Greg’s Date, Orange and Banana Bread

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orange date banana bread cut and slices

This easy and delicious recipe for banana bread with an orange twist will take your banana bread game to the next level.

Now I know it’s been a while in between reader recipes but this one is worth waiting for, I promise. It seems that every man and woman and his or her dog were making banana bread during lockdown and I got some lovely banana bread related messages from readers, one lady was working her way through my entire Banana Bread recipe collection! 

loaf of orange date banana bread

I have to say, I’ve developed quite a collection of banana bread recipes but I subscribe to the theory that there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing! Anyhoo, back to those messages with Banana Bread in the subject line. Another message was from Greg, who enjoyed my Sticky Date Banana Bread so much, it inspired him to make a loaf of his own with a twist.

slices of orange date banana bread

Not only did Greg make the banana bread with a twist, he kindly sent me the recipe which is  just too good not to share. This loaf is deliciously soft and light and the banana flavour is beautifully balanced with the caramel of the dates and the tang of the orange. 

I like this warm slathered with butter but Greg’s recommendation is to serve it toasted with butterscotch sauce and ice cream. Love your style, Greg! 

Are you a fan of banana bread? Do you have a reader recipe to share?

slice of date orange date banana bread

Ingredients

250g pitted dates, roughly chopped

250ml orange juice

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

300g self-raising flour

75g plain flour

100g brown sugar

125g butter, melted

2 eggs

zest of 1 orange

2 large ripe bananas, peeled

slices of orange date banana bread cut

How to – Traditional

  1. Pour the orange juice in a non-metallic bowl and put the dates in a few at a time so they don’t stick together. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. 
  2. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a large loaf pan with baking paper.
  3. Sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda over the orange mixture and set aside.
  4. Mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher, leaving a few chunks for texture. 
  5. Combine the flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl, then add the butter, eggs, date mixture and bananas. Mix until a smooth batter is formed. 
  6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about an hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. If the loaf is browning too quickly, loosely cover with foil.
  7. Remove from oven, allow to stand for 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool.

orange date banana bread uncut

How to – Thermomix

  1. Pour the orange juice in a non-metallic bowl and put the dates in a few at a time so they don’t stick together. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. 
  2. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a large loaf pan with baking paper.
  3. Sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda over the orange mixture and set aside.
  4. Melt butter for 3 minutes at 60C on speed 2.
  5. Add flours, sugar, eggs and orange zest to TM bowl. Mix for 10 seconds on speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl.
  6. Add the bananas and mix for a further 5 seconds  on speed 5. 
  7. Add the date and orange mixture and mix for 10 seconds on reverse speed 4. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix again for 5-10 seconds  on reverse speed 4 until mixture is well combined.
  8. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about an hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. If the loaf is browning too quickly, loosely cover with foil.
  9. Remove from oven, allow to stand for 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool.

orange date banana bread 1