Date Walnut Bread is dense and moist, dark and sweet. From the outside it looks like any other quick bread, but slice it open to reveal a dazzling mosaic of inky purple dates and creamy, blue-tinged walnuts. Sliced thin, it makes a surprising and elegant addition to a cheese board, where its sweetness is the perfect complement to strong cheeses such as sharp Cheddar or pungent bleu.
We usually think of sweet quick breads as breakfast treats, or for snacking on with coffee or tea, and Date Walnut Bread is great for that, too. Make it into tea sandwiches filled with cream cheese, or tuck it into a breakfast bread basket alongside some hot buttermilk biscuits or other breads or muffins.
Many quick breads benefit from an overnight rest to develop their flavor and improve their texture, and Date Walnut Bread is no exception. Wrap it well and chill it overnight, and store it chilled until serving. For serving with cheese, slice it thinly while it’s still cold, then cover the slices with plastic wrap or a dish towel and leave them out a room temperature for an hour or two, along with your cheeses. (You do bring your cheeses to room temperature before serving, right?)
This bread keeps for several days, well-wrapped in the fridge. Or wrap tightly and freeze for up to a month. If I’m going to freeze it I like to slice it first, to make it easy to defrost and use just what I need.
To see this bread and the cheese board as part of a complete menu, including a game plan for timing for all the dishes, see my post for Saturday February 13, 2021.
Date Walnut Bread
Make this bread the day before serving to give it time to chill for the best flavor and easier slicing.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pitted dates
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup boiling water
- 1½ cups (6 3/8 ounces or 180 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or ¼ teaspoon Morton’s
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil (such as expeller-pressed canola oil), plus additional for the pan
- 1 tablespoon walnut oil
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Step 2 Chop the dates and transfer them to a small, heat-safe bowl. Add the baking soda and pour the boiling water over. Let the dates sit for 15 minutes.
- Step 3 Meanwhile, lightly oil a standard sized loaf pan with some of the neutral oil. If your pan is not non-stick, cut a piece of parchment as wide as the pan is long, and lay the parchment in the pan to cover the bottom, up the two long sides, and out the top to form handles for easy removal of the finished loaf later.
- Step 4 Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- Step 5 Combine the brown sugar and egg in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat until the mixture is thick and light colored, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, then 3 tablespoons of neutral oil and 1 tablespoon of walnut oil. Add the dates and all the liquid they were sitting in, and stir on low speed to combine.
- Step 6 Add the flour and stir with the mixer on the lowest speed just until all the flour is incorporated. Stir in the walnuts.
- Step 7 Spread the batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the loaf for 1 hour and 10 minutes, draping a piece of foil loosely over the top of the pan after about 40 minutes to keep the top from getting too dark. The edges, sides and bottom of the loaf will get quite dark, and slightly crispy, by the time the center is fully cooked. Test in several spots with a cake tester or toothpick and make sure it comes out clean. Carefully run a knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the loaf from the pan, then gently remove the loaf from the pan, using the parchment handles if applicable. Peel off the parchment and transfer the loaf to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
- Step 8 For best results, wrap the loaf tightly with plastic wrap and chill overnight before slicing thinly to serve.
