Whole-Wheat Date Nut Bread

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons safflower oil, plus more for pan
• 1 ½ cups hot water
• 1 cup pitted dates, chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar

Instructions

1. 1
   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with oil. In a bowl, pour hot water over dates and let stand until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in oil, egg, and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together both flours, baking soda, salt, pecans, and brown sugar. Fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
2. 2
   Bake, rotating halfway through, until a tester inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, about 65 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack, 20 minutes, then turn out bread and let cool completely. (Loaf can be tightly wrapped and kept at room temperature up to 3 days.)