Homemade date syrup is ready in 30 minutes, plus soaking time, and makes a delicious natural sweetener for your baked goods and savory dishes. While you can find date syrup in your local grocery store, making it at home is actually easier than you think!
You need only two ingredients: dates and water. That’s it.
If time is a third ingredient, then you’ll need about two and a half hours from start to finish. Let’s get cooking!
A Syrup Rich in History
Dates have been around for a few millennia, appear to be indigenous to the Middle East, with most crops grown along the Dead Sea and in North Africa.
Date palms thrive there due to the arid conditions above ground allowing the plants to draw their needed moisture from below ground. The Smithsonian Magazine has a great piece published in November/December of last year that goes into more detail about the history of dates than I have space for here. Highly recommend checking it out (it’s linked on my blog post). Read more about dates and their storied history here.
TLDR: date syrup isn’t a new concept by any means and it’s definitely a delicious sweetener option to make at home if you are able.
Bringing Dates to California
In California, we’re lucky to have local farms able to grow dates.
Interesting fact: according to the Los Angeles Times, California grows 90% of all dates in the United States with many grown in the Coachella Valley (yes, the same location as the famed music festival), which makes this a wonderful option to have a delicious ingredient grown so locally.
As noted in an article by the LA Times, the date palms clearly did not arrive here spontaneously and were likely brought over around the end of the 19th century by botanists as part of a program started by the Department of Agriculture in search “of new crops to bring back to the United States.” How fascinating is that?
The Making of Date Syrup
We already know we only need two ingredients to make date syrup at home. Here are the steps we’ll need to take to make it.
- First, soak the dates for about 2 hours. If using a variety other than medjool, the soak time might be a little longer if the skins are thicker.
- Next, we’ll mash up the dates to extract the liquid. We won’t blend them here as it will break up the fibers too much making it harder to strain. A good mash is all we need.
- Once the liquid is extracted, we’ll strain the mixture over a mesh strainer fitted with cheesecloth. Place the strainer over a bowl or pitcher to capture the extracted liquid.
- Upon extract all liquid, pour it into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stirring frequently, simmer the syrup for about 20 minutes until the mixture is thickened to a nice syrupy consistency with a line holding at the bottom of the pan when a spoon scrapes the bottom.
A video time lapse of the syrup progression is below for added reference.
Storing and Using Date Syrup
Using 2 cups of dates plus 2 cups of boiled water ultimately yields approximately 1/3 cup date syrup. Store date syrup in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. It will keep in the fridge for up to a month. You can use it in any recipe that calls for a bit of sweetness. Drizzle date syrup on a yogurt bowl, add to your oats, or even sweeten your tea with this delicious syrup. My One-Bowl Banana Bread is a great recipe to use the date syrup in. And the best part? You can use the entire 1/3 cup in the recipe!
Let me know if you make this recipe by tagging me on Instagram. I can’t wait to see what you make!
In the meantime, cheers to the next nourishing meal. ❤️
Homemade Date Syrup
Ingredients
- 2 cups pitted medjool dates
- 2 cups boiled, slightly cooled water
Instructions
- Rinse your dates, remove any pits and place in a medium bowl.
- Pour the boiled, and slightly cooled, water over the dates. Soak for at least 2 hours to overnight.
- Use a masher to mash the dates to extract the liquid from the fruit.
- Fit a mesh strainer over a bowl and line the strainer with cheesecloth. Pour the mashed dates over the cheesecloth and squeeze out the remaining liquid. The liquid will appear thin and water. This is okay. Once strained, pour the mixture into a sauce pan and begin to bring it to a boil.
- Lower to a simmer and simmer date syrup in the sauce pan, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Simmer syrup until it reaches a thick, syrupy consistency. This may take up to about 20 minutes depending on the consistency of stove temperature. Remove from heat to cool before storing in an airtight container.
- This recipe yields 1/3 cup. Store date syrup in the fridge for about a month.
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