Learning how to make date syrup for babies is so easy, especially when it contains only two ingredients; dates and water for the best-tasting caramel-like flavored date syrup with a similar taste to maple syrup! A high-speed blender is required to make a smooth date syrup paste.
The total cooking time for this easy recipe is 30 minutes, yet it only requires you to heat some water, soak the dates for 30 minutes then 1 minute of blending. It is that easy to make date syrup from whole dates.
This date syrup for babies is the best natural sweetener that is so simple to make. Homemade date syrup for babies is a great way to naturally sweeten foods for your baby, toddler, or yourself. Anyone looking for healthy alternatives to sugar will love this naturally sweet syrup made from fresh dates.
Refined sugar was a high food intolerance for me on my latest bioresonance food sensitivity test. When I ran out of my monk fruit and erythritol sweetener, I wanted to find another natural sweetener. That’s when making date syrup came to mind.
I also wanted to make a date syrup for my toddler as I would like to avoid giving her refined sugar as much as possible. She has had bites of sweet treats and ice cream with friends, but I have not given her any refined sugar at home.
Instead, I use bananas which she loves to sweeten this banana oatmeal for babies that she has for breakfast almost every morning. While bananas are great, I also wanted to be able to sweeten other recipes for her, so I decided to try making a simple date syrup for babies.
Perfect, I thought. Homemade date syrup is excellent for both my toddler and me. If you are looking for an easy homemade natural sweetener, this date syrup recipe for babies, toddlers, and adults is for you!
How to make date syrup for babies
It is so easy to make this date syrup recipe. All you need is a good quality high-speed blender such as the Vitamix to blend into a smooth paste.
Depending on your blender, hard dates can be challenging to blend, so it is best to soak them in 1 cup of boiling water for half an hour until they are nice and soft. Soaking the dates in boiling water will help to yield a smooth date syrup paste consistency.
Transfer the softened dates that have been soaking in 1 cup of hot water into a blender and blend on high for 1 minute.
Place the blended date syrup in a glass jar, store it in the fridge, where it will last for 2-3 weeks, and use it as needed.
You can add more water if you want a thinner, more syrupy consistency, but I liked the smooth yet thicker texture as it is since it is easy to spoon out and blends well into any recipe.
Ways to use date syrup for babies and toddlers
The ideas are endless on how you can use this easy date syrup. I suggest substituting all refined sugar with this date syrup and seeing how it tastes because you only know once you try it! You will most likely be surprised by how many recipes taste just as good with date syrup.
- I like to sweeten my toddler’s oatmeal with this date syrup for babies, which is a healthy breakfast recipe.
- You can also use it in quinoa porridge
- On top of these healthy carrot pancakes or these banana oat pancakes.
- Another way I use date syrup is in my smoothies
- Add to chia puddings such as this mango chia pudding
- Mix with yogurt with berries
- Sweeten any baby food recipe with the date syrup
Now that I have homemade date syrup in my fridge, I will try substituting honey and all other sweeteners with this date syrup in salad dressings and any recipe that calls for a sweetener.
Benefits of dates syrup for babies
According to cronometer (a fantastic app for calculating the nutritional profile of foods), the complete recipe of this natural date sweetener only contains 204 calories. The primary natural sugars found in this date paste are fructose and glucose.
Homemade date syrup made from blended dates with water is a great sugar substitute as dates contain vitamins and minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorus, vitamin c, copper, selenium, and manganese, plus small amounts of B vitamins.
Dates also contain various phytochemicals that have been shown to act as potent antioxidants, anti-glycemics, and anti-inflammatories. While dates are mostly sugar, they contain fiber and have a low glycemic index making them a great sweetener for people with diabetes. Consuming 50 grams of natural dates resulted in lower blood sugar levels and spikes than 50 grams of glucose.
Even though fresh dates have a high sugar content, they are a healthy sugar replacement for parents who want to avoid giving their babies and toddlers refined sugar which does cause much higher blood spikes, let alone mood swings and meltdowns that come after a suger high! Plus, you only need to use a small amount of this delicious date syrup with no added sugar!
Obesity and diabetes are becoming prevalent in young children, so our job as parents is to avoid giving our kids processed sugar. In a study of 100 people with diabetes, consuming three dates daily for 16 weeks did not raise HA1c levels in type 2 diabetes. Instead, the type 2 diabetes that consumed three dates daily had a significant decrease in total cholesterol and improvement in lipid profiles.
One of the reasons why refined white sugar is detrimental to our health is because it has been stripped of all its nutrients and fiber and is essentially empty calories that deplete the body of vital nutrients such as B vitamins and magnesium.
Dates contain magnesium and B vitamins required to metabolize the sugar found in dates! Nature has it figured out better than we do when it comes to manufactured, refined sugar stripped of nutrients.
On the other hand, dates are a whole food that contains fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that are beneficial for the body, and why they are a great natural sugar substitute for regular table sugar. Below is a picture of the nutritional profile of this date syrup recipe according to Cronometer.
Cronometer is a great app that you can use to track your macronutrients and micronutrient intake to help you reach your health goals and determine what nutrients may be lacking in your diet or baby’s diet. If you know you need more of a specific nutrient; you can search that nutrient in Cronometer to find out what foods are highest in that nutrient.
Go ahead and get the whole family and all your friends onto this homemade date syrup for babies as a natural sugar substitute! Also, be sure to sign up to the natural nutrition community and gain access to my free resource library with a recipe E-book for babies!
Date Syrup for Babies
Equipment
- 1 High speed blender
- 1 Kettle
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup dates
- 1 cup boiling water
Instructions
- Boil 1 cup of water in a kettle then place in a bowl with dates. Let the dates soak for 30 minutes to soften.
- Transfer the dates and water into a blender then blend for 1 minute until you have a smooth date paste. Store in a glass jar in the fridge.
References:
Glycemic indices of five varieties of dates in healthy and diabetic subjects
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