Date Fig Bread

This is a very dense, dark date and fig bread. Sliced thin or thick, it literally begs to be buttered heavily with sweet cream butter! The inspiration for it is from the 1964 Betty Crocker Cookbook (yes, I have an original copy), but since the recipe came from a time when people cares less than they do today about the amount of sugar etc they ate, I modified to make it somewhat healthier (added oat bran, and halved the amount of sugar). Note the use of the word "somewhat"! It freezes well, and reheats well in a microwave if a gentle defrost is used. It may also be toasted.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ cup oat bran

1 cup milk

4 tablespoons butter

¼ cup molasses

½ cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 cup chopped dates and dried figs in equal proportions (so ½ cup dates, ½ cup figs)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 egg

½ cup Greek yogurt (a 7oz tub of Fage 2% plain yogurt is what I use)

1 teaspoon salt

3 rounded teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

Juice of ½ lemon

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.       Grease and flour a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan

3.       Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside

4.       Place the milk, butter, sugar, molasses in a small saucepan and bring to a slow simmer. Pour this thick mixture over the chopped dates and figs and set aside to cool.

5.       Whisk the egg and yogurt together. Add the vanilla and lemon juice, then the milk mixture. Stir to mix well

6.       Add the dry ingredients all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until just incorporated (about 1 minute). Pour batter into pan (it will be quite thick) and bake in oven for about 60-65 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean.

7.       Remove from oven, cool in pan for 10 minutes then invert to let the bread cool completely. Slice when cool.