If you’ve never tried date bread, this is the best date bread recipe out there. You know when it’s grandma’s recipe, it’s gonna be a good one! The best part about this bread is that it’s so moist and sweet that it doesn’t even need added sugar. Mix up a loaf, slather on some melty butter and try not to eat it all in one sitting. It’s that good!
Why I Love This Date Bread Recipe
You will find dates in many historical recipes (like honey date squares, Italian date nut bars, or old-fashioned fruit and nut candy) when white and brown sugar was scarce.
Grandma’s date bread recipe was born during one of these times due to war rationing. Inventive homemakers would look for other ways to sweeten baked goods by using dried fruits such as dates.
- Healthy Sugar Alternative – Although sugar is not scarce today, I love using dates because, in addition to their sweetness, they provide fiber, prebiotics, antioxidants, calcium, vitamin K, and magnesium. What other sweetener in your pantry contains all of that?
- Sweet Treat – This date loaf recipe comes right from my grandmother’s recipe box. Dates play a starring role, and the bread is sweet enough that you would never know it doesn’t include sugar!
- Versatile – The bread is delicious on its own for breakfast or a snack (slathered in butter) or served alongside a meal. My husband particularly enjoys this bread alongside a plateful of baked beans.
Date Bread Substitutions and Variations
The beauty of this date bread recipe is that it was originally developed to incorporate whatever is available. Date bread can be adapted in several ways.
- Gluten-Free – I have successfully made a gluten-free version by using a gluten-free flour blend one-to-one. I have also added baking powder to the original recipe to improve the rise of the bread. Learn more about gluten-free baking in Successful Gluten-Free Baking That Tastes Good.
- Dairy-Free – Because this recipe does not use milk, it can be easily converted to dairy-free. Just swap the butter for a mild-tasting oil such as coconut or avocado oil.
- Nuts – To give your loaf a crunchy texture, substitute chopped walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or pecans for the raisins.
- Spices – Date loaf is complemented by a variety of spices. Feel free to add your favorites, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, or ginger.
- Extracts – Try using maple, almond, orange or vanilla extract for a new depth of flavor.
Date Bread Recipe
Supplies Needed
- Saucepan – You can use your saucepan to prepare your dates and double as a bowl for mixing the remainder of your wet ingredients.
- Fork – You can use a pastry cutter or mini food processor to blend your dates, but a fork is really all you need.
- Bowl – A medium-sized mixing bowl works well to combine your dry ingredients together.
- Spatula – A silicone spatula or wooden spoon works great to incorporate all your ingredients without overmixing them.
- Loaf Pan – The ideal dimensions for your loaf pan are 6.5” x 4” x 2”, but you can use a standard 9” x 5” bread pan and just reduce the baking time.
Ingredients Needed
- Water – You will need one cup of water to soften the dates and an additional ½ cup of water to mix with the wet ingredients.
- Dates – Any type of date works great for this recipe. Deglet Noor and Medjool seem to be the easiest to find.
- Baking Soda – The acid in the dates will help activate the baking soda to give your date bread lift.
- Butter – You can substitute coconut oil if you prefer a dairy-free version.
- Flour – You can use all-purpose flour or, for gluten free, substitute your favorite gluten-free flour blend.
- Baking Powder – Baking powder works together with the baking soda as a leavening agent. Always check the expiration date on your baking soda to make sure it’s fresh.
- Raisins – If you prefer date nut bread, you can substitute your favorite chopped nuts in place of raisins.
- Egg – For best results, bring your egg to room temperature and whisk it before adding it to the date mixture.
Step-by-Step Directions
- Pour 1 cup water into a small pot and bring to a boil.
- To the boiling water, stir in dates, soda, and butter.
- Reduce heat, and simmer until dates are very soft, about 20 minutes.
- Use a fork to mash the date mixture into a paste. (It does not need to be perfectly smooth.) Set aside to cool.
- Combine flour, baking powder and raisins in a separate bowl.
- When dates have cooled, stir in beaten egg and ½ cup hot water.
- Add flour to the date mixture and stir until combined.
- Pour into a well-greased 6.5” x 4” x 2” loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven at 325°F for 45 – 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
- A standard-sized loaf pan can also be used but will create a flat loaf. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes.
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Storage/Reheating Info
If you have any leftovers, your date bread can last up to 5 days at room temperature or 7 days in the refrigerator. Allow the bread to cool completely, and wrap it in plastic wrap or seal it in an airtight container.
If you want your date bread to last longer, seal it in a freezer-safe container and freeze it for up to three months.
Did you make this date bread recipe? If so, please leave a star ⭐ rating and your comments in the recipe card below (this really helps me out)… then, snap a photo and tag me on social media @melissaknorris so I can see! I love getting a glimpse of what you all make in your kitchens.
FAQ’s
What is the best way to store date bread?
Wrap your date bread tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. You can also use an airtight container. It stays fresh at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for a week. For longer, freeze it for up to 3 months.
Can I use different types of nuts in the date bread recipe?
Yes, you can! Try chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, or pistachios for a unique taste.
What can I do if my date bread turns out dense or dry?
If your bread is dense or dry, there are a few fixes. Avoid overmixing the batter to prevent a tough crumb. Use fresh, quality ingredients and don’t overbake. If it’s still a problem, add a bit of milk or water to the batter.
Can I substitute the dates in the recipe with something else?
Yes, you can swap dates for other dried fruits like figs, apricots, or raisins. Just adjust the amount based on their sweetness and moisture.
How long will the date bread stay fresh?
Date bread stays fresh for 3 days at room temperature or a week in the fridge. For longer, freeze it for up to 3 months. Always wrap it tightly to keep it moist.
Other Posts You May Enjoy
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Honey Date Squares
- Italian Date Nut Bars
- Historical Dried Fruit & Nut Candy
- Sourdough Chocolate Bread
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Grandmother’s Date Bread Recipe
Equipment
- Sauce Pan
- Mixing Bowl
- Spatula
- Whisk
- Measuring Cups/Spoons
- Fork
- Loaf Pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup dates
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour can also use a gluten-free flour blend
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup raisins
- 1 egg well beaten
- ½ cup hot water
Instructions
- Pour 1 cup water into a small pot and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, stir in dates, soda, and butter.
- Reduce heat, and simmer until dates are very soft, about 20 minutes.
- Use a fork to mash date mixture into a paste. It does not need to be perfectly smooth. Set aside to cool.
- Combine flour, baking powder and raisins in a separate bowl.
- When dates have cooled, stir in beaten egg and ½ cup hot water.
- Add flour to date mixture and stir until combined.
- Pour into a well-greased 6.5” x 4” x 2” loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees F for 45 – 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Who knew date bread could be so delicious! I love serving it with something savory as it makes the date bread taste perfectly sweet (but not overly sweet). Great recipe!
Hello! My mom used to make a similar date-nut bread. She would slice it as thin as possible and mix crushed pineapple with cream cheese as a spread . She then made lovely little sandwiches with it. If it weren’t for my siblings I would have eaten the whole loaf! Thank you for this recipe!
you’ll get a great big fat ass from all that sugar
what sugar? There is NO refined sugar. Just sweetness from the date paste.
I’m planning to make this. Our family is on a new heart-healthy journey after my heart attack at age 48. Will use whole wheat flour in place of AP. I think if you 1.5 x the recipe you could bake it in a regular loaf pan and have it rise like the smaller pan. Would just need to increase the bake time.
This turned out well, but I thought it a bit tasteless! I will add cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg next time!! As another person said the raisins held onto the white flour and did not look very nice, will add to wet ingredients!! Other than that! It was good!.
Adding raisins to the dry ingredients keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the loaf.
Wasn’t thrilled.
I so want to try this receipe, I am 79 years old I remember my mother making this when I was a lil kid about 5 years old, she would save cans with gold color inside and bake them in theses cans and we would eat any of them she would put cream cheese on them so tasty but she would have so many people saving those cans for her like a can of corn would come with gold color inside I had one of her old cook books but those were not in there but I can remember my dad chopping the dates and nuts for her have you ever heard of this before.
Hi Joyce, You can still buy Brown bread in a can around the holidays. So , yes I do remember bread in a can, so moist and delicious with cream cheese.
Happy Holidays
Mary
I have. That is how my mom used to make date nut bread. I am wondering about adding nuts to this recipe.
I added walnuts. Turned out great.
This was so delicious, and we ate it like a desert. I’ll confess, I made cream cheese frosting to drop a dollop for a treat. It really doesn’t need it but a new favorite in our adult house.
Sorry, I don’t want to sound rude, but your “desert” actually has dry, hot sand, an oasis and maybe a camel or 2… It is spelt Dessert…. double S!
I am going to bake this over the weekend! Have a lovely day!
The word is “spelled” not “spelt”….
The verb spell has two correct past tense forms. The past tense spelled is preferred in American English, while either spelled or spelt is acceptable in British English.
I made this with additional ingredients- sliced almonds/unsweetened apple sauce/flax seeds. It came out great. Thanks
Did anyone use Medjool dates? They already seem very moist not dried, so can i just mush them up rather than boil them?
I did, but cooking the dates made them softer and faster to mash.
I have not tried your recipe yet, but it sounds delicious. And I will be making it soon.
Hi Melissa I try your date cake and it was very good the only change I did I use 1/4 Cup of Apple sauce instad of the egg I don’t use eggs thank you so much foryour great recipes
I made this yesterday using your original recipe Melissa and it is 100% the same recipe that my great Aunt used! I’ve been trying for years to replicate it and *boom*, here it is! Thank you so much! It is perfect just as you posted it! Now…off to see what else of your recipes I simply must have!
I was curious out this cake so I thought I’d try it. I baked it with gluten free flour and made 2 mini loaves. The butter was super thick and it didn’t raise much. I baked the mini loaves for about 40 mins.
The Toothpick came out dry. But when I tried a slice, it was a bit gummy like a dense steamed cake. The taste was good though.
Is it supposed to be like that? Or is the crumb like a cake?
This bread is delicious! Thanks for sharing ?
I had a recipe fr this date bread, however, because I moved a lot, it got lost. This one sounds just like I used to have, will make it, will add figs and walnuts too.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful bread.
Delicious! I used a standard pan and was pleasantly surprised by how tall it still was. I used halawi dates sourced from Azure Market – they’re softer and sweeter than medjool. Not sure if it would’ve made a difference in this delicious bread, though. I barely use cane sugar anymore so this recipe was perfect. Thank you so much for this recipe!! I checked out your other recipes and am excited to try them out! Thanks for this great resource.
Great recipe! I added cinnamon to the dry ingredients and I folded the raisins in after everything was mixed. I found the raisins to be full of flour when mixed into the flour mixture, which stayed on them after baking.
I’m Diabetic, if you look up dates they are safe for diabetics as they don’t elevate your blood sugar levels as sugar does.
I made it vegan and with gluten free flour. I should have added more agave syrup to made it a little bit sweeter. It is my first time making a loaf of bread. I think it was very easy.
Liked it very much and so easy to make!
Great recipe, thank you!! 🙂 I swapped the flour for wholewheat, added 20g on coconut sugar and 40g on walnuts and it was delicious. My boyfriend already wants me to make another!! Tip: heat it up and add butter and almond butter :p
I used Rum instead of water to boil the dates and make the paste. Delicious!
No fuss cake. I like that no sugar is added and the dates are already super sweet. Thank you for sharing the recipe
God Bless you
Can you add raisins instead of dates? I buy organic raisins, but am not fond of dates.
This is “date” bread not “raisin” bread
Thank you so much for the recipe.just made it..and came out..delicious.Instead of water I put coffee .taste …so yumyyy.All the best!
Thanks a million for sharing this.
I am in my “plastic free – environment-conscious” journey so I used all that I had bought in bulk. I had to make some modifications to make it vegan and I used dried prunes instead (more local from the area where I live). I will share it here if you don’t mind, in case someone is interested in making it 100% veg.
I made it vegan by using olive oil (tbsp) and flaxseed as “no-egg”. The result was super tasty! I am very thankful for this sugar free recipe that I will repeat for sure!
Have a lovely day. Hugs from Spain.
Can you use dried dates for this recipe?
Can you dried dates for this recipe?
Have been looking for this recipe for awhile. My mother made this. I don’t remember the raisins. And she would pour boiling water over instead of boiling it. Can’t wait to try it.
This was delicious! The density of the bread did not bother me a bit. It was also very filling! I’ll be making this again.
Has anyone tried this recipe using an almond flour? It sounds like something I would love to make to go with coffee!
Hello! I’m a little late to the game with finding your recipe. It looks great and I can’t wait to try it! I already have date paste that I purchased specifically to make date bread. Would you suggest using the paste instead of the water, soda, dates and butter? I’m feeling like the proportions might be off if I just completely substitute out the first few ingredients.
You might have to play around with the liquids and add more water if needed.
Since I already made date paste with 1:1 water & dates last week, I’m thinking that I’ll use 1 cup of date paste in this (should it be more?)
Then I’ll put the baking soda in the hot water and mix it with the (vegan) butter and aquafaba or flax egg in Step 6. What do you think? (Yes, I make other changes, trying to eat a plant-based diet.)
Sarah, did you ever do that, make this recipe with just the date paste? What, if any adjustments did you end up making?
I just made a batch of date paste last week, and after I saw this recipe I came to the comment section to ask the same thing.
I baked mine in a round tin and it took a little less time as it was flatter. I found my mix wasn’t sweet enough so added about a tablespoon of sugar – maybe the dates in the UK aren’t as sweet as US dates. It was like a batter once I had added the 2nd amount of water and was a lovely moist cake. I think I could’ve left out that water though, and it still would’ve been a lovely cake. Thanks
Try adding diet coke for port of water….gives a bit sweeter taste. Love recipe as I am diabetic.
What kind of dates did you use for this? I used Medjool, and my bread turned out much darker than your photos. It is a slightly flatter, light black loaf. It tastes nice, but I’m wondering if I’ve done something different or wrong.
Hi Annie, I just used regular pitted dates. I have not tried the recipe with Medjool dates, so perhaps that is the difference in your loaf. Glad to hear that it still tastes good! 🙂
[…] Recipe from Andrea Sabean […]
Hi Andrea! I have made this recipe twice, and I absolutely love date breads! The flavour was amazing both times, but the texture was a little bit dense. I do not have experience making date paste, and each time I kinda burned the dates, and the mixture turned into a really dark/black color… Is that normal? And about how many dates would be 1 cup? Should it be 1 cup packed? Also, about how much should I have with the cooked date paste? I am assuming lots of water will evaporate during the cooking process…
Hi Gray, To begin with, it IS a dense loaf, just by the nature of the recipe, so it might not be anything you are doing with the dates that makes it so. As for the dates, I am never that specific about them! I use a cup of dates – I don’t pack them in the cup or anything, so there are air spaces and dates peak up over the top of the cup. I just grabbed a cup now and have 26 dates in my cup, but I am sure it is slightly different each time. I have never had the dates go black. You definitely want to simmer over low heat. Lots of the water will evaporate, but there will be enough to mash the dates at the end. You basically just need to simmer them until the dates are soft enough to mash. If your dates were softer to begin with, or you are simmering over a high heat, you might find you don’t need as much time before they are ready to mash. Just keep checking, and as soon as they are soft enough to mash with a fork, they are ready to go! Hope that helps!
This recipe is awesome. I tried both regular flour and gluten free. Both really good.
I made a dairy free version of this (I used Earth Balance- Soy Free in place of butter) because I had some dates (okay, a lot of dates) to use up… and oh my goshhhh!
I added a DF butterscotch sauce on top to make it a decadent desert and it was a huuuuge hit!
Made this today! It came out great! Was delicious still warm with some butter. And it was moist. I did substitute the raisins for dates and walnuts. Using a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 loaf pan it cooked for 50 minutes. Very easy to make, especially since baking is not my forte! ?
Brigid,
I’m so excited to hear it turned out great for you. And thanks for letting us know the substitute of the raisins for dates and walnuts worked well. We grow our own grapes here so I love being able to use raisins in recipes.
Hello Melissa,
I just found your website and am so excited about returning to simpler, healthier foods.
As I was looking around, I found the WWII date bread recipe and was wondering if I could use fresh ground wheatberry flour in place of the AP flour?
Thanks so much for your direction!
Mary A.
Hi Marry,
Yes, you can, but increase the water by a Tablespoon or two as the fresh ground flour will require a bit more liquid.
When I saw this I thought malt bread Mmmmm. But the ingrediants reminded me of something. Then I got hold of the River Cottage glutem free /sourdough book and theres a recipe for sticky toffee pudding in there. Guess what if you make a toffee sauce its sticky toffee pudding ! Thank you I will be trying this as its ALOT healthier than the river cottage version yuck.
Claudia, this sounds like a delicious use for this recipe. I would love to know if you tried it and how it turned out. Its been a few years since I last had sticky toffee pudding, but in my memory the pudding part might have been a bit moister than this bread. I wonder if I used a little less flour or used more dates if it would mimic that same moistness. Thanks for the idea!
Hi Andrea ,what a great recipe of your grandmothers bread , thank you for sharing. Gods Best
My family couldn’t tell there was no sugar…healthy treat without them knowing!?
This recipe looks like something my family would enjoy,thank you for passing it along.
I was given an abundance of dehydrated figs,they are the size of raisins. I am going to try the recipe using those.
Wish me luck!
I would love to know how your fig bread turned out! I love figs, but never thought of substituting them for the dates in this recipe.
This recipe looks AMAZING – will have to give it a whirl! I can remember my Granny (who lived through the Depression) many, many years AFTER the Depression – she would store bags of sugar in the basement “just in case”. Still makes me smile! Also, I would love to hear more about your sugar journey – need all the help this sweet-toothed girl can get!
This made me smile! Although my Gran didn’t store sugar, she seemed to keep everything else. She had a whole drawer full of paper (envelopes, junk mail with printing only on one side, etc.) and another of string. She couldn’t fathom why you would throw something so useful away. I had a sweet-tooth, too, but I managed almost three months without any sugar at all before I started cooking and baking with it again. Now I find I need far less sugar for something to taste sweet to me, and I also can’t eat sweet things in large amounts like I used to – both good things. Those three months were tough, but worth it in the end.
I’m on week two Andrea of a no sugar reset, so I’m happy to hear about your success!
Hi Melissa,
Could I make this recipe without the egg and still be good ? If so, which substitute would work better in it ? Thanks in advance for your great help,
God bless you,
Rosilene
Hi Rosilene,
I haven’t tried it with this particular loaf, but I often substitute flax seed for egg in other quick bread recipes and they have turned out well. (1 Tbsp ground flax mixed with 3 Tbsp water.)
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Vintage recipes have always been my favorite, especially quick breads. Is the bread dense or moist?
The dates keep the bread moist, but it is definitely a denser loaf.
This recipe looks good. I’d be interested in more ways to cook with less sugar. Tks.
Hi Andrea, have you tried this with any fruit besides dates? I seriously dislike dates, and I’m wondering about substituting figs.
Thanks!
Theresa,
I think the figs sounds wonderful!
I have only ever used dates, but figs might work! If you try it, please let us know how it turns out!