Date Syrup
Not your grandma's assertive molasses.
Whether you call it silan, dibis, molasses, honey, or syrup, the boiled-down sweet essence of the ancient date is an under-appreciated, lesser-known powerhouse of sweet, fruity, tangy flavor. If you haven’t tried date syrup, time to ask it out on a cooking date in your kitchen!
Meet Date Syrup: Dates appear in many Middle Eastern cuisines and come in hundreds of varieties. One popular variety — medjool — can be so sweet and luscious that Beth’s husband actually asked if they were candy. Turns out, you can coax that sweet goodness from dates to create date syrup or molasses.
Date molasses is thick like traditional molasses and just as dark, but without the bitterness. It’s sweet with fruity undertones. In the Bible, when they refer to “honey,” they are actually referring to date honey, not the kind from bees.
According to cookbook author Faye Levy in an article for the Jerusalem Post, date honey was brought to Israel by Iraqi Jews, who call it dibis (molasses in Arabic). In Israel, date honey is called silan, but in Middle Eastern markets in the U.S., you’ll see jars marked date molasses or date syrup.
What to do After the First Date? So many things — you’ll find yourself falling in love, we promise! Here are some ideas and recipes:
Pour it on pancakes and waffles, or drizzle it on yogurt or ice cream.
Make homemade granola, such as Beth’s pumpkin spice granola with date syrup.
Here’s a perfect snack: Mix the date syrup with tahini (a Middle Eastern sesame paste) and you will have the “peanut butter” of the Middle East. Spread it on your favorite peanut butter receptacle and munch away!
How about a date smoothie with fresh dates and date syrup?
For a simple savory application, mix it with pomegranate molasses in this easy roasted squash side dish.
Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad from page 62 in the “Jerusalem” cookbook is a spectacular salad. Substitute date syrup for the maple syrup.
Chicken wings with date syrup — so simple but so good!
For anyone who celebrates Passover or enjoys attending a seder, you may be familiar with charoset — a fruit and nut mixture symbolizing the mortar used by the slaves. There is a version of this from Iraq that is so simple and yet incredibly delicious — just mix date syrup with toasted walnuts. Sounds so basic, but the combination is sublime.
Buy it or Make it? You can find date syrup at Middle Eastern grocers, maybe at your local grocer, and definitely online. You can also make your own. Here is a link to an article Beth wrote about how to make your own date syrup. The general idea is to boil the dates in water to extract the sweetness, squeeze all the juice from the dates, and then further boil/reduce the strained liquid for a more intense flavor and color.
Tip: Beth stores her store-bought date syrup in a cool dry place in the pantry. She stores her homemade date syrup in the refrigerator.
Deep Dive: Did you know “Date syrup is loaded with abundant quantities of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous. It also contains a plentiful amount of fiber, especially the soluble fiber beta-D-Glucan,” according to an article on the website letsdate.
Tip: Substitute date syrup for molasses in baked good recipes. In the bran muffin recipe below, Sarene used date syrup instead of the more traditional molasses.
Fruity Bran Muffins with Date Syrup
These old-school bran muffins are the perfect baked good to kick aside molasses in favor of date syrup. Date syrup is fruity and less assertive, so the fruit shines through. Bran muffins can be dry, but Chef Greg Atkinson’s technique of adding plumped, puréed raisins to the batter keeps these muffins attractively moist.
Makes 12
1 cup golden raisins or dried cherries
1 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons orange zest
⅓ cup olive oil (or blood orange-flavored olive oil)
¼ cup date syrup
2 eggs
1 cup flour
¼ cup hemp hearts, plus more for topping
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups wheat bran
1½ cups fresh or frozen berries, tossed with 1 teaspoon flour (I used frozen blackberries, raspberries and blueberries)
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Spray muffin cups with cooking oil spray and set aside. (If using silicone or paper liners, spray those with cooking oil spray instead.) Add water to a bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Add the raisins, stir, and cover for 5 minutes so the raisins can plump.
Using your fingers, rub the orange zest into the sugar until it’s incorporated*; set aside. Add the plumped raisins and the soaking water to a blender (or a food processor) and blend until the mixture is a rough purée. Add the olive oil, zested sugar, date syrup and eggs. Blend to combine.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, hemp hearts, baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk in the wheat bran. Add the raisin mixture, and whisk to combine. Be careful not to overmix the batter. Gently stir in the berries (I like using a silicone spatula).
Add a heaping 1/3 cup of batter to each muffin cup (they will be full). Liberally sprinkle hemp hearts over the top of each muffin.
Bake until the muffins are browned on top; when you tap the middle of the muffin top, it springs back and isn’t gooey, about 22 minutes.
Let the muffins cool on a rack. As soon as they’re cool enough to handle, remove the muffins from the muffin tin and put on a cooling rack.
Variation: Before baking, top each muffin with 1/2 teaspoon date syrup, then top with the hemp hearts.
*Technique credit: Dorie Greenspan.
What’s adding ☀️sunshine☀️ to our plates:
This post on
’s Substack about women food producers. (Notice the use of carob syrup in one recipe, which can be subbed with date syrup.)Oliveletter by Annelies Zijderveld — her literal love letter to the tiny things that make living good: food, the arts, words, music, and a pursuit of curiosity.
Summer fruit and vegetables straight from the orchard or farm, the farmers’ market or your very own garden patch.
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Beth and Sarene (more about us in the welcome post)
Thank you for giving date syrup some love! When my son was little I made him kids’ cappuccino with date syrup, hot water and steamed milk. Lots of iron in there too.