If you have a pretty close one, why not fix it up? Like add a few more dates for darker and moister, and bake at 325 for an hour, and test from there. With cake and quickbread recipes, oven times and temperatures are notoriously unreliable.

Or I could get a new oven . . . I'm going to start with just an oven thermometer.

I would look for a pumpkin date recipe to give you the moistness and the dark color. You would want to use dark brown sugar and omit the spices that are typical of pumpkin bread. You wouldn't even be able to taste the pumpkin.

I would try using fresh Barhi dates, but they are available for only a few months of the year. You would have to pit them yourself and then weigh them. Also make sure that you chop them finely enough, to prevent gumminess in the final product.

For me, Barhi dates have the best flavor and texture, and I go to the date farm to buy them, but you can order them online when in season.

As my memory has it, both my grandmothers and an aunt made Date & Nut Bread whenever I visited. It was as much a staple as the jar of schmaltz in the refrigerator. I hadn't eaten it in probably 30 years until I got a urge to visit my past one rainy afternoon. The recipe below has been modified from "The New McCall's Cook Book" 1973 edition. One of my three cookbooks. It makes a wonderful Date & Nut Bread, very close to my grandmother's, but not exact.

Ingredients

• 4 cups of pitted dates - I use 1"-2" Majools. Two 12-oz containers are plenty.
• 2 cups of chopped walnuts
• 2 cups of boiling water
• 3 cups of All Purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 stick of unsalted butter
• 1-1/4 cups of dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla

Process

• Cut the dates into chunks about the size of a dime. I quarter them. Chop the walnuts - don't powder them, but get them chopped up good. Dump them both in a big mixing bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Stir and then cover the bowl with foil or a big plate. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then let it sit until cool - at least another 30 minutes.
• Sift the flour and baking soda and set it aside.
• Cream the butter with the brown sugar. Then mix in the eggs and the vanilla (use the good stuff!) When the butter is completely mixed add this to the date and nut mixture and mix it well with a wood spoon.
• Add in the flour mixture and beat with the wood spoon until well combined.
• Split the batter between 2 greased 9x5 meatloaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Hubs got me more dates at the grocery store so at some point I will try again . . .

I searched for the best-rated recipe and found this one that uses coffee, not molasses. Maybe his grandmother’s was like this: Date Nut Bread

I have heard good things about this recipe, but have not made it.

From the back of the Dromedary dates box or package:

3/4 C water

1/4 C shortening

one 8 oz pkg dates, snipped, in a good size bowl

3/4 C chopped toasted walnuts

2 eggs slightly beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 C all purpose flour

3/4 C granulated sugar

1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour a loaf pan.

In a small saucepan, bring water and shortening to a boil, then pour over the dates and let stand 15 minutes.

Stir to blend, and add nuts, eggs and vamilla.

In a different bowl, combine flour and sugar, baking soda and salt and then stir into the date mixture until blended. Don't overmix. Pour into pan.

Bake 65 to 70 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 mins. Loosen edges with spatula, turn out onto the wire rack and cool completely.

Here's my favorite recipe, and my notes:

Date Nut Bread from “KA 1948” on Chowhound, posted around October 2009.

Posted by KA 1948, who wrote:

"The best date-nut bread I ever had was made by the old Van de Kamp bakery. Unfortunately, that old chain died and sold their name to a company that doesn't make the same recipe. After many trials, I came up with the following recipe that comes very close to the original. It’s heavy, moist, with a mild date flavor and a shiny sweet gloss that forms naturally as the loaf cools. I hope you like it."

Notes: I made this on Feb. 16, 2018. The batter looked lovely and tasted really good! I toasted the walnuts, and I did add the molasses to the blender because I only had light brown sugar.

I put foil around the edges of the glass baking pan to avoid the edges drying out or burning. After 25 minutes in the 325• oven, I turned the loaf a quarter of a turn and continued baking for 30 minutes. EDITED TO ADD: Then baked for an additional 20 minutes, then another 15 minutes, then 10 minutes and it still was NOT done.

PROBLEMS: It took a LONG time to bake, over 1 hr 40 minutes at 325 degrees, and it STILL WAS NOT DONE—when it was finally done, it really was delicious!

Recipe

4 oz pitted dates

1 C boiling water

1 C packed dark brown sugar (Note: If using light brown sugar, add 1/4 C molasses)

4 T butter

1 egg, beaten, with 1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 & 1/3 C flour—measured then sifted

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 C walnuts (Note: Toast for 10 – 12 mins in 350 degree oven, then cool & chop)

Boil water and put in blender. Add the dates and process to chop or grind on low. If you are NOT using dark brown sugar, add the molasses now. Set aside.

In a pan over low heat, heat the butter/brown sugar and stir until melted—you’ll still be able to feel the sugar granules and that’s fine. Remove from heat. Cool for about 15 minutes.

Even though the butter/brown sugar mix may be cooler after 15 minutes, just in case, *temper* the egg with the melted butter/brown sugar mix. Then, fully incorporate the egg/vanilla into the pan that heated the butter/brown sugar. The pan will become your mixing bowl.

Add the walnut pieces to the pan with the butter/brown sugar/egg/vanilla mixture and stir.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the pan, and mix until the batter looks smooth and incorporated.

Pour into a greased & floured (and parchment) 8 x 4 glass loaf pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes at 325• Note: My glass loaf pan was about 8.5 inches.

Test with toothpick in the middle – it should come out clean.

Remove from oven and tent with foil for at least one hour before slicing.

OPT: Before baking, cover the bottom and sides of the glass baking loaf pan with foil in order to prevent the sides of the loaf from burning before the insides are completely done.

Thanks for those notes Sooz!! I was surprised that my date nut bread was done after 50 min. in two loaf pans. Temp was 375 though. One loaf pan was steel, one was glass, and no noticeable difference. The edges got a little overdone on both, so great tip about covering them with foil. Next time I will make sure to try a lower oven temp. Plus I just got an oven thermometer as an additional check on my baking issues . . .

One other thing I didn't do was parchment. I hate fussing with it. I used Pam baking spray. That might have had a little bit to do with the over-browning because I think it has some kind of sweetener in it . . .

I always try to write my notes on recipes--years pass and then if I don't have my notes to read, darn, I've forgotten! Using Pam or parchment can be an experiment, yes? just like different loaf pans, and oven temps! <grin>

Eileen had a good idea to look for one that uses some pureed something like pumpkin or butternut squash.

I saw what looks to be a promising one in the Washington post last week. It uses mashed sweet potatoes in the mix. Sure you could use pumpkin or squash instead.

Now I'm thinking maybe banana date nut bread. Apparently hubs two favorite quick breads are banana and date nut. He told me this morning. I make banana date muffins, so I know it is probably doable.

you can also check out Goodycs website they have a penalty of some good recipes.