Banana, date and honey wholemeal loaf

I seem to have a never-ending supply of over-ripe bananas in the freezer, so it's time to make some banana bread, methinks. It's one of Peter's favourite sweet things, along with dates, so let's see if I can find a recipe made from both.

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Perusing my bookshelves, I find a suitable candidate in Emma Patmore's book, Baking. Given that there are dates and honey in the recipe, I cut back on the sugar and used lower GI coconut palm sugar instead of white. I also substituted self raising wholemeal flour. The verdict from man? He loves it. My recipe is a keeper. 

HONEY, DATE AND BANANA WHOLEMEAL LOAF
225g wholemeal self-raising flour, sifted
100g butter, diced
75g coconut palm sugar (use caster if preferred)
125g dates, de-stoned, chopped
2 ripe bananas, roughly mashed
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Grease a loaf tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment. Combine the flour and the diced butter in a large Pyrex bowl. Using clean hands, rub the butter into the flour, until the mixture is the consistency of bread crumbs.

Add the sugar, dates, bananas, eggs and honey to the flour/butter combination and mix well to form a smooth cake batter. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top of the batter with a palette knife or spatula. 

Bake in the preheated oven for around one hour until the loaf is nicely golden in colour and a skewer tests clean. Leave to cool in the tin, then turn out onto a sheet of baking paper over a cake rack. Store in an airtight container for two or three days. Serve warm or cold. Serves 6-8.

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Tell me dear readers and fellow cooks, do you seem to have a never-ending supply of over-ripe bananas too?