Chocolate Kahlua Date Nut Bread

Today is National Date Nut Bread Day! What a great day and time of year to make a couple of these fabulous Chocolate Kahlua Date Nut Bread. Perfect for holiday giving!

I love nut breads of all kinds, and I think you'll enjoy this spin on a traditional Date Nut Bread. The Kahlua Date Nut Bread recipe was making the rounds a few years ago, but I adapted it a bit to add chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips, if you're so inclined). How can you go wrong with Kahlua and Chocolate and Dates and Nuts? And, this is so easy and quick! It's a Quick Bread!

Chocolate Kahlua Date Nut Bread

Ingredients
1 cup chopped, pitted dates
1/2 cup Kahlua
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons sweet butter, softened
1 large egg
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup dark chocolate (65-75% cacao), chopped into small chunks (or use dark chocolate chips)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°
1. Combine Dates and Kahlua. Set aside and let dates absorb the Kahlua.Yum!
2. Beat sugar, butter, and egg together until creamy.
3. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Alternate adding flour mixture and date mixture to sugar mixture.
5. Stir in pecans and dark chocolate chunks.
6. Put batter in sprayed/greased loaf pan (s).
7. Let batter stand in pan(s) for about 5 minutes.

Bake until done. For regular loaf pan, bake 60 to 70 minutes. For medium loaf pans, bake 50 to 60 minutes. For small loaf pans, bake 45 to 50 minutes.