Orange Date Walnut Muffins | Food-4Tots | Recipes for Toddlers

2 October 2012 | 24 comments
Posted in cake/ muffin, Featured Articles, nuts, snacks, Western

RECIPE FOR ORANGE DATE WALNUT MUFFINS
Serve: 12 medium sized muffins
Ingredients:
100g plain flour
100g wholemeal flour (fine grain)
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
140g unsalted butter
70g castor sugar
1 large egg (about 60g, at room temperature) – lightly beaten
130ml milk (at room temperature)
Grated orange zest (from 1 medium orange, about 2 tbsp)
50ml fresh squeezed orange juice
50g pitted, dried dates – chopped (I used Medjoul dates)
60g raw walnuts – roasted and coarsely chopped
Preparation:
Cut butter into cubes and put into a small bowl. Transfer the bowl to a sauce pan filled with water. Heat up the sauce pan under medium low heat. Stir the butter occasionally. When it’s fully melted, remove the bowl from the sauce pan. Set aside to cool (Refer photo at THIS LINK).
Put the chopped dates and orange juice in a blender and whiz until they form a smooth puree.
Roast walnuts in a preheated oven at 170°C for 10 minutes. Use a wooden spatula to stir them once after 5 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool and chop them. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 210°C
Methods:
In a mixing bowl, combine both types of flour and baking powder and sieve. Add sugar and salt, and mix well. Use finger tips to rub the grated orange zest into the flour mixture. Make sure no lumps. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, using a hand whisk to beat egg until foamy. Add milk, date puree and melted and cooled butter, one at a time. Stir until just combined.
Add the wet ingredients (from step 5) to the dry ingredients (from step 4). With a spatula, combine the ingredients gently with fold in method until the flour just disappears. Fold in chopped walnuts until well combined. Do not over mix the batter otherwise the muffins will be heavy and dense. The batter should be thick (“spoonable” not “pourable”).
Transfer the batter into a piping bag (see note below) and pipe the batter into the muffin paper cups until each cup is 80% full. Instead of piping, you can spoon the batter into the muffin paper cups.
Bake at 190°C for 10 minutes and a further 10 minutes at 180°C, or until the muffins have risen and turned golden brown. Insert a toothpick into the center to test. If it comes out clean, it means that the muffins are cooked.
After that, leave the muffins inside with the oven door shut. Let the residue heat in the oven cook the muffins for a further 2 minutes.
Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool.
Notes:
Wholemeal flour (British) = whole wheat flour (America) (Source: American Cooking). If you do not have wholemeal flour, you can substitute with plain flour.
To get a dome-effect muffin, you need to preheat oven at a higher temperature, and then fill the batter near to the brim of the muffin cup (80-85% full).
The baking time and oven temperatures vary depending on the types of oven, size of muffins, or whether you are using paper cup or muffin tray to bake. So do your own experiment. You will find more tips on “How to make muffins” in my early post.
You can DIY your own piping bag by using a clean square or rectangular plastic bag. Transfer the mixture into the bag, tighten the opening with a rubber band and cut out a small corner for the batter to be squeezed out.
If the muffins turn golden brown too early, reduce the heat to 170°C (instead of 180°C) after baking for 10 minutes. If the muffins show uneven colour, turn the baking tray 180 degree towards the last 5 minutes.
Keep extra muffins in the freezer for future consumption. Thaw and place them inside a preheat oven/ toaster oven for 5 minutes (without heat). You can also steam the muffins.

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24 Comments

Priya says:
2 October 2012 at 6:14 pm
Fantastic,super healthy and spongy muffins,i dont mind having some rite now.
Reply
- food-4tots says:
  3 October 2012 at 9:20 pm
  Priya: Thanks!! Do help yourself with some. 😉
  Reply
Evelyn says:
2 October 2012 at 10:59 pm
We love muffins too! These muffins look so tasty and healthy. By the way, I thought adding wholemeal flour will give a more dense texture. May I know which brand of wholemeal flour you use?
Reply
- food-4tots says:
  3 October 2012 at 9:46 pm
  Evelyn: Thanks!! As 50% of the flour is plain flour, so the texture is not dense at all. I use Prima brand. Do give it a try! 😉
  Reply
LCOM says:
3 October 2012 at 3:32 am
See Also
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Love the muffins! I just made some healthy muffins too.
Reply
- food-4tots says:
  3 October 2012 at 9:21 pm
  LCOM: Thanks! Will check it out soon. 😉
  Reply
noobcook says:
3 October 2012 at 11:25 pm
your muffins have a really beautiful dome top. the cupcake liners are really pretty, too!
Reply
- food-4tots says:
  5 October 2012 at 9:25 am
  Noobcook: Thanks for your sweet words, Wiffy! 😉
  Reply
tigerfish says:
4 October 2012 at 7:49 am
Oh this is so healthy and nutritious! Love the superfoods in there and the dates that naturally sweetens! SO good.
Reply
- food-4tots says:
  5 October 2012 at 9:25 am
  Tigerfish: Yes, a nutritious snack for both toddlers and adults! 😉
  Reply
Nami | Just One Cookbook says:
4 October 2012 at 1:35 pm
Your styling and photography always stand out the food! So beautiful! Do you think about styling first before you pick props (liners, fabrics, etc)? They are perfectly coordinated!
Reply
See Also
21 No-Bake Holiday Mason Jar Dessert Recipes
- food-4tots says:
  5 October 2012 at 9:28 am
  Nami: Thanks for your sweet compliment! I love your photography skill too. It’s excellent! Yes, I need to otherwise my mind will be in total blank looking at the food. lol! 🙂
  Reply
Christine's Recipes says:
4 October 2012 at 8:08 pm
Love love muffins. Want a bite right now. 🙂
Reply
- food-4tots says:
  5 October 2012 at 9:30 am
  Christine’s Recipes: Thanks!! Help yourself! 😉
  Reply
Grace says:
1 November 2012 at 3:38 pm
Very eager to try this but don’t hv dates in hand. Do you think prunes or figs can work? 😕
Reply
- food-4tots says:
  1 November 2012 at 9:07 pm
  Grace: You can substitute with other dried fruits such as prunes, cranberries and raisins. I’m not sure about figs. 😉
  Reply
Grace says:
2 November 2012 at 10:22 am
Thanks! I’ll let you know if it works when I try out with dried figs ;D
Reply
Grace says:
8 November 2012 at 3:36 pm
Nice photos!
Just made these with prunes. Yummy! What an interesting combination ;D. my daughter loves it. thank you for sharing 😉
Love the aroma of the orange zest. But you wrote 2tbsp? From 1 medium orange? 😕
And just to check, the baking powder is it 1 tsp or tbsp?
And you have 2 steps on roasting walnuts too
Reply
- food-4tots says:
  8 November 2012 at 4:07 pm
  Grace: Thanks for your compliment and kind feedback!! You should get about 2 tbsp of grated orange zest of one medium orange. How much did you get then? 1 tbsp of baking powder. Thanks for highlighting the mistake. I had already removed the 2nd step. If you have taken photos for my recipes, feel free to post them on my fan page. 😉
  Reply
Grace says:
11 November 2012 at 10:20 pm
Oh, I think I got around 1tbsp only.
I’ve posted a few photos on your fan page 😉
Reply
Hari Chandana says:
13 March 2013 at 6:26 pm
Wowwwww…. looks absolutely inviting.. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.. First time here.. Happy to follow your space 🙂
Reply
- food-4tots says:
  14 March 2013 at 10:58 pm
  Hari Chandana: Thank you for dropping by and your sweet comment: 🙂
  Reply
vandy says:
21 January 2015 at 7:50 am
Hi
Can I replace wheat flour to plain flour?
Reply
- food-4tots says:
  23 January 2015 at 10:11 pm
  Vandy: Correct me if I’m wrong. Wheat flour is the same as plain flour unless you mean whole wheat flour. 🙂
  Reply

Orange Date Walnut Muffins | Food-4Tots | Recipes for Toddlers - Part 2 (2024)

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