A savoury quick bread, this vegan rosemary bread is naturally sweetened with dates and a small amount of coconut sugar. It contains chopped walnuts which pair nicely with the rosemary flavour for a savory style loaf. This recipe is great as a side at dinner with soup, or served with a knob of butter or your favourite preserves or cheese.
A Savory Quickbread
Most quick breads tend to be sweet (think banana bread, scones, etc), however, they can also be savory.
This vegan rosemary bread doesn't require yeast to rise, or proofing times, etc. This recipe produces a nicely hearty loaf, with a lush crumb, and crunchy texture with the addition of walnuts.
Rosemary in Baked Goods
Rosemary is such a beautiful seasonal ingredient for almost any time of year. It's quite a hardy perennial plant in most climates and produces very fragrant stalks of what look like fir needles. Rosemary in a common ingredient in Italian cooking.
The use of rosemary in this vegan rosemary bread brings it to another level; a beautiful robust flavour of rosemary offset with a slight sweetness from dates and coconut sugar. Rosemary, dates and chopped walnuts are a surprisingly lovely combination!
What You'll Need
For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
- fresh medjool dates
- hot water
- extra virgin olive oil
- flax meal
- vanilla extract
- whole wheat flour or spelt flour
- coconut sugar
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- fresh or dried rosemary
- chopped walnuts
How to make this recipe
Like most quick breads, this vegan rosemary bread recipe is rather simple to make and doesn't require much work. The most time consuming part is preparing the dates, rosemary, and walnuts.
The dates need to have their pits removed and then they need to be chopped. Add the dates to a heatproof bowl and then carefully pour hot water over the dates to allow them to soften and absorb water. Next, the olive oil and vanilla are added to the hot water mixture. The mixture is left to stand for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, mix the flax meal and water together and let that sit for 5 minutes to thicken. Then sift together the flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped rosemary in a medium bowl.
Then, carefully, add the date and hot water mixture, and flax mixture to the flour mix and stir just until combined. Add in the chopped walnuts and stir until evenly distributed.
Finally, spoon the batter into a prepared loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Carefully remove from the oven allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Substitutions
- Whole wheat flour can be replaced with sprouted spelt flour in a 1:1 ratio
- Extra virgin olive oil can be replaced with melted coconut oil or any neutral flavoured vegetable oil in a 1:1 ratio
- Fresh rosemary can be used in exchange for dried rosemary, however, adjust the amount to 1 tablespoon of diced fresh rosemary
On using Medjool dates
It's important when using Medjool dates, or any dates for that matter, that the pits and little stems/tops are removed- these are very hard and should never make their way into the recipe. Inspect all the dates and make sure there are no pits, stems or fragments of either.
Moreover, dates can dry out over time even when properly stored. For this recipe, because the dates are being hydrated with hot water, it's not a big issue if they are slightly dry. However, I recommend using the freshest dates you can find; it is easier to removed the pits and stems if the dates are fresh.
More recipes like this
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Vegan Double Chocolate Banana Bread
Recipe
Vegan Rosemary Bread with Dates and Walnuts
Ingredients
- 16 fresh medjool dates, pitted, stems removed, and roughly chopped
- 1 ¼ cups hot water
- 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon flax meal + 3 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole wheat flour, or spelt flour
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, chopped
- 1 ¼ cups chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F and lightly grease a 9x5” loaf pan. Set aside.
- In a heatproof bowl, add the chopped dates and carefully pour in the hot water. Then add the vanilla extract and olive oil and gently stir to combine, then allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine the flax meal and 3 tablespoon water and let sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Combine the flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped rosemary in a medium bowl. Carefully, add the hot date and water mixture and flax mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Add in the chopped walnuts and stir until combined.
- Spoon the batter into a prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Carefully remove from the oven allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Recipe Notes
Disclaimer: all recipes on this site are developed and tested in a Canadian kitchen with Canadian ingredients at normal elevation using an electric oven and stove. Results may vary.
Nutrition
This is an approximation of the nutrition offered in this recipe, and is created using a nutrition calculator. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your preferred calculator.
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