Date nut bread was not a favorite of mine as a child. My mother loved it, but I don’t remember her ever making it from scratch. Dates weren’t readily available where we lived. She’d either buy the kind in the can or purchase a boxed mix with a little can of dates. Nowadays dates are easy to obtain year round.
Quick breads make awesome snacks
This month’s Recipe ReDux challenge is to make a quick bread. Quick breads use baking soda or baking powder to achieve a rise instead of yeast. They include muffins, scones, pancakes and of course loaves like date nut bread.
Studded with chopped dates and walnuts, this recipe has been preserved on the web by the Chandler, AZ Historical Society and attributed to a lady named Edna Davis. It appealed to me because it makes a single loaf and because it has less sugar than many recipes I’ve encountered on the web. The dates add their own sweetness and there is added sugar in the orange cream cheese spread.
Cardamom, cinnamon and orange zest add a warmth to the loaf. While researching the post I came across variations which included nutmeg and ground cloves, too…add a pinch if you want to try them. Leftover dates can be stuffed with the orange spread or used in a salad.
Ingredients
For the date nut bread
- 1 1/2 cup dates pitted and chopped
- 2 ounces Cointreau or other orange flavored liqueur (optional)
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (I used dark cane sugar)
- 1 tablespoon butter, coconut oil or vegan spread
- 1 egg
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- zest of one orange about a tablespoon
For the Orange Cream Cheese
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 1 - 2 tablespoons sugar as desired
- zest from half an orange
- 1 teaspoon vanilla optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and prepare a 9" loaf pan with cooking spray
- Soak the dates in a medium sized bowl along with the orange liqueur and boiling water. Allow to cool. Don't drain. (If not using the liqueur, add a little more water)
- Cream the sugar together with the butter and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the dates along with the cardamom, cinnamon and orange zest.
- Measure in the flour, baking soda and salt and mix well. It should look like a wet batter. Add a little bit of water if necessary.
- Transfer to the loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes. It should be nearly finished. Cover the top with foil if necessary to prevent over browning. Bake for another 10 - 20 minutes until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- To make the Cream Cheese Spread, mix the cream cheese with the sugar, orange zest and optional vanilla. Spread on plain or toasted slices of the date nut bread.
Notes
Quick breads are excellent for holiday gift giving. They’re perfect for portioning into mini loaf pans. You’ll get four mini loaves from this recipe. Do you have a favorite quick bread? It doesn’t have to be a loaf. We’re partial to scones, too.
More quick breads to try:
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- plus variations
Be sure to drop by to see what the other members of The Recipe ReDux have cooked up this month.
Creative Quick Breads
The holiday baking season is upon us. And this month we’re going way beyond grandma’s banana bread. From sweet to savory and whole-grain to gluten-free, show us your new quick bread creation fresh from the oven. And if you have a tip for wrapping and giving your lovely loaf, please share that too!
This bread recipe looks very good. My mom used to bake with dates. Though I haven’t, I’ve wanted to have a go at it. I love baking bread using natural sugars and love eating bread as well! I will try this.
I was looking for other food “kitchen” blogs and discovered your blog. The flexitarian eating style interests me also. One visit browsing through the wonderful recipes you have isn’t enough. I will be back to visit.
Thank you Angie, for the kind words. I hope you enjoy the bread and it brings back great memories 🙂
I made the orange cream cheese spread for a loaf of banana bread. Yummy! I like that it’s not full of powder sugar and easy to pull together.
Glad you enjoyed the orange cream cheese spread, Kathy! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Yum – this looks soo good. I love how you paired orange flavor with this nut bread!
It works really well, thanks! 🙂
I love quick breads and this dates and nut bread looks just great. Am sure it would taste even more delicious with that cream cheese spread..
What a gorgeous recipe! Bookmarked to definitely try later!
Thanks for bookmarking, I hope you like it. Let me know how it turns out for you.
This orange cream cheese spread makes all the difference! What a combo of flavors!
Yes, it does kind of tie all the flavors together. Thanks 🙂
Studded with chopped dates and walnuts – I ‘m totally sold! I want this yummy bread with my cuppa!
It’s perfect with a cuppa 🙂
This brings back memories of making date nut bread long ago. I’d love a slice or two right now.
I have some slices in the toaster for breakfast 🙂
Beautiful bread..I love all of the nuts in this.
We really enjoyed it. I hope you’re able to come up with a gluten free version 🙂
Date Nut Bread was a favorite in our family when I was growing up. Thanks for sharing your recipe, I’d love to give it a try this fall.
This tastes different than the stuff from the can, that’s for sure! Hope you give it a try 🙂
We LOVE quick breads. I have some old recipes that use dates instead of sugar. I love them! This sounds so good with the orange ceam cheese in there. Pinning!
Thanks so much for pinning, Diane. I think your family will love it 🙂
Neat bread and fun spread.
mmm this sounds amazing with the orange cream cheese spread!!! yum!
Just a little bit of orange zest with the sugar made such a difference in the flavor of the cream cheese. It is just fabulous with the date nut bread .