Eggless Dates Muffin and DIY Non-stick Spray

I had baked this batch of eggless dates muffins back in June and had shared the recipe immediately on Instagram stories. But I held back from posting on the feed because I wanted to get back to posting on the blog more often. It didn't work in pushing me much either because you see it has taken me more than 3 months to draft and publish this recipe. I have many more such drafts that only had a sneak peek on Instagram.

I was hoping to bake another batch with a toffee sauce topping so it can be a dessert but by then my whole diet needed required attention. Last year, I had a short stint with a low carb diet with a paid nutritionist which looked promising but went downhill for many reasons and one being I was asked to eat 7 eggs a day! I never could eat more than 5 but kept lying to her that I did. It was not fair so I quit quietly. 

The 4 months of eating out since we landed in Abu Dhabi not only helped me gain weight it also made me want to change my wardrobe or go back to wearing Saudi Abaya! Once my kitchen was set, it was Ramadan... need I say anything? And post-Ramadan it was all about cooking my traditional food as now, I have access to the ingredients more easily than in Yanbu. So eating and more eating and occasional walking did not make much difference to the growing number on the scale. So the need to revisit my actual diet needs was the need of the hour! I decided to educate myself and do it without hiring any specialist because no one can know my body other than me and a doctor maybe. As I write this, I am on week 4 of a very low carb diet that is almost what people love to call Keto or LCHF diet but I don't want to put a label on it.

Now, let's jump to today's recipe which includes the DIY non-stick spray too! This dates muffin honestly was born because I had quite a lot of dates that we got during Ramadan and so wanted to try baking but I had no eggs! A quick google on eggless dates muffin and there was as expected rain of recipes!

DIY Non-stick Spray

Eggless Dates Muffin Recipe

Makes 6 muffins

1 cup pitted dates (15 to 20 dates)
½ cup hot milk
¼ cup sugar*
¼ teaspoon vanilla essenceDry items 
¾ cup whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon cardamom powder

*If I have to make these dates muffins again, I would try replacing the sugar with some erythritol or stevia or any natural sugar like jaggery or coconut sugar. 

1. Soak the wet items in a bowl for 10 to 15 minutes and grind to a smooth mixture
2. Preheat the oven to 180c with the top-bottom heating setting with the wire rack on level 2
3. Grease the muffin tray with DIY non-stick spray or use muffin liners
4. Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk it to combine
5. Fold the ground date paste mixture into dry just enough to get together taking care not to overmix
6. Fill muffin cups around ¾ – all the way full
7. Bake for 15 to 18 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the muffins to slightly cool before enjoying
9. Serve with tea, coffee or espresso!