My mother, Caleen Mawhinney, used to make this for my father. She would spend an hour just pitting the dates and grinding them up. Lots of work.
It is a recipe that always brings back memories. I haven’t made it for years as it was a lot of work. I found there are now chopped dates (Dole Brand) in a neat little bag and knew it would be easy to now put together.
Date Nut Bread
1 Cup Boiling Water
1 tea. Baking Soda
1 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 ½ Cups Chopped Dates, 8 oz Dole Bag
1 Tea. Salt
2 Cups Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg, beaten.
4 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1 tea. Vanilla
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts
Combine water, baking soda, lemon juice and dates. Let sit for 15 minutes to softened dates. Put the dates in the mixing bowl and mix to break up the dates. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease and flour an 8 ½ x 4 ½ bread pan.
In a small bowl combine the salt, flour, baking powder, and brown sugar. Add to the date mixture, add the egg, melted butter and vanilla. Stir only until combined. Add the chopped walnuts and pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes to 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean.
My dad loved this with cream cheese or lots of butter spread on top.
**To make Gluten Free use Gluten Free “Cup for Cup” flour. Let batter sit for 15 minutes before you pour into the pan. (Helps the flour to moisten before baking.)
**To make Dairy Free use Dairy Free “butter”.
Jan Olpin / Caleen Mawhinney