Baking Holiday Magic

Happy Christmas Eve! You won’t need a magic wand or a spell to create this tasty holiday treat. It’s easy and quick.

At our house, my husband cooks the meats and I bake the desserts and breads, etc. One thing I enjoy is making breads that are not necessarily desserts, such as cinnamon gingerbread, pumpkin bread, apple spice bread, banana nut bread, etc. This year I tried a different one. Date nut bread. I had never eaten dates until a friend said she loved them and I should try them. Turns out they are the perfect addition to bread. This is an excellent dessert or snack during the holidays or any time of year. You can eat it for breakfast or brunch, too. You can make your own icing, or simply spread butter on the hot bread. Or you can eat it plain. It’s very moist and tasty. I found this recipe online then modified it the way I wanted. I love creating my own versions of recipes.

Date Nut Bread
1 to 2 ½ cups pitted, chopped dates
1/8 cup butter
1/8 cup virgin coconut oil
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup all purpose white flour
¾ cup natural whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cooking spray works well.

In a medium bowl, combine the chopped dates, butter and coconut oil. Pour the boiling water over them, and let stand until cool. When the dates have cooled, stir in the brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, and egg until well blended. In a larger bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nuts and salt. Stir the date and sugar mixture into the flour mixture until blended. Pour into the loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy!

Ideas

Instead of coconut oil you can use all butter. The amount of dates varies because the original recipe specified 2 ½ cups dates. I only had an 8 ounce package. When I chopped them they probably equaled 1 cup and the bread turned out great. The original recipe said all purpose flour, but I used half whole wheat to make it healthier. The original recipe said walnuts but I used about 1 ½ cup pecans. Leftovers of the loaf can be sliced and frozen, then reheated in the microwave. You could also make muffins and the baking time would be less.

Hope you enjoy! And don’t be afraid to experiment with your food. :)

What is YOUR favorite holiday treat?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you! I wish you all good things in the New Year!




Nicole North's erotic romance novellas have been described by reviewers
as "exciting, high octane, captivating, scintillating, sinfully delicious
and pure romance." Her stories contain "heart and heat, killer love scenes,
magic and extraordinary characters." Her books from Red Sage include: Beast
in a Kilt in Secrets Volume 29, Indulge Your Fantasies (July 2010), Kilted
Lover (Nov. 2009) and Devil in a Kilt is in Secrets Volume 27 Untamed
Pleasures (July 2009). Laird of Darkness will be her first novella from
Carina Press, March 2011. Scoundrel in a Kilt will be released in a future
Secrets volume. Though she has a degree in psychology, writing romance is
her first love.
Website: http://www.nicolenorth.com/

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