Making date syrup at home is always been on my to do list. Date syrup are easily available in markets but homemade ones are good & pure which also gives a great self satisfaction of making it at home. I have learnt this recipe from my neighbor.
Homemade date syrup tastes unbelievably delicious and I am sure you will not go in for store bought ones. It takes little more effort to make at home , but when you see the end product it's all worth! You can introduce dates to your baby after 8 months, for more details on the health benefits of dates and how to introduce dates to your baby, check here.
- Can be a sweetener for baby/toddler porridge's, kheer, purees etc
- Sweeten your dessert with it instead of sugar
- Use as a spread for dosas, pancakes, Chapati/roti or bread.
- Combine with milk*
* There is a discussion about combining calcium and iron rich foods, as the calcium will inhibit iron absorption, but some sources are saying dates and milk combo is the exception! Hence do check with your doctor before consuming this dates syrup with milk!
Homemade Date Syrup Recipe | Sweetener for baby and toddler food
Ingredients
- Dates - 1 cup
- Water - 1 cup
Instructions
Preparation
- Measure the dates using a measuring cup & keep it ready.
Method
- Desseed the dates and take them in a vessel & wash it once. Then soak the dates in 1 cup of hot water for 10 minutes. It should be soft now. Some dates needs more soaking, soak it until the dates are soft enough. Heat it for 2 minutes and cooled down. So that it's easy enough to mash.
- Mash the dates well with your hands and extract the dates water by straining using a cheese cloth. Squeeze out the water completely by stirring with your hand. Discard the dates and collect the water in a saucepan. Repeat the process with little water if necessary.
- Boil the dates water in a saucepan until it becomes thick. Keep the flame low to medium and stir it occasionally to avoid burning at the bottom.
- Boil it until it becomes quite dark, thick and reached a honey like consistency. Switch off the flame once done.
Nutrition
Procedure :
- Squeeze out and extract the water slowly so that you get good amount of water.
- Adding more water makes the syrup watery.
- Soaking time purely depends on the dates type used, if not using softer variety, soak it in hot water for 2 hours & continue with the remaining steps.
- This dates syrup becomes little thick after cooling down so switch it off the flame accordingly. Don't over boil.
- Keep it refrigerated and consume with in a couple of weeks.
- Giving this dates syrup too often makes the baby sweet tooth. Hence its always recommended to use this raisins syrup in moderation.
- Always check with your pediatrician before introducing any new food.
kitchenkathukutty
Tempting click as usual 🙂
Madhavi Cyber Kitchen
Good to know about you dear !! Beautiful blog and yummy recipes 🙂 Keep Blogging ..!!
Sathya- MyKitchenodyssey
Dates syrup looks delicious.Nice click and wonderful recipes.
Anonymous
can we grind the pulp in mixie so thatwe get more syrup and can we reuse the strained dates pulp?
gkfooddiary
U can give a try n see. Am not sure whether it will increase the quantity. You can resuse the pulp while making homemade jams, kheer as a sweetner.. But it won't be that sweet so make sure to adjust with sugar/jaggery
Preet
It's already more than 3 weeks after I have made the syrup. How long can I use it or shall I use it for some adult recipe and finish it off?
gkfooddiary
I haven't used more than 2 weeks. Really not sure. So check its not spoilt and consume it for adult food.
Sharmi
Hi!
Just a small doubt, wether boiling the syrup a second will make its nutrition reduce?
gkfooddiary
No not much. This is the way dates syrup should be prepared for storing purposes. Otherwise it won't stay good.
MADANi
can it be used as a add on in 6 months babies purees to make it tasty as my baby is not enjoying the purees without the sweetners
Kalyani
Sure yes!
Madani Begum
thnq bt a small doubt hez jst started 6th mnth so is it safe for him to gv it as add on in purees
Kalyani
it is better to give plain puree first and later on you can add it if the baby doesn't like the plain taste