Whole-Wheat Date Bread

Whole-Wheat Date Bread
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling
Rating
5(342)
Comments
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Ingredients

Yield:1 loaf, enough for 8 sandwiches
  • Butter for greasing pan
  • ½cup (95 grams) dark brown sugar
  • cup (160 grams) plain yogurt, buttermilk or sour cream
  • 1tablespoon (20 grams) honey
  • 1tablespoon (14 grams) vanilla extract
  • 3large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ¾cup (90 grams) whole-wheat flour
  • teaspoons (6 grams) baking powder
  • ¼teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda
  • ½teaspoon (3 grams) fine sea salt
  • cup (140 grams) extra virgin olive oil
  • 1cup (200 grams) sliced pitted dates
  • Cream cheese, for serving
  • Red seedless grapes, halved, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

303 calories; 16 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 23 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 196 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, yogurt, honey and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time.

  2. Step 2

    In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet, just until no longer lumpy. Using a rubber spatula, fold the olive oil into the batter in 3 additions. Fold in the dates.

  3. Step 3

    Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until it is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before turning the cake out onto a rack to cool completely.

  4. Step 4

    To serve as sandwiches, cut into ½-inch-thick slices and make sandwiches with a layer of cream cheese studded with grape halves. Freeze any remainder; the bread can be sliced while frozen.

Tip
  • Variation: Add sliced black olives along with, or instead of, the grapes.

Ratings

5 out of 5
342 user ratings
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Comments

This was very delicious, however, I personally found it to taste more like a cake. Perhaps, it could use molasses and some spices to give it a richer flavor. I added a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts for extra crunch. It tasted great with cream cheese and I washed it down with a glass of whole milk!

For all the sugar, this is a surprisingly neutral, versatile bread. It's not overly sweet and can easily be made savory.

I used light brown sugar instead of dark, went with the sour cream option, and baked a few extra minutes because my pan was 8.5 x 4.5. Easy to make and turned out great.

I wanted mine to be on the sweet side so I made it with vanilla yogurt and sprinkled some turbinado sugar on top for a little crunch. Turned out beautifully! The dates kind of soften while they bake and melt in your mouth. Great recipe!

I found this recipe while looking for something to serve with some very special water buffalo cream cheese. I used kefir instead of sour cream/buttermilk/yogurt. It was delicious! Moist with a nice crumb. I will definitely make it again. The flavours are mild (which worked well with this cream cheese) and I like that it can be easily adapted. I will try substituting applesauce for some of the oil next time and see how that goes.

I followed Cynthia’s advice from five years ago and used half a cup of applesauce and 2 1/2 tablespoons of oil. It turned out very moist and was not oily as some people mentioned.

Used sour cream/buttermilk combo, equal parts white and WW flour, and 1/2 C oil from a new can of Portuguese EV olive oil. Also tossed in 1/2 C rough chopped toasted pecans. Husband has alread descimated a quarter of the loaf. Looks like a “keeper” recipe! Definitey use the weight measures. Used marked measuring spoons and measures. 1 T of vanilla was not necessarily equal to the gram weight, 200 g of dates was well over 1C in a pyrex measuring cup.

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