So many of us all over the world are being asked to stay home as much as possible right now or aren’t allowed to step out at all, and it’s as good a time as any to turn to some fun, comfort baking. Cookies are never a bad idea! And also, these muffins. Making them is a very enjoyable process and the combination of dates and honey is explosively good. There’s no refined sugar (but lots of butter, woot!), there’s ground almonds and wholewheat flour. They taste like caramel and happiness 🙂

I’m spending a lot of time these days refreshing older recipes and posts on the blog. These muffins are a part of that list. Originally from Rachel Allen’s ‘Cake’, I’d made these with lesser butter and a few more changes. I also baked them as muffins instead of a cake, for bite-sized fun. Plus, they look cute! Crispy tops and super moist on the inside and surprisingly, despite the honey and dates they’re not too sweet at all, win win!

There’s plenty of butter to keep these muffins super soft and tender and the almond flour makes them extra flavourful. Once you’ve prepped your dates, the batter is quick and the muffins rise beautifully and taste so good warm with a cup of tea or coffee.

The honey and dates combine to create a lovely, magical flavour in these muffins, something even brown sugar can’t match! The dates are soft and jammy, and you’ll bite into them every so often and they’re yummm! I hope you’ll make a batch today 🙂

Please read the recipe notes before beginning.

Date Almond & Honey Muffins

Moist, naturally sweetened muffins with almonds and wholewheat flour

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 35

Total Time: 55

Makes: 12 muffins

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Ingredients

100 gms dates (about 1 cup) (see notes)
1/4 cup water (60 ml)
150 gms butter at room temp
3/4 cup honey (190 ml)
3 eggs (I haven't tried any substitutes)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup ground almonds (100 gms) (see notes)
1 cup plus 1 tbsp wholewheat flour (125 gms)
1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
1 and 1/2 tsps baking powder

Instructions

Deseed the dates and chop them into small pieces. Add them to a saucepan with the water and cook for about 5 minutes, until they have softened, the water has almost disappeared and they look kind of jammy. Turn off the heat and let them cool.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180 C and line 12 muffin moulds with liners.
In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and honey with a hand mixer on low speed, until smooth. Then add the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating after each. The batter will look a little curdled at this stage, it's ok.
Now add the cooked dates and the ground almonds and beat briefly to combine.
Finally, sift in the flour, salt and baking powder and fold gently with a spatula to combine. Avoid over-mixing the batter.
Divide the batter equally into the muffin moulds. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool for 15 minutes, then dig in while warm! Allow them to cool completely before storing in an airtight tin for 4 to 5 days at room temperature and longer in the fridge. Happy baking!

Notes

*Don't worry too much about what dates to use and what size they should be. A couple of dates more or less won't make a huge difference. If you have pre-pitted dates, you can use them as is without changing the measurement.

*I used sliced almonds that I ground finely in my blender. You could also use store-bought almond flour which is finer, the end result will have a little less texture.

*You can also bake this as an 8" round cake, increasing the baking time to about 45 mins.

*Adapted from Rachel Allen's 'Cake'

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