Date Nut Bread Recipe

This date nut bread recipe from Death Valley National Park is moist, flavorful, and has just the right amount of sweetness.

Recipe courtesy of The National Parks Cookbook by Linda Ly (Harvard Common Press).

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, or 56 g) butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing
• 2 cups (356 g) chopped pitted dates
• 1 cup (240 ml) very hot water
• ½ cup (112.5 g) packed brown sugar
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) bourbon or brandy
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1 cup (120 g) chopped toasted walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350^°F (180^°C or gas mark 4). Lightly coat a 9 × 5-inch (23 × 13 cm) loaf pan with butter and line it with parchment paper.

In a medium-size bowl, stir together the dates, hot water, brown sugar, butter, salt and baking soda. Let sit for 15 minutes to soften the dates.

Whisk in the egg, bourbon and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder and cinnamon (if using) and stir until the mixture is smooth and well blended. Fold in the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, loosely covering the pan with aluminum foil about 35 minutes into baking to prevent overbrowning. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are fine).

Let cool for 15 minutes, then gently turn the bread out of the pan to finish cooling completely before serving.

Servings: Makes 1 loaf