Chocolate chip date nut bread is a flavorful melody of chocolate chips, dates and nuts and it’s so easy to make.
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My dad is the inspiration behind this delicious and easy quick bread recipe. I would have never have thought of making date bread until he mentioned that his mother used to make date bread for him growing up. I could tell this was such a fond memory for my 85 year old dad.
I had always heard of date bread, but it seemed icky. Even as a middle aged adult I wanted no part of it. I felt about it like Randy in A Christmas Story felt about meatloaf.
However, the thought of my dad’s special memory of date nut bread lead me into the kitchen to make him a loaf.
Oh, and was I glad I did. It was not icky at all; in fact, it was tasty. I loved the way the dates sweetened the bread and the crunch of the nuts.
Since then I’ve made date bread several times. For this recipe, I’ve combined 2 or 3 recipes and added some chocolate chips and cinnamon.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.
What to put on retro date nut bread
- Nothing – it’s delicious by itself
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Nutella
How to freeze chocolate chip date cake
As with most quick breads, this freezes very well, so you can make it ahead of time or freeze the leftovers.
To freeze the bread wrap tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, place in a heavy duty freezer bag. or store in any air tight, freezer safe container.
Other basic quick bread you might enjoy
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins
- Easy Cranberry Apple Walnut Bread
- Eggnog Bread
- Mini Cheese Muffins Recipe
- Boozy Brown Sugar Banana Bread
Chocolate Chip Date Nut Bread
Equipment
- 9.75 x 6 x 2.75 inch loaf pan
- or 8 ½ x 4 ½ loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1.5 – 2 cups Dates Pitted. I always cut each date in half or thirds.
- 4 T Melted Butter
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- ¾ tsp. Salt
- ¾ cups Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Brewed Hot Coffee
- 1 Large Egg
- ½ tsp. Baking Powder
- 2 – 3 tsp. Cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 ¾ cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 – 1½ cups Walnuts
- ¾ cup or more of Chocolate Chips I used 60% cacao chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Grease 8 ½ x 4 ½ loaf pan. I used a slightly bigger loaf pan and it turned out great.
- Place dates, butter, baking soda, salt and brown sugar in mixing bowl and pour hot coffee into the bowl. Stir mixture to combine.
- Cool mixture for 15 minutes
- Add egg, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder and flour to date mixture, beating until smooth.
- Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips.
- Pour batter in loaf pan.
- Bake bread for 45 to 55 minutes
- Tent the loaf gently with foil after 30 minutes. This prevents over browning.
- Remove bread from over. Insert toothpick or knife in center. It should come out clean. If not reinsert in oven until knife or toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool for 10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nordic Ware Loaf Pan
Nordic Ware Cooling Grid
Long Baking Spatula
Dates are so underused and even I have stopped making anything with dates in them. Is that a vintage perculator you show in your picture? It looks like my pink West Bend pot?
Yes, it is a vintage perculator. I’m so glad someone noticed.
I love baking with dates. This bread looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
This looks really good, with lots of nuts, dates, and chocolate chips. Sometimes the things we didn’t like as kids turn out so much better when we try them again!
The cake looks heavenly delicious. Yum! I will try it soon.
Looks so moist and delicious!
This bread looks so yummy and perfect and filling for this time of year!
I never thought that date can be used for making this delicious chocolate chip bread. It looks amazing
I love baked goods with nuts and dates but the trick in my family is not to use too many dates. I’m going to give this a try with a cup of dates, and if it’s too date-y for everyone else I get to eat it all!
This recipe looks great, I will have to try this out at soon 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
This looks a bit like fruitcake, but with dates. I love fruitcake, even though people make fun of it. I also like to sweeten things naturally with dates, so this is my kind of recipe!
This sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing.
I love dates in bread and cakes. My husband would love this for breakfast. Going to make one for him!
What a delicious idea for the chocolate lovers! Sharing this on my chocolate desserts Pinterest board. 🙂
Thank you, that is very sweet.
Oh my, the chocolate chip bread looks so soft and moist with loaded nuts and dates. Awesome bake.
In the recipe it states 1 T melted.butter. Can you tell me what the T stands for
Thank you
Hi, thanks for asking. T is tablespoon. Please let me know if you make this date nut bread. Would love to hear what you think. I hope you like it as much as I do.
It’s in the oven now, so I’ll let you know how it turns out! But the recipe instructions do not say when to add the cinnamon or the chocolate chips. I didn’t notice till the end, so that’s when I added them! It smells fantastic.
Thanks for the heads up on not telling when to add the cinnamon or CC’s. How’d it turn out? Thanks for the comment.
Looks NOTHING like that!!! Agh.
I’m sorry. How did it taste?