Last Sunday I brunched with two of my lovely dietitian friends. You may currently be envisioning my friends and I squabbling over a lettuce leaf, but in reality sharing brunch with dietitians is the exact opposite. We love our food, and consequently this brunch saw the table overflowing with cupcakes and dip platters. I bought along these delicious baby date and walnut loaves, which we served warm with cinnamon infused ricotta, although for a vegan option it does taste lovely by itself.

Ingredients:

1 cup pitted dates, chopped

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup wholemeal flour

3/4 cup plain flour

1 tsp bicarb soda

3/4 rolled oats

1 1/4 cup chopped nuts of your choice (I like a mix between walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds)

1/2 cup brown sugar

250g ricotta

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease 4 x mini loaf tins (250ml capacity) and line with baking paper, allowing a decent overhang of at least 2cm.

Place chopped dates in a stainless steel bowl and pour over boiling water. Leave standing for 10-15 minutes.

Sift plain flour, wholemeal flour and bicarb soda into a large bowl. Add oats, walnuts and sugar and stir to combine. Pour in the dates and the hot water in which they soaked. Stir until well combined.

Divide the mixture evenly between the four mini loaf tins and smooth the surface. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the loaves comes out clean. Once cooked, let the loaves stand within their tins for 5-10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm with the option of cinnamon infused ricotta (combine 250g ricotta with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and stir until combined) to spread.