This is my favorite Christmastime bread. Dark, dense, sticky-sweet and with a big schmear of cool cream cheese over top makes the perfect breakfast with my morning coffee. Ma makes it for me every year. She will call and say, “I’m making the Date Nut Bread!” This year I am making it for you. It is very simple to do and I will type out the recipe just as Ma had written it out for me. I can’t remember when Ma started making this bread around Christmas, it always seemed to be right from my beginning, I can’t remember a year without it. Maybe Ma can fill us in on where it came from and when she started making it. Ma?
Date Nut Bread- Ma
Mix together 1/2 pound chopped dates, 2 1/4 cup boiling water, 2 tsp. baking soda.
Stir until foamy. Let cool. Add 1 3/4 cups sugar, 1 egg beaten, 2 3/4 cups. four, 1/3 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 cup chopped walnuts.
Pour into 1 greased 9×5 inch loaf pan plus one more smaller loaf pan. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 45 minutes. (I filled one 9×5 inch loaf 3/4 of the way full and poured the rest of the batter into a 5×5 inch pan- the small loaf finished in 45 minutes, the large in 60 minutes.)
This freezes well.
Come back tomorrow for Day 11.
Robin Sue
6 Comments
Date nut bread is one of my all-time favorites, and this recipe is so simple, quick.
I bet, too, that I could easily substitute coconut flour (increasing the egg content to compensate) in this one, in addition to making it for others with regular flour.
Thanks to you, and to "Ma," Robin Sue.
Ohhhh….sticky, gooey date bread. I love it! And with cream cheese? Sheer heaven.
Thanks, Mom!
That looks just like a bread my grandma used to make – the smell of it literally takes me back to her kitchen!
Have a great weekend Robin Sue – hope the temps warm up for you!
This would be my favorite morning bread too with a smear of cream cheese, and a really good hot cup of coffee.
Happy Holidays to you.
Velva
I got this recipe from a neighbor when we lived in Burlington, Ma. We moved there before Robin was born. I always loved datenut bread and when my neighbor who then became my friend gave me the recipe, I have made it ever since. So I have had this recipe for about 35 years. My neighbor and friend was Helen Dyer. Thanks Helen, wherever you are. Ma
This is delicious! I had to bake the large loaf for 1 hour 20 minutes. Thanks for sharing with us, Ma!