuits knækbrød that we put in her lunch box. Thus, I decided to learn to make it. Knækbrød literally translated means crispy bread in Danish, but it tastes more like biscuits.

I made this today and everyone in the family likes it. It passes even the test of Daddy FECS. I change the recipe by adding a little sweetness to the dough, using the date paste.

According to the Meyer's recipe, you can add 50 g of grated vegetables such as beet root, carrot, celery or pumpkin to get colorful biscuits. You can also add blanched and minced spinach into the dough. You can use other seeds, nuts or rolled grains such as rolled spelt, so long as you keep to the same proportion. So next time I will try it :-)

If you have a problem getting it crispy, you can replace some of the flour with wholemeal corn flour - it gives a nice color and also makes the biscuits more crispy.

I also hope to see if I can reduce the amount of oil, without affecting the taste.

References:

https://www.madbanditten.dk/2012/02/25/knasende-kerneknaekbrod-uden-mel/
https://www.dk-kogebogen.dk/opskrifter/32722/de-bedste-knaekbroed
https://www.meyersmad.dk/lav-mad/opskrifter/knakbrod-med-horfro-og-graskarkerner/
https://stinna.dk/bagvaerk/grove-knaekbroed-med-graeskarkerner.html
https://drkoch.dk/opskrift-knaekbroed/
https://www.madling.dk/knaekbroed/
http://simonethranenielsen.dk/2017/03/14/sundt-knaekbroed-med-fuldkorn/
https://www.valdemarsro.dk/hjemmebagt-knaekbrod/
https://www.carrotstick.dk/knaekbrod-hjemmelavet-opskrift/
https://www.alt.dk/emner/knaekbrod
https://www.femina.dk/sundhed/kost-motion/lchf-knaekbroed-er-et-perfekt-mellemmaaltid-som-er-baade-laekkert-sundt-og-nemt
https://politiken.dk/mad/opskrifter/art5480735/Verdens-bedste-kn%C3%A6kbr%C3%B8d
https://www.dr.dk/mad/opskrift/kanelknaekbrod

You will need natural dried dates. It cost 25 DKK for a pack of 600 g at Netto or Lidl supermarket at the vegetable section.

Make a date paste by blending 10 dried dates pitted

 with 2 dl of water.

I use the smoothie program to blend the dates and water.

Now it's done :-)

 In a mixing bowl, add 1 dl of rolled oats.

Add 1 dl of sesame seeds.

Add 1 dl of flax seeds.

Add 1 dl sunflower seeds.

Add 1 dl pumpkin seeds.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt.

Add 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Add 3.5 dl of white whole wheat flour.

Stir and mix all the dry ingredients.

Add 1 dl of olive oil.

Add 2 tablespoons of wheat germ.

Stir and mix well.

Add the date paste.

Stir and mix well.

Divide the dough into two portions and place it on a baking paper.

Cover on the top with another baking paper.

 Roll it with a rolling pin in between two pieces of baking paper, until they are approx. 2-3 mm thick and covering the whole area of the baking paper.

Place it on a baking sheet.

Remove the top piece of baking paper.

Gently cut the dough across and down with a pizza-knife to form a grid.

10. Bake for 15 minutes at 175 degree celsius until golden and crispy. Rotate to distribute the hot spots. If the pieces are still a little soft, bake them for another 5 minutes or so.

 Now it's done :-) Let cool completely.

Serve :-)

Store in an air-tight container. It should keep for 2-3 weeks.

Update 16 September 2019:

Today I made Danish wholemeal biscuits with chopped almonds and walnuts instead of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. They tasted equally goods and the kids love them :-)

Biscuit dough :-)

C Summary (3Y3M23D): Started Doing Homework

  

2 September 2019 (3Y3M23D)

C asked to do homework two months ago. We try to do three pages a day, usually during bedtime or early in the morning, when she wakes up. But we don't always manage to do so. Many of the workbooks she is doing was J's old workbook. I would just erase a page for C to do. C would comment about big brother's work.

C would ask to do homework pretty often. I think I am more relaxed with her and less goal-oriented, compared to where I was with J. 

Some pictures of her first attempts at homework for my own memories...

2 September 2019 (3Y3M23D)