Healthy Date Recipes

Stir up a quick cake featuring dates, pecans, and apples for a sweet treat.

Most cranberry sauce recipes add tons of sugar to mask the tart taste of the cranberries. In this simple cranberry sauce, we lighten things up by skipping the sugar and opting for a healthier combination of dates and apple cider which adds just enough sweetness without overpowering the cranberry flavor.

A tagine is a Moroccan stew that is named after the earthenware dish it is cooked in. We use a slow cooker for this tasty version, which features lamb, sweet potatoes, dates and olives.

Medjool dates are softer than their semi-dry Deglet Noor cousins and therefore, much easier to stuff with almonds. This healthy snack recipe can also be turned into an addictive appetizer by adding a little blue cheese to the stuffing.

A whole orange pulverized in the food processor gives these nutrient-rich date-pumpkin muffins a wonderful intense flavor.

This quick version of a traditional recipe can be made in about 30 minutes using a beloved kitchen hack: shredded rotisserie chicken! The shredded meat simmers briefly in a flavor-packed base that is rich with garlic and spices, sweetened with dates, and tangy from olives and preserved lemons. The addition of lentils and garbanzo beans makes this a hearty one-pot supper, though you can serve it with rice, couscous, or pita bread. Excerpted from THE FULL PLATE. Copyright (C) 2020 by Ayesha Curry. Photographs by Eva Kolenko. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Jewel-like pomegranate seeds star along with bacon, tangy clementines and sweet dates in this mixed green salad recipe. To make it a dinner salad, top with chicken, shrimp or pan-seared salmon.

These easy, tasty applesauce-date muffins are rich in fiber, low in saturated fat and perfectly portable, making them great for breakfast or snack time.

This almond milk is so creamy and flavorful, you'll want to drink it on its own. Store-bought almond milk is convenient, but homemade almond milk is relatively easy to make and less expensive too. Plus, making your own almond milk at home allows you to control sweeteners and other additives. Apart from the dates, which are inherently sweet, this recipe is unsweetened--add a little honey, maple or agave syrup for sweetness, if desired.

The two-bite pecan tarts satisfy the sweet tooth with far less guilt than pecan pie.

Show your love this Valentine's Day with this beautiful Valentine's Day party board. It's full of sweet and savory treats from nuts to prosciutto-wrapped dates. And, of course, it includes the classic combo of chocolate and strawberries. Just grab your favorite platter and fill it with these easy, beautiful bites. Your loved ones will thank you!

Financial advisor Linda Croley was inspired by childhood memories of a family treat when she created these peanut butter-date cookies. “I get a great feeling when I bite into these cookies and think of my family who are around me today, and those whose memories I'll always cherish,” says Croley. Once you try them, you may never make an ordinary peanut butter cookie again.

A lemony date filling makes oatmeal cookies more special.

The mix-ins in these homemade granola bars are inspired by ingredients commonly used in Middle Eastern cooking--dates, hazelnuts, pistachios, tahini and cardamom. But feel free to vary the dried fruit, nuts, seeds and/or spices to your preference. We tested several sticky sweeteners, including maple syrup and honey, but found brown rice syrup held the bars together the best.

In this healthy oatmeal recipe, sweet dried dates, pine nuts, cinnamon and honey give your breakfast Middle Eastern flavor. Short on time in the morning? Try our overnight oatmeal variation.

In this healthy pumpkin bread pudding recipe, whole-wheat bread, Vitamin A-rich pumpkin and toasted pecans come together for a praiseworthy dessert. To make individual bread puddings instead of one large pan, divide the batter among 12 small oiled individual baking dishes (about 8 ounces each). Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, uncover, sprinkle with pecans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes more.

Flank steak is the perfect candidate for cooking under the broiler. The high heat sears it on the outside while leaving the inside juicy.

Trisha Kruse, an administrative assistant, created quick, easy, no-bake date-nut balls to fill that special niche in your holiday repertoire.

Dates add a sweet counterpoint to these spicy gingerbread cookies.

Like many Greek and Middle Eastern sweets, this date-walnut cake is infused with a honey syrup. Semolina flour makes it moist and dense.

Cranberry sauce has a role beyond tradition at the T-day meal. The tart berry adds excitement to mild turkey, but it also provides balance by cutting through the richness in other dishes. For this easy relish recipe--which comes together in minutes--the earthy sweetness of dates and cinnamon, plus a touch of citrus, complement the zing of the berries to create a familiar holiday flavor profile.

Dates, oats and dark brown sugar turn into a decadent breakfast treat in this creamy porridge.

Here, graham cracker crumbs, dates and nuts are folded into beaten eggs and sugar to make a wonderfully chewy bar that's much lighter than traditional recipes.

"I was inspired by the news that chocolate can be good for you," wrote reader Jennifer Sanders of Cambridge, Ontario. "Why not eat it for breakfast?" She shared her recipe for this heart-warming chocolaty hot cereal. If you are looking for a way to get your kids to start their day with a bowl of oatmeal, this is it. The microwave is convenient, but you can also cook the oatmeal on the stovetop following package directions. Top the cereal with milk or soymilk and sweeten with brown sugar or no-calorie sweetener, if desired.