Coffee Date Bread

I bought a container of dates to use (very little) in a ZWT recipe. I now had almost a whole container and no recipe to use them in, so I searched for a date bread recipe that sounded similar to my grandma's bread. I found this on another site, but switched it up to suit my preferences. It makes a wonderfully moist dark date bread. Note: can make this into mini loaves filling them 2/3's full and cooking about 3/4 of the time and/or into muffins, again filling 2/3's full and decreasing the time to about 20 minutes or a toothpick comes out clean.

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1  cup  chopped pitted dates
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1  cup  strong brewed coffee
• 3  tablespoons butter, softened
• 2  tablespoons sour cream (can sub yogurt)
• 1⁄4 cup white sugar
• 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
• 1  egg
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 2⁄3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1  cup  chopped pecans
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, I use it)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan, and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
2. Place the dates in a small bowl, and sprinkle the baking soda over. Heat coffee to boiling, and pour over the dates and soda. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, sour cream, sugars and egg until well blended. Stir in vanilla. Blend in the flour, salt and optional cinnamon, then fold in the pecans and date mixture. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake for 1/2 hour in the preheated oven and then cover/tent with foil, continue to bake for about 25-30 minutes more or until the top of the loaf springs back when lightly touched. Let stand for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Peel off paper, and allow to cool on a wire rack.