Date Nut Spread Recipes

DATE WALNUT LOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F; spray a loaf pan with nonstick baking spray like Pam, and set aside.
• In a small bowl or measuring cup, pour boiling water over baking soda so that soda dissolves.
• Place dates in a mixing bowl and pour water/soda mixture over dates; let cool.
• In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
• In a different bowl, beat the egg with an electric mixer, then slowly add the brown sugar, beating well after each addition.
• To the egg/sugar mixture, add cooled date mixture, toasted nuts and vanilla; mix well.
• Stir in the dry ingredients.
• Now, add the melted butter and mix well.
• Pour this mixture into the prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for approximately 55 minutes, or until loaf tests done.
• Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan, then cool completely on a rack.

DATE NUT BREAD

Steps:

• Combine baking soda with the boiling water. Soak the dates in the water and baking soda solution for 30 minutes.
• Cream sugar and butter together. Add eggs, vanilla, dates, nuts, flour, and salt.
• Divide batter equally between two 9 x 5 (or 8 1/2 x 4 1/2) inch greased loaf pans. Bake 1 hour at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) (or until loaf tests done). Can be frozen when cool.

DATE NUT BARS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, dates and nuts. Add the eggs, butter and vanilla; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be very stiff). , Spread in a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool bars on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar. ,

DATE NUT SPICE BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom of an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pan.
• Combine the dates and orange liqueur in a small bowl and set aside for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl. With the mixer on low, add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. With the mixer still on low, add the flour mixture alternately with the orange juice to the creamed mixture, beating only until combined. By hand, stir in the dates with their liquid, and the pecans.
• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
• Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese, sugar, and orange zest on medium speed until just combined.
• Slice the bread and serve with the orange cream cheese on the side for spreading.

CLASSIC MOIST DATE NUT BREAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Heat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan.
• In a medium bowl, pour the boiling water over the chopped dates. Add the butter and set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the sugar, brown sugar, and egg with a mixer until light.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, alternating with the date and water mixture.
• Stir in the chopped nuts with a spoon.
• Pour into the loaf pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

DATE & NUT DIP OR SPREAD

Steps:

• Beat softened cream cheese until smooth, blend in milk.
• Add dates, almonds, cinnamon and almond essence, mix well & chill.
• Serve with cracker biscuits or fresh fruit as a dip or use as a spread on bagels, mmm yum!

PECAN DATE BUTTER

Steps:

• Place pecans in a dry saute pan and over medium heat toast until browned. Toss often (every ten seconds or so) so they don't burn. As soon as they are toasted, pour out of the hot pan onto a plate or small sheet tray to cool. Let cool completely to room temperature.
• Check to make that all of the dates are in fact pitted. I found out the hard way that sometimes a few unpitted dates get mixed in.
• Place the dates in the bowl of a food processor along with the oil and puree until smooth. With my high-speed food processor, it took about a minute or two to get the dates to a gummy consistency.
• Remove the pureed date mixture to a small bowl.
• In the same food processor bowl, add the now cooled pecans. Process in 15 second blasts, removing the cover for a second to release heat. I found out through trial and error that if you just let it go, the heat from friction and the food processor motor will heat the nuts and separate the oil from the nut solids. Once that happens, there is nothing you can do to correct it and you must start over.
• Keep pulsing for 15 seconds and eventually the nuts will go from pieces to ground, to a fine ground and finally to a smooth creamy consistency. To get mine to a smooth creamy consistency took about 2-3 minutes, stopping every 15 seconds to make sure the mixture did not heat up too much.
• Once the nuts are creamy, add the pureed dates back in along with the salt and pulse just to combine.
• Taste and add more salt as needed.

WALNUT DATE SPREAD

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine dates and nuts; cover and process until finely chopped. While processor is running, add orange juice until blended.

DATE NUT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350.
• Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 3 inch loaf pan.
• Put the dates, walnuts, baking soda, salt and shortening in a bowl. Pour the boiling water over and stir. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes.
• Using a fork, beat the eggs and sugar together in a bowl. Add the flours and stir; the batter will be too stiff to mix well. Add the date mixture and mix briskly until the batter is well blended. Spoon into the loaf pan and bake 40 to 50 minutes. Check the loaf often; it is done when a few moist crumbs cling to a straw inserted in the middle of the loaf. The bread will continue to bake after it is removed from the oven. Do not overbake, or the loaf will be dry.
• When the loaf is done, slide a knife around the edges of the pan and turn the loaf onto a rack to cool completely. This bread freezes well.

DATE-NUT SANDWICH SPREAD

Steps:

• 1. Finely chop the dates either by hand. (use a wet knife-it makes slicing easier!) Or, place coarsely chopped dates in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
• 2. Stir together the softened cream cheese and nuts by hand or add it to the food processor (along with the spice, if using. If using a food processor, process with the PULSE on/off function. Process the mixture until everything is combined and the dates are as finely chopped as possible.
• 3. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.