These date walnut muffins with their lightly sweet vanilla flavor and toasty nut crunch are some of my favorite muffins of all time. They taste like they came out of a bakery, but come together in your own little kitchen in just under 30 minutes. Perfect for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert. But in my case it’s all of the above, please.
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I think I made a huge realization just now.
It’s super dangerous to have the food that I am posting about lying around the kitchen.
Oh my it’s dangerous.
In this case while I was just sitting here touching up photos and writing up the recipe. You know minding my own business. And my stomach would NOT stop growling.
Two muffins later…it’s still growling.
And I might just have to go polish off the last one.
Sigh.
These date walnut muffins are SOOOO good.
I call them muffins but I think they might be more like dessert. Not that they are as sweet as, say… a cupcake, but man they are good. I would call them perfectly sweet.
Just please don’t put boundaries on me about when I can eat them. I even had them for dinner last night (thanks to running around for three hours at soccer games). And they might have been the best dinner I had all week. They really rock my world.
Are you worried about the dates?
I have to admit I was worried about them at first.
‘Cause they’re kinda gooey and weird textured. Kinda like hugemongous raisins.
Anyone else experience the childhood trauma of biting into an oatmeal cookie and tasting that gooey raisin in there that you thought was a chocolate chip cookie?
Oh man what a disappointment.
But these date muffins are different. Because you get all the benefits of dates (their sweet lovely flavor) with none of the weird texture problems because they’re blended in.
It’s a marvelous thing my friends.
Trust me on this one, you will want to try them.
And since you might be wondering this also I’ll come right out and say it.
Yes you can leave the walnuts off if you’re not a fan of walnuts.
But oh my friends how I love the walnuts in these muffins. Or I should say ON these muffins. If you put them IN the muffins they tend to dry them out. But ON them, well they give a delicious crunch and they have a lovely toasty flavor after baking in the oven and the combo is quite stunning.
Can you see my taste buds swooning right now?
Seriously make them. They are so good.
Date Walnut Muffins
These date walnut muffins with their lightly sweet vanilla flavor and toasty nut crunch are some of my favorite muffins of all time. They taste like they came out of a bakery, but come together in your own little kitchen in just under 30 minutes. Perfect for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert. But in my case it's all of the above, please.
Ingredients
- 11 large whole dates (6.5 ounces) pitted
- ⅔ cup milk warmed
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup butter softened to room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ⅛ cup (5.85 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray.
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In a blender jar combine pitted dates, warmed milk, baking soda and vanilla extract and blend until dates are pureed. Set mixture aside.
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In a medium bowl cream together brown sugar and butter using a hand mixer until smooth. Add eggs and mix well. In small bowl stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
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Add the blended date mixture to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Then add the flour mixture and stir until flour is just barely mixed, being careful not to over-mix.
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Fill prepared muffin tins evenly, about two-thirds of the way full. A #20 cookie scoop makes it really easy. Divide chopped walnuts evenly between muffin tins and place on top of batter. Bake in preheated oven for 16-18 minutes until tops spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Recipe Notes
1. I usually make this recipe with Medjool Dates that I buy from Costco in the produce section. For best results use a scale to weigh the dates since sizes can vary. Between 10 and 12 large dates will yield 6.5 ounces.
2. For best results use the weighted flour amounts as they are more exact.
3. I like to keep the walnuts on the top of the muffins because not only to they look prettier, they have a nice toasty flavor after baking. Also they seem to dry the muffins out a bit more if they are cooked inside. You can also make these without the walnuts if you don’t care for them, but I really like them with the walnuts.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
These are by far our fav muffins but the most I’ve yielded from this recipe are 10 regular sized muffins.
Thanks Lorraine. That’s good to know! Glad you like the recipe. 🙂