Miz' Best Banana Nut Bread

I liked the inclusion of Kahlua and dates in this! Swiped from Miz over at Inclined Toward.

Servings: Makes 3 large loaves, 5-6 medium loaves or 10-12 small loaves.

Cook/prep time: More than 2 hours

Ingredients:

1 c chopped dates
1/4 c water
3 eggs at room temperature
3 c sugar
1/2 c butter-flavored shortening
3 ounces Kahlua
3 c (approximately 7) ripened bananas
3T lemon juice, divided
3 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 c crushed walnuts

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

If dates are not chopped, chop into small pieces and put into a small saucepan.

Add 1/2 cup water and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir over low heat until mixture is thick like jam. Set aside and let cool.

Using a small electric hand mixer, cream sugar with shortening in a large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, until creamy. Add Kahlua and mix.

Smash bananas and add remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice with bananas and mix well into batter. Add 1 1/2 cups date mixture and mix. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg into batter. Add nuts and fold until well mixed.

Spray bread pans with cooking spray. Fill each bread pan 3/4 full. Put into oven and bake for approximately 1 hour.

Take bread out of oven and poke several holes in bread and brush with Kahlua 4 times. Let stand overnight and brush with Kahlua 2 more times. Wrap loaves of bread in plastic wrap and refrigerate.