Date Nut Bread

This isn’t news, I love me some Dates. They’re chewy, soft, sweet…they’re natures candy! Growing up my parents always talked about how much they loved Date Nut Bread and I remember thinking Wow what an old people thing to like lol Now here I am at the old age of 30 (lol) and I can’t get enough of Dates! I have a list of my baking ideas and goals on my phone and Date Nut Bread has been on the list for many months now. There were a few characteristics I wanted in this cake: moist, slightly sticky in a good way, some warm spices, and soft yet pleasantly dense..but not too dense. I soon realized what I wanted was to combine three things: Date Nut Bread, Apple Sauce Spice Cake and English Sticky Toffee Pudding…must be all the Great British Bake Off I have been watching on Netflix. Lucky for me this recipe came out great on the first shot! I like to enjoy mine with a little cream cheese or soft butter…ok gotta go have another slice!

Ingredients-

• 1.5 Cups Pitted Chopped Dates (I prefer Medjool) (separate in half)

• 3/4 Cup Water

• 1 Stick unsalted Butter, softened (but not melted)

• 3/4 Cup White Granulated Sugar

• 3/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar

• 1/4 Cup Canola Oil

• 2 Large Eggs

• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

• 1/2 Cup Apple Sauce (I used plain Motts)

• 2 Cups All Purpose Flour

• 1 1/4 Teaspoons Salt

• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon (plus more for dusting the top)

• 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Clove

• 1/8 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

• 1 Cup Chopped Walnuts

Steps-

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and if you’d like, line it with a strip of parchment paper to make for an easy bread removal later. Set aside.

3. In a small saucepan place 3/4 of the chopped dates and the 3/4 cup of water. Place it on medium heat and cover the pot with a lid. Let it cook and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the dates are nice and soft. Then place them in a food processor and blend until smooth. If it’s too thick add a splash of water and blend again until it is a thick smooth puree. Set aside.

4. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or hand beaters, beat the butter, white and dark brown sugars and canola oil until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

5. Add the vanilla and eggs one at a time beating in between each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated. Beat in the apple sauce until combined.

6. In a separate bowl stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.

7. Gradually add the flour mixture into the mixer with the butter/sugar mixture until combined. Don’t over beat it or it can make for a gummy cake.

8. Using a rubber spatula fold in the chopped walnuts and the remaining 3/4 cup of chopped dates.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with a little extra cinnamon. Feel free to decorate the top with walnut halves as well for an added crunch.

10. Place the cake in the middle rack of the oven and bake on 350F for 30 minutes. Then rotate the pan and reduce the heat to 325F and continue to cook for 20-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center. If the top of the cake gets too dark during the baking process feel free to loosely cover the top with foil.