Swapping refined sugar for blended dates in home baking is a technique, not a trend — bakers have done it for years because dates behave differently from white sugar in a batter, and once you know the difference it's easy to work with.
The basic method: soak pitted dates, Mariami or any soft variety, in hot water for ten minutes until they plump up, then blend with a little of the soaking water until you get a smooth, thick paste. Roughly 200g of paste replaces 150g of white sugar in most recipes, though it's worth starting with less and tasting, since date varieties differ in sweetness.
What changes is texture, not just sweetness. Date paste carries moisture, so baked goods come out denser and stay soft for longer — good for banana bread, oat bars, and brownies, less good for anything meant to be light and airy like a sponge cake, where the paste's weight flattens the rise. It also brings a caramel note that plain sugar doesn't, which works well with cinnamon, cocoa, or coffee flavours and less well in anything meant to taste neutral.
Colour shifts too — expect a darker, browner bake than the same recipe made with white sugar. That's the paste, not a sign anything's gone wrong.
For drinks and sauces, a thinner version works better: blend the same soaked dates with more water to get a pourable syrup, useful for stirring into oats or drizzling over yoghurt where a thick paste wouldn't mix in evenly. Keep whichever version you make in a sealed jar in the fridge — it holds for about a week before it starts to ferment slightly at the edges. Soft varieties from our dates fruit range blend easiest; check current kurma prices before buying in quantity for baking.