Walnut and date loaf

Date and Walnut Loaf

There is a quaint charm and feeling of bye gone years in a freshly baked rustic loaf smothered with rich creamy butter. It somehow reminds me of grandmas baking in beautiful liberty print aprons, and sipping tea from fine bone china teacups. This Date and Walnut loaf is a perfect teatime treat for a Sunday mid afternoon nibble with its nutty sweet flavours.

nut and date loaf

Back to basics with no fancy baking equipment needed, this tasty loaf is bursting with the flavor of crunchy walnuts and sweet dates .  You can whip this up in 20 minutes with a wooden spoon, but it takes an hour to cook in a low oven.  I love eating this loaf while it is still warm with lashings of butter. Substitute the walnuts with pecans if you prefer, they are both equally as delicious.

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Date and walnut loaf

5 from 3 votes
Walnut and date loaf
Date and Walnut Loaf
Author: Adapted from Donna Hay
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups 187g all purpose flour, or bread flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2/3 cup 150g castor sugar
  • 1 cup roughly chopped pitted dates
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts
  • 125 g 4oz butter
  • 1/4 cup 2 fl.oz milk
  • 2 eggs
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC (325ºF) .
  2. Grease a 10cmx20cm (4x8in) loaf pan and line with paper.
  3. Sift the flour and baking powder and add sugar dates, walnuts.
  4. Mix to combine.
  5. Place the butter and milk in a saucepan and melt.
  6. Add to the flour mixture together with the eggs. Stir until combined.
  7. Spoon into a greased loaf tin and bake for 1 hour or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
  8. Cool in the tin for 5 to 10 minutes .
  9. Slice when cool and serve with butter.

 

 

 

 

 

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12 Comments

  • Reply Carol October 19, 2015 at 4:25 PM

    Beautiful post Ev . Your pictures are so appetizing

    • Reply Shades of Cinnamon October 19, 2015 at 4:31 PM

      Thanks for taking the time to comment Carol, glad you enjoyed this recipe

  • Reply Shauna October 19, 2015 at 4:29 PM

    Once again such beautiful images. I don’t eat dates so probably will never make this but look forward to your recipes each week

    • Reply Shades of Cinnamon October 19, 2015 at 4:34 PM

      Yes, I have been on a bit of a date spree at the moment. Hopefully will have something you like in the near future Shauna

  • Reply ELIZABETH October 19, 2015 at 7:54 PM

    Dates (soft and sweet) are wonderful for stuffing along with walnuts are perfect for this time of the year.
    May I ask if you used Medjool dates for this recipe or is there any other variety you prefer? Can’t wait to make one of this over the weekend. Love your styling in the featured image! Thanks for sharing, Ev! 😉

    • Reply Shades of Cinnamon October 19, 2015 at 9:49 PM

      Yes Elizabeth these were Medjool dates, but for baking I normally use pitted dates from Pakistan which are packaged locally in South Africa under the Safari label. They are quite a bit cheaper and as I make a lot of things with dates I always have these in my grocery cupboard. The Medjool are deliciously sweet and soft as you say, and I love to use them in my protein shakes

  • Reply ratna October 20, 2015 at 2:15 AM

    I can almost feel the crunch of the walnuts. With the kind of weather we are having, rain and sleet, I need to bake this along with a cup of hot Masala chai. Love your styling..

  • Reply Georgina October 20, 2015 at 5:34 AM

    A fruit and nut loaf like this with butter and a good cup of tea or coffee is pure comfort. The pictures are adorable, great idea to match the flower mug with real flowers. It’s another compulsory pin for me!

  • Reply kathy dean October 21, 2015 at 9:50 AM

    Hi Ev OMW another great recipe to look forward to making! Thank you for sharing – these amazing pics are making me “drool”! interesting to see you have used All Purpose flour?? do you get that in KZN? Have never seen it here in the E Cape. Few years ago I seem to recall Golden Cloud used to make it, but no longer.

    • Reply Shades of Cinnamon October 21, 2015 at 10:25 AM

      Hi Kathy, You can substitute cake flour, or bread wheat flour for all-purpose flour but then you would have to measure it instead of just using cup measurements. Professional bakers don’t measure flour in cups as its not 100% accurate, depending on whether the flour is scooped out, spooned out, packed in, sifted or unsifted. The true way of ensuring a recipe’s accuracy is to measure the flour by weight. For cakes I usually use metric measurements but for rustic baking I am never that particular. A lower rise or higher rise is part of the charm.
      However, a cup of all-purpose flour, sifted, will weigh about 125 grams.To convert a recipe that calls for all-purpose flour to bread flour or cake flour, all you need to do is weigh out 125 grams of bread flour, or cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour the recipes requires. For this loaf I think I would favour bread wheat flour.
      Many of my recipes are made whilst I am overseas and then I edit them and post them when back home, depending on whether I am in Australia or the USA I use different ingredients. Sorry, I will add that substitution into the recipe as well.
      Have a fabulous day in that beautiful part of the world.

  • Reply kathy dean October 22, 2015 at 5:14 PM

    X Thanks so much Ev for the most informative reply. And an awesome week to you. Xx

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