Recipe Banana Bread with Hazelnuts and Dates

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Three extremely ripe bananas led me to this recipe. I couldn’t find raisins that I wanted to add, but I remembered I had recently bought a pack of Medjool dates.

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup hazelnuts
3/4 cup dates, pitted and chopped

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a bread loaf pan.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together 8 Tbsp softened butter and 3/4 cup sugar.

3. Mash bananas with a fork and add them to the batter along with 2 eggs, mixing until combined.

4. While running the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 cup of flour, 1 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 tsp to the batter. Gradually blend in the remaining flour.

5. While still running the mixer, blend in cinnamon and vanilla extract. Mix in hazelnuts and dates until just combined. Pour into loaf pan.

6. Bake for 55-60 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let rest for 10 min before transferring to a wire rack to cool.