Date and Walnut Muffins

There are five muffins on a decorative tray and one of the muffins is cut open.

These muffins are absolutely delicious. The combination of date and walnut results in a very moist muffin with great texture. They are easy to make and even easier to eat! A tried and true recipe that really delivers on flavour.

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Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 35

Course: Snack, Sweet

Cuisine: American, Australian, New Zealand

Keyword: date and walnut loaf, date cake, date loaf, date muffins, dates, easy muffins, muffins, walnuts

Servings:

Calories: 221kcal

Author: Katrina | Katy's Food Finds

Equipment

Large Mixing Bowl
1 or 2 12 hole Muffin trays (or a loaf pan)

Ingredients

250 g pitted dates (1.5 cups packed) chopped
200 g brown sugar (1 cup)
60 g butter chopped into small cubes
310 ml boiling water (1 1/4 cups)
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
300 g self-raising flour (2 cups)
140 g walnuts (1 packed cup) coarsely chopped
extra walnuts and dates for topping (decorate)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease 1 or 2 muffin trays with butter. If making this recipe in a loaf tin, grease and line the base with baking paper.
Add the chopped dates, brown sugar and cubes of butter into a large mixing bowl. Pour in the boiling water and stir until butter melts. Stir in the baking soda, beaten egg and vanilla extract. Add the flour and chopped walnuts and stir gently until everything is combined and there are no flour pockets left in the batter.
Spoon batter into muffin tins to 3/4 fill them. This mixture makes 18 muffins which I do in 2 batches, or you can use 2 trays. If making in a loaf tin, simply pour all the mixture into a loaf tin.
I like to decorate each muffin by placing a whole or half walnut and a slice of date on top of them before baking.

To bake as muffins:

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. I also find pressing on the top of the muffin gently tells me if they are ready.
Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to cool in their tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack until cooled completely.

To bake in a Loaf tin:

Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning the loaf out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Muffins or Loaf keep well in an airtight container lined with baking paper for 4 to 5 days. Both freeze well too.

Notes

Nutritional Values are per muffin when 18 are made.

Tips and Tricks for Success:

This is a very easy recipe to make, however here are a few little tips to help you along the way.

Do ahead: the dates and walnuts can be chopped in advance and kept in an airtight container.

Make sure you boil your water just before adding to the butter so it is nice and hot. Stir the mixture well until all the butter has melted.

Using non-stick baking tins really helps when it comes to removing the muffins however it is also important to grease your tins well to avoid any sticking. You can use muffin cases if you prefer.

Allowing the muffins to cool in their trays for 5 minutes before removing them also helps. To remove them from the tins, I recommend running a small palette knife or similar around the edges of each muffin and then gently easing them out.

Make sure the self-raising flour you use is fresh and not out of date. If my flour is getting close to its use-by-date, I will sometimes add a 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder to this recipe.

Nutrition

Have you cooked one of my recipes? I’d love you to tag me @katysfoodfinds or #katysfoodfinds!