Spiced Orange Date Bread

By Annie Emery

Ingredients

• 1-3/4 Cups flour
• 1/4 Cup flaxseed meal
• 1 Tbs chia seed
• 1 Tbs baking powder
• 1 Tbs baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 Cup canola oil
• 3/4 Cup yogurt
• 3/4 Cup pitted dates
• 1/3 Cup brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup orange juice

Welcome again to the wonderful world of treats for both children and adults! In my experience here at CMP, the kids go nuts for baked goods. The ingredients and dishes can be intimidating, but this recipe is actually quick for how good it is. It tastes like sweet muffins (which you can totally make instead, just turn up the heat to 375 and bake for 17 minutes) but has a solid load of sustainable nutrition and low sugar. It’s savory, sweet, and spicy. If you need gluten free, simply swap for all-purpose gluten free flour. If you are interested in dairy free, swap the yogurt for one egg. If you don’t have chia or flax no worries, just add an extra half-cup of flour! You don’t have to go out of your way, make what you can and you will be glad you did. All you need is one pan, one bowl, and one mixer. Let’s get started!

Preheat the oven to 350*F

Have your mini sous chef smell the spices, nibble a date, and sip the orange juice. Tasting together is a really fun experience!

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

Mix the sugar and yogurt together, add oil, orange juice, roughly chopped dates, and vanilla.

While slowly mixing, add the bowl of dry ingredients to the wet. A nice dough should form, it may seem a little wet to you, but that’s okay.

Pour into your greased loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes, the top should be a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted should come out clean. The crusty outside and soft inside served warm is a great way to start the day!