Pumpkin-Date-Apple-Nut Bread or Autumn Loaf or Some Other Name That’s Not Coming To Me
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The other day, my friend Jonathan tweeted, “One more post about pumpkin spice lattes, and I will get a job at Starbucks just so I can spit in every pumpkin spice latte I make.” Despite being a PSL (surely it needs its own acronym) fan, this quite literally made me LOL. As soon as Starbucks started offering them, every other Facebook and Twitter post was about them.
And then, seemingly, as soon as the temps dipped below 80, every blog was posting something containing pumpkin.
If you are already over pumpkin (please don’t be, it’s only September), you may want to avert your eyes. But, if you want a tasty, healthy quickbread that also includes other autumnal favorites like apples and dates, then stay a bit.
Originally, I intended on making a date nut bread to use up some dried dates that had been sitting in my cabinet for too long. However, none of the date bread recipes looked good to me, for one reason or another. Most of the time, they were just really unhealthy and didn’t lend themselves especially well to substitutions. I am a person who uses all the full fat, calorie-laden ingredients when making desserts, but I’m not one who does that for breakfast. I just can’t justify it, and neither can my metabolism, which is slower than molasses. You will rarely see me make a muffin or quickbread that has a ton of butter, sugar, oil, etc. in it, and this one is no different.
Quickbreads/muffins are the one baking thing I feel very comfortable with, in terms of making up my own recipes. I’ve been doing this for several years now, and it’s really all about ratios. I used a few of my old muffin recipes as springboards and came up with the loaf below. I decided to add the pumpkin not only because it’s Fall, but because it keeps baked goods incredibly moist, and you can cut down on the amount of butter and/or oil quite a bit (sort of like substituting applesauce). The loaf is also studded with apples and walnuts, which I really enjoy in quickbreads. I loved the way this bread turned out, and I hope you’ll try it!
Pumpkin Bread with Dates, Apples, and Walnuts
Makes 1 loaf
8 oz. dried dates, chopped
2/3 cup very hot or boiling water
1.25 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp. applesauce
1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly grease a loaf pan.
Place chopped dates in a small bowl, and then cover with hot water. Allow to stand until the water comes to room temperature.
Meanwhile, sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in a large bowl.
In another bowl, or in the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the canola oil and sugars until well blended. Beat in the egg and vanilla, just until incorporated; then add the pumpkin puree and applesauce.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until just incorporated. Repeat with another 1/3. Then, add the dates, with their water and beat for just a few seconds. Finally, add the remaining flour and mix until blended (I like using a spatula towards the ends to keep the batter light). Fold in the apples and walnuts. Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before placing on a rack to cool completely.
Wow, this looks fantastic! I made Spiced Peach Carrot Bread last night, but when it’s gone…this is next 🙂
Fall Bounty Loaf? LOlz whatever has pumpkin in it, I’m IN! That reminds me, I still have to make your pumpkin cream cheese muffins…mmmm…
Autumn Loaf has a nice ring to it. Autumnal Loaf. Whatever you call it, it looks and sounds great!
This sounds really delicious!
Well, unlike your friend Joe, I absolutely LIVE for the day when it is socially acceptable to cook with pumpkin again! If it were up to me, I’d use it all year round. But I think everyone would get very bored.
I love this bread! It definitely has all the best of autumn in it.
A perfect name and the perfect bread!
I would love if you added this and any other pumpkin themed links to my “Happy Post” today. http://su.pr/1rMDg2
Looks amazing – perfect breakfast bread. Thanks!
I haven’t started into pumpkin yet but I finally admit that fall is coming.
Yes, one does overload on the pumpkin recipes in the fall, but this one sounds well worth it. It looks wonderful and sounds like it tastes fabulous.
I love your mish-mash autumn bread. Can we call it that?
“slower than molasses…” LOL! Great line! I don’t get the fascination with spiced pumpkin lattes (it almost sounds like soup). I do however enjoy cooking with pumpkin and I love what you have created here Elly! Spicy, warm and great with a real cup of coffee!
I love how you can see all the chucks of goodness in the loaf before you cut into it!
Call it “one of the best things I ever ate!”. Seriously! I made this today and it’s SO good! I only had 4 ounces of dates on hand but I love what they added to the recipe. I also added about 1/2 cup chopped almonds and used 2 small apples from my tree. This will be a keeper recipe for me…..Thank you!
Great to hear, Charlene!
Once pinterest is working again, I will make sure to pin this- looks fab!!!!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I made muffins in place of a loaf – easier for the kids to grab and go. I was out of applesauce and walnuts, but didn’t change any other ingredient. The family said it was their new favorite muffin! Thanks for the delicious recipe. It is being filed under “tried and true” recipes.
So happy your family enjoyed it, Kathy!