Whole-Wheat Date Bread
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:1 loaf, enough for 8 sandwiches
- Butter for greasing pan
- ½cup (95 grams) dark brown sugar
- ⅔cup (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
- 1½teaspoons (6 grams) baking powder
- ¼teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda
- ½teaspoon (3 grams) fine sea salt
- ⅔cup (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.
Powered byPreparation
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Liz R.
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.
Alexis Swasey
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!
Emily G
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!
Cynthia
I used 1/2 cup of applesauce in place of part of the oil. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Came out great. I was sceptical of the olive topping but tried it and it's really good.
atl mom
This was good, though it has a lot of oil. I reduced to 1/2 cup instead of the 2/3rds called for. Next time I will reduce further and replace with buttermilk so that it is moist but not greasy.
Amy
Added chopped walnuts and orange zest to spice it up a little. Turned out great! Delicious breakfast bread that's full of flavor but not too sweet. Making a little whipped goat cheese and honey topping.
Steve S
I’ve made this twice, substituting canola oil for the olive oil in the second version and changing to an 8.5 by 4.5 pan. I used buttermilk both times. Changing pans meant adding 5 minutes to the cooking time. I like the lighter oil better. Very tasty mid-morning with coffee
marie
Superb! I switched the weights of whole wheat and AP flour by mistake. Still came out delicious. I used maple syrup instead of honey since that’s all I had. Served as suggested.
shahkbhaji
I think muffins would be a good idea. I used the 8.5x4.5 loaf pan also and baked longer, but despite testing in a few different places, it had an undercooked spot. The oil seems like it will never fold in but it will. It makes the bread very greasy to touch. I can't imagine putting cream cheese on it. Better to measure the dates before slicing.
It's a filling and in my opinion nutritious breakfast, but wasn't a crowd pleaser at my home.
becky
This is very good and firm enough to toast. I added an extra tbsp of honey and added walnuts. Will be making again.
Emily
The variation with sliced black olives is delicious!
SamFloss
In the old days (1960’s and before) it was standard to use walnuts. Coarsely chopped.
Michael
I used buttermilk for the dairy ingredient. Though it sure looked like too much olive oil as I was adding it to the bowl, the baked result was fine. Delicious on its own. I didn't feel the need for the cream cheese, grapes, nor olives. Thank you Melissa.
Yael Reiner
My family loves this bread! It has a similar texture to olive oil cake and is SO delicious with coffee. A great use of clearing that old jar of dates out from your pantry. Just make sure you use fresh oil if possible, olive oil goes rancid very easily and would explain some of the reported off or overpowering tastes.
Sarat
Used gf flour and white flour, maple syrup, Greek yoghurt, coarsely chopped dates. Melt in your mouth delicious…not too sweet. Baked in a 2 1/2 inch deep rectangular glass pan…perfect.
byopbyop
Made a few substitutions (garlic for dates, tomato sauce for oil). Kids are grumpy but what’s new?
byopbyop
Subbed garlic for dates. On purpose. Kids. Grumpy. What’s new?
Nercon5
Excellent recipe, especially with cream cheese. It’s tricky baking with EVOO, so I’d suggest giving yours a taste before making this. I’m partial to a good fruity oil like Zoe!
abro
so good! I drizzled tahini on my warmed slice, and a touch of salt
JennaJay
Very yummy. I made mine sweet and used yoghurt and extra dates (as I needed to use them all up). Next time I’d use less oil though as it was a little greasy. I saw someone here commented they used apple sauce instead of oil so might try that!
superb
Excellent cake. I used sour cream and only half of the olive oil. My wife likes nuts and kids like chocolate, so added crushed pecans to one half and chocolate chips to the other. I had soaked the dates in hot water and it essentially became a paste after chopping, which took some work to mix in the batter but were quite good. Took only 30 min on Breville toaster oven at 350 degrees on convection cycle.
Fran
This is delicious but mine was quite oily. May try again with 1/2 cup oil or less.
Adam Bailey
I made this but added about a tablespoon of molasses. The batter smelled good until I put the olive oil in… It seemed to overpower everything and I threw it away after baking and trying to eat it. If I were to make it again, I would use melted butter instead.
SamFloss
This brings back memories. In the late 1960’s, shopping on Saturday mornings, we would stop at a modest little Deli Diner for brunch. Cream cheese on fresh date nut bread was always on the sandwich list on a chalk board. It was a rich, savory-sweet treat and all the oil and fat kept us from getting hungry for a long time. This was in Somerville, Mass., not far from MIT. Everybody ate them — it was a staple at simple local restaurants.
SamFloss
In the old days (1960’s and before) it was standard to use walnuts. Coarsely chopped.
marie
This was yummy. I added half cup pecans.
marie
Superb! I switched the weights of whole wheat and AP flour by mistake. Still came out delicious. I used maple syrup instead of honey since that’s all I had. Served as suggested.
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