If prune puree has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 12 recipes to try it in.

What is prune puree?

Prune puree is simply prunes (dried plums) blended with a little water into a thick, dark, jam-like paste. It is sticky and sweet, with a deep caramel-and-fig flavor and a smooth body that comes from the fruit's natural fiber and sorbitol.

In baking it earns its keep as a fat replacer. Swap it for some of the butter or oil and the puree holds in moisture and binds the crumb. Its dark color and gentle flavor disappear cleanly into chocolate and spice batters.

How to Use It

The core move is replacing fat in baked goods. As a rule of thumb, substitute prune puree for up to half the butter or oil measure for measure. Expect a moister, denser, chewier result; going beyond half tends toward gummy.

Chocolate is its best hiding place. That is why it shows up in Low-Fat Devil's Chocolate Fudge Cake and Low Fat Devil's Food Cookies, where the puree's dark color and fruity depth read as extra fudginess, not prunes.

The same logic carries Mom's Low-Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies and a Chocolate Walnut & Flaxseed Bundt Cake.

It works in spice and vegetable bakes too, where warm spices cover any fruitiness. Reduced-Fat Carrot Cake and Fat Free Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies both lean on it for moisture without the oil.

Beyond baking, the same smooth paste is a classic first-stage baby food. A spoonful also sweetens oatmeal or yogurt while adding fiber.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Prune's caramel-plum flavor sits naturally with chocolate, warm spices like cinnamon and clove, citrus zest, coffee, and toasted nuts. Cappuccino Cupcakes and Christmas Orange Bread both show how coffee and orange play off that dark fruit.

The most common mistake is replacing all the fat at once. Fat carries flavor and tenderizes; swap every bit of it for puree and you get a dense, rubbery crumb. Replace half, then taste before going further.

The second is forgetting that prune puree is sweet. It brings real sugar and sorbitol, so cut the recipe's sugar by a couple of tablespoons per half cup of puree, or the bake turns cloying and over-browns.

A milder issue is leavening. Because the puree is acidic, it can react with baking soda; if a low-fat result comes out flat, a pinch more soda usually fixes it.

How to Make It and What to Substitute

Making your own takes a minute. Blend about 1⅓ cups (roughly 8 ounces) pitted prunes with 6 tablespoons of hot water until smooth, scraping down as needed. That yields close to a cup of puree.

Store-bought "prune butter" or lekvar is the same thing in a jar.

For swaps, unsweetened applesauce is the usual stand-in, but it runs thinner and less binding, so the bake comes out lighter and a touch drier. Prune puree holds moisture better and adds more structure.

Mashed banana and pumpkin puree also replace fat, each pushing its own flavor into the result. Where you want the binding without the prune taste, a thick date paste is the closest match.

Buying and Storage

Look for jarred prune puree or prune butter near the jams or the baby food, or just buy pitted prunes and blend your own, which is cheaper and tastes fresher.

Homemade puree keeps in a sealed container in the refrigerator for one to two weeks. For longer storage, freeze it in an ice cube tray, then bag the cubes. Each cube is roughly a tablespoon, ready to drop into a batter.

If the surface darkens or dries, stir in a little water to loosen it back to a spreadable paste. Discard it at any sign of mold or an off, fermented smell.

Quick facts

In Chinese

李子酱

British (UK) term

Prune puree

en français

purée de pruneaux

en español

puré de ciruela

Recipes using prune puree

There are 12 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 12 recipes