Lazy Loaf

I am a loaf lover. Not the overly processed ones, but lovely home baked, not so sickly-sweet versions. Yes they are essentially cakes without icing, but perhaps the fact that a loaf doesn’t need to be overly sweet makes it my kind of perfect morning or afternoon tea treat. Much like muffins, the flavour combinations are endless, with my mum’s trademark zucchini and hazelnut loaf ranking right up there in my loaf hierarchy. She always has a fresh one baked when we come home and I always bring the leftovers back to Brisbane and freeze them for times when I just need that little bit of home comfort.

You might think from my glowing praise for mum’s loaf that I’m about to share it with you. I should, and one day I will, but today is about something I created recently. A couple of weeks ago I baked a spiced carrot loaf with juicy dates and walnuts. It was lovely and moist and the flavour combination worked a treat; the carrot offset the sweetness of the dates with the walnuts adding that bit of texture I think loaves need.

Ingredients: 1 cup pitted dried dates, 150g unsalted butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 ½ cups SR flour, ½ teaspoon mixed spice, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup rolled oats, 2 large carrots (grated) & 1 ½ cup walnuts (chopped).

NB The butter and eggs should be at room temperature and the brown sugar, firmly packed.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and line loaf pan with baking paper.
2. Place dates in a small bowl and cover with 1 cup of boiling water – stand for 15 minutes, then allow to cool.
3. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add eggs one by one and beat well after each addition.
4. Add flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, oats, carrot and walnuts and stir until combined. Add date mixture and fold until just combined.
5. Spoon into prepared tin. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
6. Cool in the pan and turn out on to a wire rack.

My loaf took the full 70 minutes to cook although the recipe suggested 50-60 minutes in the oven so keep an eye on it! Make sure you store it in an airtight container. I was taking mine away and it froze really well. Usually I slice it before I freeze it to make for easy serving. Please excuse the not so great snaps, we may have eaten our way through more than half the loaf before I remembered to take a photo.

Perfect for your next work morning tea, I hope you enjoy!