Date-Nut Muffins

Guess what? I have another vegan baked good recipe today. Considering the recent content of my posts I doubt that’s surprising to anyone, but I have to admit, I’ve been enjoying this baking kick. I just love vegan-ifying recipes!

Prepare yourself for…

Date-Nut Muffins

Ingredients:

• egg replacer (I used ENER-G brand) equivalent to 1 egg
• 3/4 cup water or non-dairy milk (I didn’t have any nut milk on hand so I used water. I would recommend the milk, though.)
• 1/4 cup oil (any kind will work, but one suited for high-temperature cooking is preferable)
• 1 T. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sugar (sucanat, turbinado, regular brown, or other)
• 1¾ cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2/3 cup chopped dates
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped nuts (I used walnuts, though another nut—such as pecans—would be heavenly.)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400° F. In a mixing bowl combine egg replacer, water, oil, and vanilla. Add sugar and mix well.

2) Gradually add flour and baking soda to above mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).

3) Carefully blend in dates and nuts. Mix until evenly incorporated into the batter but be careful not to over-mix.

4) Spoon batter into muffin cups fitted with paper liners. Fill each about 2/3 of the way full.

5) Bake in a 400° oven for about 20 minutes or until golden.

6) Remove from pans and serve warm.

                                                                                        Makes 10-12 muffins.

These were quite tasty, if I do dare say so myself. The dates got all melty and gooey and were positively delicious paired with the slightly-chewy crunch of the nuts. Variations include using maple syrup for the sugar, or just substituting the vanilla flavor for maple extract. Consider serving as an accompaniment to a steaming cup of tea. Just perfect for those chilly January afternoons!

In other news, I’m pretty excited because yesterday I got my braces off!!! Whoop-de-do! Prepare, world, to be blinded by my dazzling smile!

That’s all for now, peeps. Enjoy your Friday!

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"Sweeter even than to have had the joy of caring for children of my own has it been to me to help bring about a better state of things for mothers generally, so their unborn little ones could not be willed away from them." - Susan B. Anthony 1889 (there’s a pro-life feminist, for ya!)

For Catholics, today is a “day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life.”  Regardless of your faith, please keep the “little ones” who never had a chance to live in your thoughts and prayers as you go about your daily tasks. One idea is waiting to make those scrumptious date-nut muffins until tomorrow!