Spicy pumpkin & date muffins

 Long before I began my  recent love affair with icing sugar and food colouring, I would whip up a batch of muffins almost daily for my family or the ever constant stream of visitors that come through our home.
Just yesterday I had a call from my lovely brother and sister in law who were driving past  and wanted to drop in for an unexpected visit. Half an hour later we were all sitting in the sun drinking tea and enjoying freshly baked banana, blueberry and white chocolate muffins......ahhh, it doesn't get much better than that.
After a request for more muffins today from my 18 year old, I decided to try this spicy pumpkin and date combination. It sounds nice and wintery, and as I am jumping for joy to see the weather FINALLY starting to cool down, I thought it was time to celebrate!! We even lit our fireplace last night! Hooray!! So lets hear it for cool nights, hot chocolates, good books, warm fires and pumpkin laden treats!

Spicy pumpkin & date muffins

Pre heat oven to 180C

Line a muffin tray with papers or grease

Wet mix

1/2 cup cooked pumpkin

1/2 cup softened dates

1 egg lightly beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

*Peel and chop the pumpkin into cubes. Place into saucepan, cover with water and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

*For the last five minutes or so, put the dates in with the pumpkin to soften. 

*Drain pumpkin and dates then mash roughly with potato masher. leave to cool while you make the rest of the mix.

Put egg, oil, milk, vanilla and pumpkin/date mixture into a bowl and mix well with a fork. Try to break up the dates as much as you can.

Dry mix

2 cups flour, sifted

1 cup castor sugar

1 teaspoon bi carb soda

1 generous teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix all ingredients into  a clean bowl.

Gently pour wet mix into dry mix and carefully fold with a fork until just combined.

Spoon into prepared tin, sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Cool in tin for five minutes before placing onto rack.

 Eat while warm, or keep at room temp for two days. (If they last that long!)

Enjoy!

XXX