Date Loaf - really quick, easy, mpist and yummy - no egg

Hi, I wanted to share this date loaf recipe with you as it is quick, easy (even for a beginner baker), yummy and moist. It is suitable for people who can't have eggs and you can easily substitute margarine or oil (sunflower?) for the butter to make it vegan. It also doesn't have too much fat in it.
I have based it on a recipe from the best recipe website but have made it my own by making a few changes.

Ingredients:
1 cup of chopped dates
3/4 cup of lightly packed brown sugar
60g butter (sliced)
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 cup boiling water
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
Optional:
1/2 cup or so chopped walnuts (or almonds)
1 overripe mashed banana

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
Place dates, sugar and butter and vanilla essence in a bowl and add hot water. Stir until butter is melted. let sit for a cuople of minutes. The sift the flour into the bowl, add salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir until just combined. Add mashed banana and chopped nuts and stir. Pour batter into greased loaf pan (I use silicone, so no greasing needed, they're brilliant) and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean.

Notes:
I chop the dates roughly as I love the moist chunks
You can substitute the AP flour, baking powder and salt for self-raising flour, but I don't usually by SR flour as I find it a pain to store 2 different flours when I can just add baking powder to AP flour and get the same thing.
I always add the banana and nuts, I think they are what makes it special and moist.
I will experiment replacing the AP flour with wholemeal to make it a bit healthier and report back.

Let me know if you have tried it and whether or not it turned out for you.