Cooking with dates also means playing with their texture; the usually soft fruit can caramelize, char, and even melt away into a sauce depending on how you deploy them.

What are the best dates for cooking?

The Winner? Deglet noor dates are my go-to date for baking. Theyre dry enough to chop and maintain their integrity in bread, cookie, or cake recipes while still maintaining that superstar, sweet date flavor. Plus, theyre easy to find and often less expensive than other varieties.

What do dates taste like?

So what do dates taste like? At a very base level, theyre sweet. The sugar content in dates is extremely high, and that sugar gets more and more intense as dates dry and moisture leaves the fruit. But dates arent dried or dehydrated completely, even though the wrinkled appearance might lead you to believe they are.

What dates are the best?

Popular date varieties:Barhi. Syrupy rich soft date, the softest and most fragile. Dayri. Heavy, sweet flavored soft date. Deglet Noor. Sweet delicate flavored semi-dry date; known for its “true” date flavor. Halawy. Also Halawi. Khadrawy. Also Khadrawi. Medjool. Also Medjul. Thoory. Zahidi.