Confession: I've never had cream of wheat as a breakfast cereal. I've had it as a savoury curry substrate. And I've used it as an ingredient. But I've never done the hot breakfast cereal thing. So I figured it was time to give it a try.

It came out a bit like cog. Thicker. And obviously more pale and without the corn flavour. But it was pretty similar otherwise. And, honestly, next time I think I'd be inclined to make it with an even higher milk-to-grain ratio next time. Maybe 1/2 c. cream of wheat to 4 c. milk, rather than 3/4 c. cream of wheat.

This was theoretically meant to be made with apricots, cranberries, and almonds. I was all out of dried apricots though, so I swapped in some chopped dried dates instead. I liked it with the dates, but I'd love to try it with apricots sometime too.

Cream of Wheat with Dried Fruit

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. cream of wheat/sooj
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. chopped dried apricots (or dates)
• 1/4 c. dried cranberries
• 1/4 c. slivered almonds

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cereal reaches desired consistency.

I've been continuing to try to work my way through the ridiculous quantity of feijoas that we've suddenly come into. So far I've made two apple-feijoa crumbles, a batch of chocolate-feijoa friands, and a feijoa custard tart. I have a bunch of other feijao recipes queued up as well. But, for today, I decided to give this chutney a try.

It was certainly... interesting.

Recipe as written called for a truly terrifying amount of both vinegar and sugar. I tried it with half the amount of vinegar and no sugar at first. But it tasted a little flat, so I decided to add some of the sugar called for in the recipe and adjust from there.

I actually started with only 1/3 the quantity of sugar called for. I felt like that was being quite conservative. But, having tasted it, I think it probably could have done with even less. I'd probably cut the sugar back to just 50g (1/6 the amount called for in the original recipe) next time.

I also added a few more seasonings after tasting it several times. I think the seasonings helped. A lot. But, I have to admit, this is still not an amazing recipe. It's fine. It's not bad. It's just not great either. All-in-all, I think I'd rather do other things with my feijoas.

Update: I have since found another, very similar, feijoa chutney recipe. Similar enough that I strongly suspect it to be the basis of this recipe. (I suspect the RNZ version to be the newer variation because the author notes that she has tweaked and adjusted it to her tastes over the years and also because the cookbook that I found the other recipe in appears to be an older, hand-typed affair.)

The two recipes call for most of the same ingredients in roughly the same proportions. The main differences appear to be that the cookbook version calls for twice as many onions as the RNZ one and 1/3 again as much sugar (although, I only ended up using ~1/6 the amount of sugar called for in the RNZ version to begin with)! It also quadruples the cayenne, adds ground cloves as an additional seasoning, and calls for 48x the salt! And while I did feel that the RNZ version was somewhat lacking in savouriness (hence my doubling of the salt plus the addition of several salty umami-boosters), I'm not sure I'd go so far as to increase the salt nearly 50-fold. That seems somewhat excessive.

Anyway, I don't intend on actually making the cookbook version of this chutney. I found the RNZ one disappointing enough. And I don't feel that extra sugar, onion, salt, and spices are going to magically make it better. I'll save my ingredients and do something else with my remaining feijoas. That said, I did think it was interesting and wanted to make note of the similar (possibly source) recipe.

Feijoa Chutney

Adapted from RNZ

Ingredients

• 1kg feijoa pulp
• 500g onions
• 300g dates
• 200g raisins
• 400-500mL malt vinegar¹
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 50g brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. curry powder
• 1 Tbsp. ground ginger
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 tsp. Maggi liquid seasoning
• 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne

Directions

1. Purée the feijoas with the onions, dates, raisins, and vinegar (or blitz in a food processor).
2. Stir in the tomato paste, sugar, curry powder, ginger, garlic, Maggi seasoning, soy sauce, salt, and cayenne and bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer, stirring often, until mixutre is heated through and desired conistency is achieved.
4. Adjust seasoning to taste.

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¹ The original recipe called for a whopping 1L of vinegar. I cut this back to 500mL in my rendition. That said, I think it probably could have stood to have been cut back even further. I might try it with just 400mL next time. This would make the vinegar a little less overpowering and hopefully make the chutney a little thicker as well. ^Back

This date bread is very similar to the sourdough date muffins that I sometimes make. Similar, but much, much sweeter. I actually halved the sugar called for in this recipe and it still came out bordering on cloying. I mean, it was good. But definitely at the upper limit of actually palatable amounts of sugar. I think I'd probably reduce the sugar even further next time. (And maybe add a little cinnamon as well. I think that would be a nice addition.)

I can, at least, vouch for this being a very easy recipe to put together. And, while it takes a while to bake, it's not super time consuming either. So, it does make for a decent low-effort breakfast offering. Not the most filling or healthy, mind you, but there's still something to be said for easy and tasty.

Date Bread

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 250g dates, chopped
• 1 c. boiling water
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 c. brown sugar¹
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 150g sourdough discard (optional)
• 1 c. whole wheat flour²
• 1/2 c. soft (plain/standard/pastry) flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

Directions

1. Pour the boiling water over the dates, sprinkle in the baking soda, and set aside for 30-60 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, grease and flour a loaf pan. (I used a 23x13cm pan, but I think a 20x10cm size would have been slightly better.)
3. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
4. Beat the butter with the sugar.
5. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
6. Mix in the dates (along with all of the soaking liquid) and the sourdough discard (if using).
7. Stir in the flours and cinnamon.
8. Add the walnuts and stir to combine.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth top, and bake at 180°C (350°F) until done (~45 minutes).
10. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes.
11. Turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

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¹ The original recipe called for 1 c. of granulated sugar. I used 1/2 c. of brown sugar when I made it (and added ~150g of sourdough starter to the batter) and I found the finished loaf to be pleasant, but very sweet. In my opinion, using the full quantity of sugar would have rendered it completely inedible. I think that, if you're looking for a very sweet, cake-like offering, then 1/2 of sugar is probably fine. But if you'd like a somewhat less sugary breakfast option, then I'd recommend cutting the sugar back even further to 1/4 c. ^Back
2 The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 c. of all-purpose flour. I opted for a mix of plain and whole wheat flour for my rendition. I used mostly plain with just a bit of whole wheat this time, but I think I'd flip the script and use more whole wheat next time. ^Back

I've been doing a lot of cooked breakfasts lately, but we got off to a slow start today so I took a slightly different tack and went with these smoothie bowls instead. The original recipe was for a banana-date smoothie, but I just added some extra banana and dates and a bit of yogurt to make a somewhat thicker smoothie and then topped them with almonds, coconut, and granola for an easy, no-cook breakfast.

Chocolate-Banana Smoothie Bowls

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 bananas, frozen
• 12 pitted dates
• 1/4 c. almond butter
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. milk or almond milk
• 1/3 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. Dutched (alkalized) cocoa
• 3-4 Tbsp. toasted almonds, chopped
• 3-4 Tbsp. shredded coconut
• 3-4 Tbsp. granola

Directions

1. Combine bananas, dates, almone butter, cinnamon, milk, yogurt, honey, and cocoa in a blender and purée until smooth.
2. Divide the smooth among two or three bowls.
3. Top with almonds, coconut, and granola. Sliced bananas, dried cherries, and/or chopped dark chocolate would also make excellent toppings.

We've got lots of eggs again, but I wasn't vibing with any of the egg-y breakfast ideas I looked at. I think the cooler weather has put me in the mood for more starch-y, bread-y things. So I decided to take a look at one of the breakfast cookbooks PDFs we have kicking around to see if any of that looked appealing.

The first chapter focuses on granola and oatmeal. I don't really feel like granola is a meal in and of itself, so I just ignored those recipes for now. But oatmeal works as a hot breakfast on a cool morning. I don't find it really fills me up and sticks to my ribs the way everyone seems to claim it does, but it's still nice to have every once in a while. It's quick, easy, reasonably healthy (as long as you don't add too much sugar and junk to it), and I like trying out new flavour combinations.

I ended up opting for the coconut-date-cashew variant for this morning and it was quite good. I decided to top mine with a little plain Greek yogurt rather than milk or cream in the hopes that this swap would make it a little more filling without increasing the calorie count too much. I also used a little "no sugar added" syrup in place of the honey, but I do think honey would have been nicer.

I've included the recipe for the plain oatmeal here with the various flavours and variations below it.

Basic Oatmeal

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats ("old-fashioned" or quick)
• ~1/3 c. milk, cream, or yogurt

Directions

1. Add the salt to the water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Add oatmeal, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until thickened (5-6 minutes for old-fashioned oats, 2-3 minutes for quick oats).
3. Serve. Top each portion with ~1 Tbsp. of cream (or milk or yogurt).
4. Enjoy as-is or with additional toppings.

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Variations

Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats ("old-fashioned" or quick)
• ~1/3 c. oat, nut, or soy milk

Oatmeal with Brown Sugar, Bananas, and Fresh Figs

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats ("old-fashioned" or quick)
• ~1/3 c. (non-dairy) milk, cream, or yogurt
• ~1/4 c. brown sugar
• 2-3 bananas, sliced
• 8-12 fresh figs, stemmed and quartered
• ~1/4 c. maple syrup¹ (optional)

Top each portion with ~1 Tbsp. of cream (or milk or yogurt), 1-3 tsp. of brown sugar, ~1/2 a banana, 2 figs, and 1-3 tsp. of maple syrup (if using).

Oatmeal with Coconut, Dates, Cashews, and Honey

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats ("old-fashioned" or quick)
• ~1/3 c. (non-dairy) milk, cream, or yogurt
• ~1/3 c. cashews, toasted and chopped
• 8-12 dates, sliced
• ~1/4 c. unsweetened dried coconut
• ~1/4 c. honey

Top each portion with ~1 Tbsp. of cream (or similar), ~1 Tbsp. cashews, 2 dates, 2-3 tsp. of coconut, and 2-3 tsp. of honey.

Strawberry-Rhubarb "Slump"

Ingredients

• 2 stalks rhubarb, cut into 1-cm pieces
• 1 c. strawberries
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water
• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. rolled oats ("old-fashioned" or quick)
• ~1/3 c. (non-dairy) milk, cream, or yogurt

Directions

1. Combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and water and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is soft (~10 minutes). Set aside.
3. Cook oatmeal as directed above.
4. Top each portion with ~1 Tbsp. of cream (or similar) and a spoonful of the strawberry-rhubarb compote.

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¹ The original recipe claims to make 4 servings and calls for 1 Tbsp. of brown sugar and 1 Tbsp. of maple syrup per serving. Personally, I feel like the protion size is way too large if you only divide this batch of oatmeal into four. Six seems like a more reasonable division. But even if you then scale down the toppings proportionately, that would mean ~2 tsp. each of sugar and maple syrup per serving. And that seems like way too much sugar to me when you've already got the bananas and the figs in there since they're relatively sweet on their own. Personally, I think I'd probably just roll with the bananas, figs, and a touch of brown sugar and leave out the maple syrup. ^Back

I had a surplus zucchini that needed to be used up and I'm always looking for good ways to use up sourdough starter and/or discard. I mostly followed the recipe, but I did try swapping out some of the sugar for chopped dates and I used monk fruit sweetener for the rest. I figured it might help cut the calories a bit. Plus, I thought the flavour of the dates would be nice with the bananas and the spices.

Sourdough Banana-Zucchini Muffins

Adapted from Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 1/4 c. boiling water
• 1/3 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. monk fruit sweetener with erythritol
• 2 c. eggs
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 250g sourdough starter (fed or discard) @ 100% hydration
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. orange zest (optional)
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 c. chopped pecans
• 1 zucchini, grated

Directions

1. Pour the water over the dates and set aside to soak for a few minutes.
2. Cream the butter with the sweetener until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
4. Mix in bananas and dates.
5. Mix in starter, vanilla, and orange zest (if using).
6. Add the flour on top of the batter.
7. Sift the baking powder and baking soda on top of the flour.
8. Add the salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg on top.
9. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until almost combined.
10. Add the pecans and the zucchini and stir them in.
11. Add cupcake liners to a muffin tin and fill with batter.
12. Set filled tin aside while the oven preheats to 180°C (350°F).
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 18-20 minutes.

Okay, so this recipe needs some work. I had my doubts about it, but I figured I should make it as written the first time. Well, okay, mostly as written. I did make a few swaps just to try to make it a little healthier. But they're tried-and-true swaps that I've made in similar recipes in the past with no ill effect, so I'm confident that that's not why this recipe didn't really work. And, having tried it once, I do have a few ideas for how to improve it. I just haven't had a chance to test them yet. So, take the instructions below with a grain of salt.

Sourdough Bran Muffins

Adapted from Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 500g ripe (fed/active) sourdough starter @ 100% hydration
• 1/4 c. water
• 60g all-purpose flour
• 150g oat or wheat bran
• 4 dates, pitted and chopped
• 2 Tbsp. boiling water
• 1/4 c. honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 c. oil
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. mixed spice
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. raisins

Directions

1. Combine starter and water.
2. Mix in flour and bran.
3. Cover and let ferment at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
4. Pour the boiling water over the dates. If your honey is very stiff or has crystalized, add it as well; the hot water will soften/dissolve it. Set aside for 10-20 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease a muffin pan.
6. Combine date mixture, honey, eggs, banana, applesauce, oil, salt, cinnamon, and mixed spice in a large measuring cup and mix well.
7. Break up preferment into small pieces and sprinkle with baking soda.
8. Add ~1/2 of the wet ingredients and mix well.
9. Add the raisins and the rest of the wet ingredients and mix until fully combined.
10. Spoon batter into prepared pan(s). This recipe should make ~18 full-sized (5cm/2" diameter) muffins ore 36 mini muffins.
11. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15-18 minutes. (Mini muffins will probably only need 10 minutes.)
12. Cool in pan(s) for 10-15 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.
13. Serve with butter and/or jam.

I've been working my way through some healthy breakfast ideas found online. Sadly most of them still work out to way more Points than I feel I can afford for a breakfast, but I've been tweaking some of the ingredients and portion sizes to try to bring the Points cost down to a reasonable level.

This oatmeal, for example, was originally meant to serve 4 and was cooked in milk and sweetened with honey. It got topped with more honey, dark chocolate, chopped walnuts, and sliced bananas. I made a half batch, but split it into 3 servings instead of 2. I also replaced half the milk with water (and then ended up adding quite a bit more water because I don't like my oatmeal so thick). I replaced the honey with chopped date and a bit of extra banana and used only the nuts and sliced bananas for topping. (No chocolate for me. :( )
All these changes did significantly reduce the Points cost. And I might be able to shave another Point off by replacing the walnuts with almonds. But I'm not sure I enjoyed this breakfast enough to keep tinkering with it. It was alright. And it had the virtue of being pretty quick and easy to throw together. But... for 5 Points, there are other things that I like better. (Like egg salad, okonomiyaki, or cottage cheese pancakes for example.) But, at least now I've tried it and I can check it off my list! And, despite the somewhat high Points cost, I do think this makes a reasonably healthy breakfast. And, if you're not cutting calories, being able to top it with chocolate as indicated in the original recipe would probably go a long way to making it richer and more delicious.

Chocolate Oatmeal

Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 Medjool date, pitted and chopped
• 2 bananas, one chopped, one sliced
• 1 c. water
• 1/2 c. milk (or oat milk)
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 1 c. rolled or quick oats
• 1 Tbsp. cocoa (I used Dutched)
• 3 Tbsp. chopped walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, or almonds
• 1 Tbsp. chopped dark chocolate (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the date, chopped banana, water, milk, vanilla, and almond extract and bring to a gentle simmer.
2. Add the oats and cocoa and cook until desired consistency.
3. Divide into three equal portions and top with sliced bananas, nuts, and chocolate (if using).

This is written as an InstantPot recipe with fresh tomatoes. I didn't have any fresh tomatoes on hand, but I did have some canned diced tomatoes. I figured that the canning process would have the same effect as the pressure cooking, so I just skipped over the first cooking stage and continued on from there.

Tomato & Date Chutney

Slightly adapted from Vegetarian Indian Cooking with Your Instant Pot by Manali Singh

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 3/4 tsp. mustard seeds
• 400mL diced tomatoes (canned)
• 8-9 medjool dates, chopped
• 1/4 c. jaggery
• 1/4 c. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. Bin Bhuna Hua Garam Masala
• 3/4 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. sultanas

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until seeds have stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
3. Add tomatoes, dates, jaggery, chili powder, garam masala, cumin seeds, ginger (if using), and salt.
4. Cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add sultanas and cook for another 5 minutes.

My starter was looking hungry and I didn't want to make more bread, so I poked around online for ideas on what I could use up a bit of starter in. I've made sourdough crêpes in the past and, while they were tasty, I wasn't really feeling the crêpes today. And I don't think we would've had enough eggs for it anyway.

There are actually a bunch of non-bread sourdough recipes up on the King Arthur website. I contemplated trying the biscuit recipe, but the Kidlet and I made buttermilk biscuits recently and that felt like too much of a repeat. I'll keep that one in my back pocket for another time. Same with the overnight sourdough waffles/pancakes. There were also some interesting-looking quick breads and muffins. I thought about giving the blueberry muffins or the pumpkin bread a try, but in the end the cranberry-date-walnut muffins were what really sang to me.

Usually I try to go by the book my first time through a recipe. I will admit, I did tweak this one a bit. I cut the sugar way back: 1 1/2 c. of dates and 3/4 c. sugar?! No way! I only put in 1/4 c. of sugar and the resulting muffins were still bordering on cloying. Definitely more dessert than breakfast. I also swapped out the (white) all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour. And, as usual, halved the salt. I'm happy with the muffins, but I'd definitely make even more changes next time: replace half the butter with applesauce, add a bit of cinnamon, replace some of the baking soda with baking powder, add more cranberries, and slightly reduce the baking temperature and extend the bake time. I think I'd probably reduce the sugar even further next time and try swapping in brown sugar in place of the granulated. The recipe below reflects all these changes.

Cranberry-Date-Walnut Muffins

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 c. fresh or frozen cranberries, halved
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. sourdough starter
• 150g (hard or soft) whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Combine water, dates, sugar, butter, and applesauce and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
2. Remove from heat and stir in cranberries, walnuts, eggs, and vanilla.
3. Stir starter into date mixture.
4. In a small bowl, sift baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into flour and mix well.
5. Stir flour mixture into date mixture until just combined.
6. Spoon into greased muffin tins.
7. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 22 minutes.
8. Let cool in tins for 5 minutes.
9. Remove from muffin tins and set on wire rack to finish cooling.

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Variations

Vegan

I suspect this recipe would work particularly well in a vegan version. I think the flax eggs would complement the whole wheat flour and dates quite nicely.

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 2 Tbsp. turbinado sugar
• 1/4 c. coconut oil or vegan butter
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 c. fresh or frozen cranberries, halved
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 2 Flax Eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. sourdough starter
• 150g (hard or soft) whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

I've been slacking on the bread baking lately. We haven't actually had bread in a couple of weeks because I just haven't quite gotten around to baking it. It just seems like all my time keeps disappearing on me! The Kidlet has been asking for bread though and I really didn't want to resort to store-bought, if for no other reason than the fact that it'd break my streak. So, after a busy day on Saturday, I turned to the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book Sunday morning to see what sang to me.

The Golden Date bread won my pick by virtue of hitting the trifecta of being a recipe I haven't tried yet, have all the ingredients for, and not being overly complicated or onerous. It is very similar to the Basic Whole Wheat Bread, but uses dates, rather than honey as the sweetener. The sort of melt into the dough to produce a relatively sweet, moist loaf. They certainly have a very noticeable effect, but not much... presence? You definitely wouldn't bite into a slice and go, "Yum! Dates!" It's more of a subtle, "Oh, this bread is just slightly denser and sweeter than a plain whole wheat loaf."

Golden Date Bread

Slightly adapted from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 1 c. pitted dates, cut into large pieces
• 1 c. water, plus extra (see recipe)
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 900g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions

1. Simmer the dates in 1 c. of water until very soft. Remove from heat and pour into large measuring cup. Add cold water to bring the total volume up to 3 c. Set aside.
2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
3. Combine the flour and salt and mix well.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture (after its 10-minute rest).
5. Check to make sure the date mixture isn't too hot for the yeast (it should be about body temperature) and pour that into the well also.
6. Mix everything together working from the centre outward.
7. Once most of the flour has been incorporated, turn the dough out onto your work surface along with the remaining flour and begin to knead it. It will be quite wet and soft and sticky at this point, but will become less so as the gluten is developed.
8. After 5-10 minutes of kneading, check the consistency and see if more flour or water needs to be added. Resist the temptation to add a lot of flour and make the dough too tight. It will probably still be a little sticky at this point and that's okay.
9. Knead for another 10 minutes, then smear the butter on the work surface and place the dough on top of it. Continue to knead for another 5-10 minutes until butter is well-incorporated and dough is silky and elastic.
10. Form into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise. Check after an hour, but it will probably need at least 90 minutes for the first rise. To check, press a wet finger ~1cm into the dough and see if the hole fills in. If it does, give it some more time to rise. If the hole doesn't fill or if the dough sighs and/or sinks back around your finger/the hole, then it's ready to be knocked back.
11. Knock back the dough, pressing out any gas pockets and large bubbles. Knead it a little bit if you feel like it (just a minute or two). Form it into a ball again and place it back in the bowl, covered, for its second rise. Check after 45 minutes, but it may take an hour or more.
12. Knock the dough back again, then divide it into two equal portions and shape each one into a ball. Stretch the gluten taught to form a smooth surface across the top. Cover the balls and rest for 10 minutes.
13. Working with one dough ball at a time, turn over so the smooth side is down and press into a large, flat round. Fold the round into thirds to form a long (roughly) rectangular shape. Grab a short side and roll the dough up to form a cylinder. Place seam-side-down into a greased loaf pan.
14. Cover filled loaf pans and set aside to rise for at least 30 minutes and up to 60 minutes. This rise is finished when a 1cm hole very slowly fills in. If you wait 'til it no longer fills in at all, then the loaves will be over-proofed by the time they get up to temperature in the oven.
15. If the loaves have risen very well, you may wish to slash the tops to give them room to spring in the oven.
16. Bake at 325°F (160°C) for ~1 hour.

Full disclosure: This recipe is a work in progress. I decided to try the banana bread recipe feature in the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. It's a bit different than most of the other banana bread recipes I've used in the past. It uses very little sugar (in the form on honey, in this case) and not too much fat. There are no eggs called for either. It does include two other ingredients that I'm not used to seeing in banana bread though: lemon juice and chopped dates. The dates are a nice, fruity inclusion that give it a bit more sweetness without resorting to adding more sweeteners direction. And the lemon juice is there to make the batter acidic and give the baking soda something to react with.

I made this quickbread recipe as written for my first go 'round (as I usually do). It's a nice enough bread, but the flavour isn't quite what I'd hoped. I do like that it uses whole grains though. And not too much sugar or fat. That said, I think I did miss the egg a bit. And the brown sugar, now that I think about it. And, even though it calls for a decent quantity of mashed banana, I think that it could've used even more. With a white flour, I think it would've been plenty but, against the whole wheat backdrop, I didn't feel like the banana flavour came through as much as I would've liked. It also could've used some more spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg) to complement the banana flavour.

The next time I'm making banana bread, I think I'll try combining the Laurel's Kitchen recipe with Deb's Jacked-Up Banana Bread recipe and see where that gets me. I haven't had a chance to test this out yet, of course. But I'm afraid that I'll have forgotten what changes I wanted to make by the next time I'm baking this. So I figured it doesn't hurt to write it all down now and then see how it goes.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Adapted from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book and Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 1 Tbsp. rum
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 5 large very ripe bananas, mashed
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 egg
• 2 c. whole wheat all-purpose flour OR 1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry (soft/plain/standard) flour + 1/2 c. whole wheat bread (hard/strong/high grade) flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Combine dates, rum, lemon juice, and vanilla and set aside overnight.
2. Grease an 8x4" (20x10cm) loaf tin and place it inside another tin.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
4. Combine mashed bananas, butter, honey, and salt.
5. Beat in egg.
6. Add dates (along with any residual liquid) and mix well.
7. Add flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and sift in baking powder and baking soda. Stir until almost fully incorporated.
8. Mix in walnuts.
9. Pour batter into nested greased loaf tin and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 90 minutes. Check progress after an hour. If sides look pale, remove the outer tin and continue baking.

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Variations

Vegan

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 1 Tbsp. rum
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 5 large very ripe bananas, mashed
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. whole wheat all-purpose flour OR 1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry (soft/plain/standard) flour + 1/2 c. whole wheat bread (hard/strong/high grade) flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Back to Edmonds for another quick bread. This seemed pleasingly simple to make and sounded appealing, so I figured I'd give it a go. I think it'd be really interesting to try the apricot variant at some point too. I feel like I might want to swap out some of the other ingredients if using apricots though. Hmm... maybe I'll make a few notes on that below. This date version came out pretty nice. I think I'd probably double the vanilla next time though and bring it up to 1/2 tsp. rather than 1/4 tsp. Adding some other spices might not go amiss either. I might try tossing in 1/2 tsp. of mixed spice next time as well. Not that it's not tasty as is. It just feels like it's missing something.

Date Loaf

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 1 c. chopped dates
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. salted butter
• 1 c. boiling water
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. chopped walnuts
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. mixed spice (optional)

Directions

1. Combine dates, baking soda, butter, and boiling water. Stir until well-combined and butter has melted. Set aside for an hour.
2. Add sugar, walnuts, egg, and vanilla to date mixture and beat well.
3. Sift in flour, baking powder, and mixed spice (if using). Stir until just blended.
4. Pour into greased and floured loaf tin.
5. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 45-60 minutes.
6. Cool in tin for 10 minutes before turning out.

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Variations

Apricot Loaf

Edmonds just suggests making apricot loaf by substituting apricots for the dates in the date loaf recipe. I think that would be fine, but I feel like dates go much better with brown sugar than apricots. Initially I was thinking of just using granulated sugar, but then it occurred to me that honey might go particularly well. Honey is sweeter than granulated sugar though and I think granulated sugar already tastes sweeter than brown sugar, so I think considerably less honey should be used in this recipe. Honey also browns faster, so it may need to be cooked for longer at a lower temperature.

Ingredients

• 1 c. slivered dried apricots
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. salted butter
• 1 c. scalded milk
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1 c. slivered almonds
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder

Bake at 325°F (160°C) for 60-75 minutes.

Vegan

Ingredients

• 1 c. chopped dates
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. oil or margerine
• 1 c. boiling water
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. chopped walnuts
• 1 flax egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. mixed spice (optional)

The Mother of All Fruitcakes!

I've never been terribly partial to fruitcakes. That said, I haven't even tried a fruitcake in something like fifteen years, so I have no idea whether my fruitcake tastes and opinions have changed since then. And catalyst is a huge fan of fruitcake. On top of that I have a fondness for old traditional recipes and a fascination with baked good that need to age before eating.

Edmonds has an entire section dedicated solely to fruitcakes. Admittedly, it's a small section, but still! It has a fruitcake chapter! This includes a whole range of cakes. Everything from a light, blonde lemony cake with sultanas and candied lemon peel as the only fruit... all the way up to the "rich Christmas cake" which includes seven kinds of fruit + almonds, orange juice, rum (or brandy or sherry), and two types of citrus zest. This cake takes two days to make, four hours in the oven, and is meant to sit for a full two months before serving. It also weighs just shy of five kilos! This cake does NOT mess around.

Rich Christmas Cake

Very slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 c. orange juice
• 3/4 c. dark rum¹ or brandy + an extra 2 Tbsp. for soaking
• 2 Tbsp. grated orange zest
• 500g dried currants
• 500g raisins
• 2 c. sultanas
• 2 c. chopped dates
• 150g crystallized ginger, chopped
• 150g mixed peel
• 150g glacé cherries, halved
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1 c. slivered almonds²
• 2 1/2 c. strong flour ("high grade", bread, or all-purpose)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 250g (salted) butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. treacle³
• 5 large eggs (or 6 medium eggs)

Directions

1. Combine orange juice, 3/4 c. rum, and orange zest in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Combine dried fruit in a large bowl and pour juice mixture over it. Cover and leave to soak overnight.
3. The next day, add the vanilla, almond extract, lemon zest, and almonds to the fruit mix.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and spices.
5. Prepare your baking tin and tie a double layer of brown paper around the outside. Edmonds suggests lining a deep 23cm (9") square pan with baking paper. I greased and lined the bottom of a 10" springform pan.
6. In a third (very large) bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and treacle/molasses.
7. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the fruit mixture.
9. Scoop the batter (which should be more like a bowl of dried fruit with a thin coat of cake batter on it) into the prepared tin.
10. Smooth the top with wet hands and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 4 hours.
11. Remove from oven and let cake cool overnight.
12. Poke a few holes in the top of the cake with a skewer or toothpick.
13. Pour 2 Tbsp. of rum (or brandy or sherry) over the top of the cake and let it soak in.
14. At this point, Edmonds says to wrap the cake in tinfoil and a cloth and store in a cool place. I didn't like the idea of the tinfoil being right up against the cake, so I wrapped it in baking paper first (I just reused the paper from the outside of the tin) and then wrapped it in tinfoil followed by a tea towel.
15. Cake should be baked by late October in order for flavours to have fully developed by Christmas.

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¹ I used spiced rum because that's what I had on hand. ^Back
2 Edmonds calls for blanched (presumably whole) almonds. I used slivered both because I felt like that might allow for a more even distribution and because, as with the rum, I already had some on hand. ^Back
3 Treacle isn't really a Thing in Canada, so I tend to just substitute molasses whenever I come across a recipe that calls for treacle. They're pretty close. And I've had good results doing this so far. ^Back

Tamarind-Date Sauce

I have to admit, I've only actually made this once before. And, if I'm being totally and completely honest, I think I like the store-bought versions just as well, if not better.

Tamarind-Date Sauce
From 660 Curries
1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
1/4 c. chopped jaggery (or firmly packed brown sugar)
10 pitted dates, chopped

1. Dissolve tamarind into 1 1/2 c. water.
2. Add the jaggery and dates and bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid has reduced by half.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
5. Transfer to a blender jar and puree until smooth.
6. Store in fridge or freezer until ready to use. (Will keep in fridge for 5-7 days.)

Date Butter

So, not too long ago, I came across a "healthy junk food" round-up on First We Feast. One of the recipes that caught my eye was the "salted caramel". I was extremely dubious that dates could be made to taste like caramel, but it apparently tested well, so I figured I'd give it a try.

I'll be honest: it doesn't taste like caramel. It is, however, delicious! I am definitely keeping this recipe for future reference! I would probably make a smaller batch in the future though. I feel like it kind of lost something after being in the fridge. But I was eating it by the spoonful fresh! Seriously, this stuff is delicious!

Here's what I'd do next time:

Date Butter
1 c. pitted dates
2 Tbsp. almond butter (or a bit more, it really does add a lovely richness!)
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 vanilla bean, seeds only (pod can be used to make "vanilla sugar")

I soaked my dates in warm water to speed the process along. After an hour or two they seemed like they'd plumped up nicely, so I drained them and got started.

There don't really seem to be a lot of other ingredients relative to the dates; can 1/4 cup of nut butter really be enough for 2 cups of dates? Well, as I said, I might experiment with going slightly heavier on the almond butter next time, but that amount really did seem to be enough! It lends a nice, buttery richness to the whole thing. Beautiful!

When I made it, seeds from one vanilla bean went into twice the amount of dates. And that was really delicious. However, I found the vanilla flavour to be pretty subtle, so I think I'd like to try doubling down on the vanilla next time to make it really come through.

Seriously though, if you've got a sweet tooth or you're looking for a healthy(ish) snack to pack in someone's lunchbox or you just love dates... give this a try! It is very good!