Can there be delish dessert with less sugar? Absolutely, say these chefs

We don’t have to reflexively use refined sugar to sweeten. Dates often do the trick – in a way that’s healthier for us and the planet

When I attended pastry school in Paris a couple of years ago, granulated sugar appeared in nearly every tart, cookie or mousse recipe we learned. Only a few desserts used honey or maple syrup in its place.

That’s no surprise. Granulated sugar is dessert’s chief sweetener and also its secret pinch-hitter. It’s worth being specific: granulated sugar is nearly pure sucrose, and its unique powers have made it the standard for sweetening. It makes baked goods moist. It makes cakes and cookies tender. It combines with butter to make frostings fluffy and whips up with egg whites like nobody’s business (hence the cloud-like loft of meringue).