Happy Friday!! Halloween is over and I’m a bit sad because I’m such a fan of this holiday. We always decorate our front yard with lights and spooky things. For some reason this year we didn’t have many kids, I think we just had about 50. Maybe it was too cold or the air quality from the fires stopped people from going outdoors? Anyway, we had fun. Now, it’s time to pack up everything and get ready for the holidays.

I want to start my holiday baking season with something that goes very well with your coffee, hot chocolate or tea during those chilly days. This is a date coffee bread with a coffee glaze.

Let’s start with the recipe.

Ingredients

For the bread

1 and 3/4 all purpose flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 and 1/2 cups hot coffee

2 cups dates, chopped (I got mine at Trader Joe’s)

1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

For the glaze

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For decorating

1/3 -1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted

Directions

For the bread

1.- Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.- Grease a loaf pan with butter or spray. Set aside.

3.- In a bowl mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt. Set aside.

3.-In another bowl, mix the dates with the hot coffee. Let it rest for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, using a sieve (mesh strainer) drain the coffee from the dates. Keep both dates and coffee because you will use them.

4.-In a bowl, beat butter for about 2 minutes. Add both sugars and beat for 2 more minutes. Add egg and vanilla.

5.- Add some of the dry ingredients and mix. Add some of the coffee. Add more dry ingredients. Add the rest of the coffee. Finish with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.

6.- Add walnuts and dates. Mix for 20 seconds.

7.- Pour batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with more walnuts.

8.- Bake for an hour or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

9.-Let it cool completely.

For the glaze

1.- Mix hot water and espresso.

2.- In a bowl mix powdered sugar, sugar, butter, vanilla and the hot espresso.

3.- At this point my glaze was a bit thick so I added 1/2 tablespoon more of hot water.After this, glaze was ok for me. If you think it is still too thick, you can add a tiny bit more water.

4.- Glaze your bread. I used a plastic squeeze bottle. You can sprinkle more toasted walnuts on the top of the glaze. Do it fast because the glaze will get hard.

Enjoy!