Pitted Baking Dates

Pitted baking dates are dates with the stones already removed, the kind commonly used in home baking and sweet-making rather than served on their own. In Lebanon they are a familiar base for the date filling in maamoul and ka'ak, and they can also be mashed into a paste, chopped into cakes and breads, blended into drinks or cooked down into a sweet spread. Because the pits are already out, they are ready to use straight away in the kitchen. At Dekenet Al Nes in Baaqline, in the Chouf, these dates are sold by the kilo. Dekenet Al Nes is a package-free grocery store and solidarity initiative, and customers are encouraged to bring their own containers and jars to refill, which helps cut plastic waste and single-use packaging.