Well, here is another post dedicated to the art of baking. I am very aware that my last bunch of posts have been about baking, but with Christmas around the corner (only 22 more sleeps!) baking seems to be what is in my heart and mind to do.

When the desire to bake strikes you, there is no sense in fighting it, you might as well give in and start pulling out flour and sugar from your pantry.

That is what happened to me when I whipped up a batch of these date muffins. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, and while watching the *Food Network the need to bake struck me like a ton of bricks. So, off to the kitchen I went!

*Maybe watching endless hours of the Food Network is the reason why I want to bake all the time? Interesting thought.

The original name of this recipe is “Queen Elizabeth Cake”, but since I didn’t make it into a cake, and I didn’t ice it, I thought I could re-purpose it as a muffin recipe.

I always have dates in the pantry, but I normally only use them to make bacon wrapped dates (or as a snack if I am craving something sweet). Even though I enjoy date squares, I have never made them before. So this recipe is my first attempt at baking with dates.

I thought it was a very interesting idea to soak the dates in boiling water, and then using that sweetened water in your batter. Talk about an efficient use of resources 😉

I ended up baking these as mini muffins. They were amazing. Dates are already sweet, but throw them in a muffin batter with sweetened water and sugar and you have a delicious, tasty and sweet treat to satisfy that afternoon sugar craving.

These muffins were great on their own but they went exceptionally well with a cup of coffee. Don’t forget to raise up your pinkie while you are nibbling on one of these muffins, since they were made from a recipe called “Queen Elizabeth Cake” 🙂

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Courtesy of:
The Designing Women Plain & Simple Cookbook
Janice Reid

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pitted dates, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/3 cup sifted flour
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Pour boiling water over dates, let soak for five minutes.
3. Cream butter and add in sugar and egg.  Add in date and water mixture.  Mix until combined.  Add in flour and vanilla.  Mix well.
4. Pour batter into muffin cups.  Bake in preheated oven for 10- 13 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean)
5. Enjoy!