Date and Nut Bread

This is a terrific, very delicious, recipe that you can change the fruit up a bit (based on what you have in your fruit bowl) or make as muffins. I encourage you to experiment with the fruits and/or different types of flour. The ingredients below are what I used in a recent successful "experiment". VERY moist because of the yogurt. I found this recipe on Cooking Light (Original Cooking Light Recipe) and converted it to Not-So-Cooking-Light by using Whole Greek Yogurt. However, if you want to lighten just switch back to Non or Low-Fat Yogurt.

Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients
Streusel:

• 2 1/2  tablespoons  brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons  whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  coarsely chopped almonds or walnuts
• 1  tablespoon  chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground cinnamon

Bread:

• 1  cup dried figs or dates
• 1/2  cup  boiling water
• Cooking spray
• 1  tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2  large egg whites
• 1  large egg
• 1  cup applesauce
• 1/3 cup whole Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup almond meal (you can replace with the addition of another 1/2 cup flour, but this add add'l nutrients/calories/protein)*
• 1/3 cup chopped almonds or walnuts, toasted**
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

* Be creative with this, you can stick to regular flour or use other flour-like things you have in the pantry. replace with a bit of wheat germ and/or ground flax seed as well.
** Toasting is not essential, just adds add'l flavor. To toast, just put in a dry skillet on med-high heat and stir until a bit aromatic. Being careful not to burn.

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare streusel, combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until crumbly; set aside.
3. To prepare bread, combine figs (or dates) and 1/2 cup boiling water in a small bowl; let stand 30 minutes. Coat 2 (8-inch) loaf pans with cooking spray; dust with 1 tablespoon flour. (replace with muffin cups if you prefer)
4. Place egg whites and egg in a medium bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add applesauce, yogurt, oil, and almond or vanilla extract; stir well. Add sugar; stir well.
5. Combine flours and remaining ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drain figs/dates, and coarsely chop. Add figs/dates and applesauce mixture to flour mixture, stirring until just combined*. Divide batter between prepared pans. Sprinkle streusel over batter. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 15 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

*I've added apples, cherries, etc to the  mix. I've even completely omitted the dates/figs when I didn't have them handy. This recipe is a good base for many different kinds of fruits/nuts.