Heart Healthy Chocolate Date Sauce

One word: YUM! First and foremost, this Heart Healthy Chocolate Date Sauce is delicious! It’s chocolaty, and creamy, and sweet, and perfect for almost anything you’d use regular chocolate sauce for.

As a bonus, the sauce is nourishing for the body, and particularly for your heart!

Chocolate sauce in a small glass pitcher, with a bowl of pineapple chunks in background.

Tips to make healthy chocolate sauce with dates

I started with dried dates. Get the whole ones that are pitted. Don’t get the little pieces that are rolled in oat or rice flour. Dates are naturally sweet, with a high sugar content. But don’t let that worry you. As a whole food, these little beauties pack a serious nutritional punch! Yes, they are a good source of fiber, but they are also very high in potassium. Remember that potassium helps lower your blood pressure, working as a check-and-balance for sodium. Few people consume enough potassium, so this is a great help! Dates are also a source of iron, magnesium, copper, and several B vitamins.

Soak the dates in hot water for 30 minutes or an hour. This will soften them up and make them easier to blend. I have made this before with unsoaked dates, straight out of the bag. If you have a Vitamix, you might be able to get away with it. But your sauce will be a bit more on the chunky side.

Once your dates are softened, they go in the blender (soaking water too!) with all the other ingredients and get blended into the most delectably healthy chocolate sauce you can imagine!

Watch it!

Is chocolate good for my heart?

Cocoa does have some antioxidant qualities. This has led the general public to sometimes justify over-consuming chocolate bars and other chocolate candy, believing the health benefits might outweigh, or at least equal, the unhealthiness. Sadly, that’s not true. While unprocessed cocoa is high in antioxidants, adding cocoa butter, sugar, and milk or cream to make chocolate candy cancels out health benefits.

In this chocolate sauce, however, I’m using none of those things! Only whole, minimally processed ingredients, so you feel good about pouring it on!

Bowl of pineapple chunks with chocolate sauce and nuts on top.

Try Heart Healthy Chocolate Date Sauce on Cinnamon Baked Pears – or any fruit for that matter! Don’t forget to let me know how you like it in the comments!

(Note that images have been updated on 5/20/2021, but the recipe remains unchanged – because it’s awesome the way it is!)

Chocolate sauce in a small glass pitcher, with a bowl of pineapple chunks in background.
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Heart Healthy Chocolate Date Sauce

This is perfect drizzled over fruit, in oatmeal, or just about anywhere else you’d use chocolate sauce!

Course Condiment
Cuisine American
Diet DiabeticDiet, GlutenFreeDiet, LowCalorieDiet, LowFatDiet, LowLactoseDiet, LowSaltDiet, VeganDiet, VegetarianDiet
Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 1 1/2 cups
Calories 45 kcal
Author Laura Yautz

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Water
  • 1 cup Dried Whole Dates
  • 2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions

  1. Add water and dates to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to soak for 30-60 minutes.

  2. Add the dates with water and the rest of the ingredients to a high speed blender, and blend on high until smooth. If the sauce seems to thick, add more water, a tablespoon or two at a time, until it's a pourable consistency.

  3. Pour on everything!

Nutrition Facts
Heart Healthy Chocolate Date Sauce
Amount Per Serving (0.25 cup)
Calories 45 Calories from Fat 2
% Daily Value*
Fat 0.2g0%
Saturated Fat 0.1g1%
Monounsaturated Fat 0.1g
Sodium 1.5mg0%
Potassium 124mg4%
Carbohydrates 11.7g4%
Fiber 1.5g6%
Sugar 9.4g10%
Protein 0.6g1%
Vitamin C 0.1mg0%
Calcium 7.7mg1%
Iron 0.3mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

4 thoughts on “Heart Healthy Chocolate Date Sauce

  • October 13, 2020 at 12:24 pm
    Permalink

    How long does this recipe last at room temperature? Or should it be refrigerated?

    Reply
    • October 14, 2020 at 11:50 am
      Permalink

      Thanks for your question, Meghan! Any leftovers should be refrigerated. In the refrigerator, this recipe will last about a week. 🙂 Hope you love it!

      Reply
  • July 12, 2020 at 10:49 am
    Permalink

    In these covid times, necessity is the mother of invention. While I don’t have dates, I have date sugar and will use your ratios to give some homemade, refined sugar-free dark chocolate syrup a go! Wish me luck 😁

    Reply
    • July 13, 2020 at 8:30 am
      Permalink

      Wonderful Jess! Good luck! I can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you! 🙂

      Reply

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