Not So Heavy Date Nut Bread Recipes

DATE NUT BREAD

Steps:

• Combine baking soda with the boiling water. Soak the dates in the water and baking soda solution for 30 minutes.
• Cream sugar and butter together. Add eggs, vanilla, dates, nuts, flour, and salt.
• Divide batter equally between two 9 x 5 (or 8 1/2 x 4 1/2) inch greased loaf pans. Bake 1 hour at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) (or until loaf tests done). Can be frozen when cool.

AUTUMN "DATES" NIGHT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8 1/2- by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the dates and set aside until cool. Drain.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt onto a piece of parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and sour cream and beat to combine, scraping the bowl down. Add the rum and vanilla and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture on low speed until just combined. Add the milk, increase the speed to medium, and beat until just smooth, about 15 seconds. Add the drained dates and the nuts and stir just until distributed.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then unmold and cool completely before slicing.

MOIST DATE NUT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees F). Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
• In a medium bowl, combine the dates and butter. Pour boiling water over them, and let stand until cool.
• When the dates have cooled, stir the mixture to break up any clumps. Mix in the brown sugar and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; stir into the date mixture until just blended. Stir in walnuts. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

QUICK DATE NUT BREAD

Steps:

• Grease and flour a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan.
• Mix dates and boiling water; set aside.
• Mix remaining ingredients; add dates and water.
• Pour into loaf pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
• Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan.
• Cool completely before cutting.

QUICK AND EASY ENGLISH DATE AND NUT BREAD

Steps:

• In a 5 or 6 quart bowl or lidded food storage container, mix the water and the milk together and then add the yeast, salt and malt powder. Because we are mixing in the flour so quickly it doesn't matter that the salt and yeast are thrown in together. If you are using the fresh cake yeast break it up.
• Dump in the flour along with the dates and pecans all at once and stir with a long handled wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk, which is one of the tools that makes the job so much easier!
• Stir it until all of the wheat is incorporated into the dough. It will be a wet rough dough.
• Put the lid on the container, but do not snap it shut. You want the gases from the yeast to escape. (You could put a little hole in the top of the lid so that you could close the lids and still allow the gases to get out.). Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours to rise. When you first mix the dough it will not occupy much of the container. But, after the initial 2 hour rise it will pretty much fill it. (If you have decreased the yeast you will have to let it go longer than 2 hours.) DO NOT PUNCH DOWN THE DOUGH! Just let it settle by itself.
• The dough will be flat on the top and some of the bubbles may even appear to be popping. (If you intend to refrigerate the dough after this stage it can be placed in the refrigerator even if the dough is not perfectly flat. The yeast will continue to work even in the refrigerator.) The dough can be used right after the initial 2 hour rise, but it is much easier to handle when it is chilled. It is intended for refrigeration and use over the next week and a half, ready for you anytime. The flavor will deepen over that time, developing sourdough characteristics.
• The next day when you pull the dough out of the refrigerator you will notice that it has collapsed and this is totally normal for this type of dough. It will never rise up again in the container.
• Dust the surface of the dough with a little flour, just enough to prevent it from sticking to your hands when you reach in to pull a piece out.
• You should notice that the dough has a lot of stretch once it has rested. (If your dough breaks off instead of stretching your dough is probably too dry and you can just add a few tablespoons of water and let it sit again until the dough absorbs the additional water.).
• At this point, you can divide the dough into 4 one pound balls and freeze them in airtight containers for up to three weeks. Allow 24 hours in refrigerator to thaw before use. You can also leave the dough in its container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days, cutting off pieces as needed.
• When ready to bake, cut off a 1-pound piece of dough using kitchen shears and hold in your hands. Add a little more flour so it will not stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it's not intended to be incorporated into the dough. The correctly shaped final product will be smooth and cohesive.
• Rest the loaf on a generous layer of flour on top of a pizza peel. Let the dough rest for at least 40 minutes, (although letting it go 60 or even 90 minutes will give you a more open hole structure in the interior of the loaf. This may also improve the look of your loaf and prevent it from splitting on the bottom. ) You will notice that the loaf does not rise much during this rest, in fact it may just spread sideways, this is normal for this type of dough.
• Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F with a baking stone on the center rack, with a metal broiler tray on the bottom (never use a glass vessel for this or it will shatter), which will be used to produce steam. (The tray needs to be at least 4 or 5 inches away from your stone to prevent it from cracking.).
• Dust the top of the loaf with more flour. Slide the loaf into the oven onto the preheated stone and add a cup of hot tap water to the broiler tray. Quickly close the oven door. Bake the bread for 35 minutes or until a deep brown color. To insure that you get the best results it is crucial to have an Oven Thermometer to make sure your oven is accurate.
• Allow the loaf to cool on a rack until it is room temperature.

HONEY DATE NUT BREADS

Steps:

• Into a bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the baking soda, and the salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter with the honey and beat in the vanilla, the eggs, 1 at a time, and the buttermilk. Add the flour mixture, beat the batter until it is just combined, and stir in the dates and the pecans. Divide the batter among 5 buttered and floured loaf pans, each 5 3/4 by 3 1/4 by 2 inches, and bake the breads in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Remove the breads from the pans and let them cool, right sides up, on a rack. The breads keep, wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil, chilled for 1 week or frozen for 1 month.