OMG, you guys are going to love these delectable, paleo-friendly sticky date muffins (or cupcakes, if you will) with fresh raspberries. Inspired by sticky date pudding, these little sweet morsels are gluten-free, dairy-free and paleo-friendly. Let me know in the comments if you make them and don’t forget to rate this recipe below so others can find it! Thanks.
Sticky date pudding has got to be one of my favourite desserts. The only problem is because it is so sweet, I can never have more than a few mouthfuls. I mean I could but I often feel a bit sick afterwards.
When I saw a recipe for paleo mini sticky date pudding in Claire Yate’s book Optimal Health The Paleo Way, I was excited that I can have a healthy version of my favourite treat in a small package. So these sticky date muffins are an adaptation of Claire’s original recipe. They are not as sickly sweet as a regular sticky date pudding but you get all those familiar flavours.
STICKY DATE MUFFINS OR CUPCAKES
The original recipe makes these in ramekins in a microwave, so it’s a quick dessert you can make in 10 minutes or so. I didn’t have any ramekins in the kitchen I was in, so I used a muffin tray instead and doubled the ingredients. That gave me about 5-6 muffins, which you can also in cupcakes casings.
I also added some extra stuff to the sauce and made it thicker, so it’s like a sticky date ganache. Raspberries go superbly well with the muffins and the ganache, as they add a little tartness to an otherwise sweet flavour profile. You can use strawberries instead.
These mini muffins are tree nut-free, although they use coconut flour, so they should be safe for kids’ lunch boxes and parties. You could also turn these into pancakes or a slice. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
MORE MUFFINS & PALEO DESSERTS
- Nut-free Chocolate & Strawberry Muffins
- Paleo Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Best Homemade Paleo Bars
- Paleo Christmas Pudding With Vanilla Custard
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Ingredients
For the muffins
- Butter ghee or coconut oil to grease the muffin tray with
- 2/3 cup water 10 tablespoons
- 12 dates seeds out
- 1.5 medium bananas ripe, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract or essence or 1 fresh vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon honey my addition but it will be sweet enough without
- 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
For the sticky date ganache
- 6 dates chopped
- Juice of ½ orange
- 4 tablespoons almond milk coconut milk or water can also be used
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 6-12 fresh raspberries or strawberries for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 185° C (365° F).
- Grease muffin tins with the butter or ghee and set aside.
- Heat the 12 dates and 2/3 cup of water in a small saucepan over low heat until the dates break down and thicken. Use a fork to mash them together and set aside.
- Place the coconut flour, egg, bananas, vanilla extract and baking powder in a blender or food processor and mix well until well combined and aerated.
- Add the dates to the banana mixture and combine. Evenly distribute into the ramekins. Cook in the oven for about 20-22 minutes.
- While the muffins are in the oven, place the sticky date ganache ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until the dates break down. Mash with a fork and whisk until thickened. Set aside.
- Allow the muffins to rest for 5 minutes before removing them to a serving plate. Scoop a dollop of sticky date ganache paste on top and garnish with a few raspberries.
Nutrition
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About Clare’s book
Claire Yates is a nutritional medicine practitioner, so she really understands all the nerdy stuff about what we eat and how it affects our bodies. All of that is really well covered in the book and you will learn a lot about fat, protein, carbs and nutritional benefits of different foods. It’s a bit like a manual to healthier living.
There is a great chapter on food as medicine, teaching you about healing and restorative ingredients and how they work; and, a full chapter on how mind, body and soul are connected. Plus, a 28-day reset with meal plans and over 100 delicious recipes that are both healthy and easy to prepare. Claire has a beautiful, holistic life philosophy and it really comes through in this book. You can order Optimum Health The Paleo Way here.
Was that 2 1/2 TABLESPOONS of coconut flour or CUPS? It just doesn’t seem like much flour….
Yep, tablespoons are right. The firm up while cooking in the oven.
Would you be able to substitute the coconut flour for almond meal?
Yes, add a little more almond meal as it absorbs less moisture than the coconut flour.
My son is also egg free, do you think I could replace egg with soaked chia?
I will definitely be buying this book and testing out this recipe. Thanks! 🙂
Hmm. I divided the batter into six muffins rather than five. The cooking time was *way* off. These took more like 45 minutes to set up. Even without the added honey, I found them cloyingly sweet. The flavor was disappointing, too. Very one dimensional. A whole lotta effort for very little reward. On a positive note, the process of breaking down the dates in almond milk reminded me how much I love my paleo fauxtmeal…. mixed nuts, minced dates, almond milk microwaved and eaten like oatmeal. Yum!
are the dates raw? or dehydrated?
Dried dates
185 C is 356 F..?
Sorry meant to be 365 not 356! Not a huge difference in F to make a difference to the baking though.
AH I see! That was a mistake. Sorry guys. I’ve changed it to 185/365 now.
Delicious recipe! Only thing I had to change is the quantity of the ganache, and if I had read the recipe beforehand, I would have doubled the cupcakes as well. I had to quadruple the ganache because I like to be generous (at least a little bit more than a dollop) on my cupcakes, but overall I’ll be making more of these soon for sure! Thanks for sharing!
How does it yield a batch of muffins with only 3 Tablespoons of coconut flour?
Hey Jess, coconut flour is extremely moisture hungry so it soaks up a lot of liquid and bulk of the mixture comes from the other ingredients. They are little muffins, not a big batch. You can double the ingredients to make a bigger batch. Irena
Hi
Can you freeze these muffins?
I haven’t tried so I don’t have a definite answer. I don’t see why not. Anyone tried?
looks very yummy! but i was wondering if there’s anything i can replace with the coconut flour since im not a big fan of the taste!
You don’t taste the coconut very much as banana is quite overpowering but if you want to replace it I would use double that amount in almond meal and maybe a little bit of starch like tapioca or arrowroot (maybe 2 tbsp).
I recently bought dates at Costco. They were grainy and not tasty. I was wondering if that is normal, and where do you buy your dates?
Hmmm, not sure what you mean by grainy. They might have been a little drier than they should be and as a result had a grainier texture. I know dried figs can have a grainy texture because of the seeds but I haven’t experienced that with dates, especially not after you soak or cook them. I get mine from a either a health food store/Wholefood, from an Indian or Middle Eastern grocery store or from our little shop next door that sells them (lucky). I’m in London these days too. You can also look at ordering them through Amazon and check the reviews first.
DAtes can be grainy like when they are older and its the sugars in them
LOVE them when they’re grainy (Have to have sever restraint to keep from popping them like candy!! LOL)
– but that doesn’t change them if you’re going to cook with them. They still do fine.
Would it work to replace the banana with appke, pear ir carrot as I cannot eat banana. Or do you have any other suggestions.
Hi Lindy, I have tried with any of those but I would think that carrot and apple or pear together might work well. Banana is a little creamier so perhaps you can even try adding a little bit of avocado. Maybe try making a smaller batch to test it out and I’d love to know how it went.
Dig it, this looks great, plus we’re always stoked to see more Paleo knowledge shared! For those of you who don’t want to muck about with recipes and making a mess in the kitchen, swing by our site & check out the paleo desserts we have for sale: http://www.paleotreats.com Rock on Paleo peeps! Cheers, Nik@PT
I just made these today after promising my bf I’d have a go at something baked and he LOVES sticky date pudding so this seemed like a good shot. I made mine in a muffin pan with little cupcake holders and while I can see how a ramekin would be good, because they are so soft, mine have come out very well as little mini cakes. So so sweet and very pretty! Delicious! I’ll be making these little beauties again. xo
Oh thank you for this recipe! I am coeliac, but also allergic to nuts, so most baking is out! These look fab, thank you 🙂
Wondering the same as above. As it’s only 2 eggs, would an egg-replacer be ok?
I would give it a go, it’s not a huge batch anyway so why not try. Let us know how it goes with an egg replacement.