Date Nut Bread with Cream Cheese: The best and delicious way to use Date!

Like most of the dried fruit, date is very sweet, and it's a problem, haha. Because even I like to eat them, a lot of it will make me feel dizzy. I have a lot of it in my fridge, due to the fact that, first, I like to buy it and second, everyone like to buy it for me, ^ ^ . So I end up with the fridge full of this sweet fruit.

Most of the recipe will turn this sweet fruit into the sweet cake (or pudding), which is not what I want, I want to find the way to tame the sweetness not adding more of it.
So the journey to the great recipe begin,  in my room by browsing through the pile of cookbooks again, haha (well, you know that I just want to use the recipe in my books, so I feel less guilty when I buy more book, ^ ^, because I can say that I use it, right?).
Finally, I find it, it's the quick bread recipe in the book. I just got it, haha  from my last trip to the bookstore and really want to try some recipe and this Date Nut Bread with Cream cheese is very interesting.

The most of  sweetness of this bread comes from the date, itself more than the sugar (the sugar still needed as it act as a softener for the cake), and the nut helps reducing the sweetness too. But most of it is the way we eat, when spread the bread with the cream cheese, the bread transform from very sweet bread into the mellow bread. The tangy and creamy of the cream cheese make the bread less sweet and add a lot of the creaminess (as you can see that the bread use very little oil and it's a bit dry).
For this bread, the cream cheese is a must when serving, and or I can say that a lot of it will be the best, haha. When I ate the bread alone (when tasting it), I have to say that I didn't like it, the sweetness make me feel bad, but when cream cheese added, the bread is very delicious. 
When sandwich this bread together with (a lot of, haha) cream cheese, and serve it with a cup of strong coffee or tea, it can be your breakfast or a tea time treat, and yes, a very delicious one that you will love it too.

Date Nut Bread with Cream Cheese

Yield 1 loaf (9 x 5 inch) 

INGREDIENTS

175g ............................ Dates, diced

340ml ......................... Boiling water

110g ............................ Light brown sugar

50g .............................. Sugar

30ml ............................ Vegetable oil

1 ................................... Egg

310g ............................ Unbleached alI-purpose flour

15g .............................. Baking powder

6g ................................ Kosher salt

115g ............................ Walnut pieces, toasted 

..................................... Cream cheese (for spreading on slices)

1. Position one rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the loaf pans.

2. In a medium bowl, cover the date pieces with the boiling water and set aside.

3. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, sugar, oil, and eggs.

4. In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk together. Pour the sugar mixture and the date mixture onto the dry ingredients and fold together until almost mixed. Add the walnuts and stir until just combined.

5. Pour the batter gently and evenly into the prepared loaf pans. Bake for 55 to 65 uiinutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Do not overbake.

6. Cool the loaves in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out and place on a wire rack to cool completely. This bread has a crunchy crust and stays fresh for several days. Enjoy it soon after baking and avoid wrapping it in plastic film until one day later, to preserve the crunchy crust. Store the loaves at room temperature unwrapped or refrigerate after wrapping. This bread freezes well wrapped in plastic film and then foil.

7. Serve each slice with an ounce (30g) of cream cheese for a delicious and satisfying treat.

Date Nut Bread with Cream Cheese: 

The best and delicious way to use Date!