Warm Dates for Breakfast

I'm a big fan of dates as a snack food and added to all sorts of dishes, but my very favorite way to enjoy dates is warm for breakfast in Date Nut Muffins. On Saturday I decided to make some to go with the fresh fruit and coffee that Sweetie had made. Since I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, I decided to add some rolled oats to one of my favorite muffin recipes, along with the dates and some pecans. They were delicious!

The basic recipe for Muffins in Joy of Cooking was the starting place for this recipe, but, as usual, I made some changes. Fresh from the oven these smelled wonderful and the dates were soft and warm, the oatmeal gave the muffins character, and three of us managed to polish off nine muffins in hardly any time at all. Don't be surprised if there are none left to photograph or to enjoy with afternoon tea.

A few days ago, when I was completely exhausted from by far the busiest week that has ever happened at work, I found that sweet Mrs. W of Mrs. W's Kitchen had awarded me the 'E for Excellent Award'. Awww, that is so special. I enjoy writing this blog and know that there are folks who enjoy reading it, but had never thought that it was actually excellent. Thank you Mrs. W!

Part of getting the Award is then passing it along. I took some time with that, so here are the Awardees, followed by directions of what they are supposed to do once they get the Award, followed the by Date Nut Oatmeal Muffin recipe.

Hope you will visit the Awarded sites to see why I think that they are Excellent blogs and bloggers. There are at least 10 more I could name, but I'll save that for another time. If I have given an Award to a blogger who has already gotten one, well, guess they are super Excellent!

http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/ , Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, this is the blog I check out when I only have time to visit one (a too frequent event these past weeks) because the posts are personal and thoughtful and the recipes are sweet, delish, and the photos usually make me want to lick the screen.
http://workingwomanfood.blogspot.com/, Taste and Tell, Deborah’s posts are engaging, her photos are great and she gives excellent information for the recipes…plus it’s fun to read her blog.
http://llcskitchen.blogspot.com/ La Mia Cucina, Lis is a totally funny blogger and cracks me up with her posts…plus she is den mother to the Daring Bakers along with the next nominee.
http://creampuffsinvenice.ca/ Cream Puffs In Venice, Ivonne’s blog is elegant and inspiring with truly lovely photography. She and Lis (above) began the creation of a wonderful baking community, too.
http://www.jumboempanadas.blogspot.com/ Jumbo Empanadas, Brilynn is unfailingly interesting, totally herself and her blog is delightful to read. Her enthusiasm for baking is inspiring, plus she is funny.
http://www.chezus.com/ Chez Us, Denise writes a thoughtful blog…check out the Ape Diet…also clean and appealing photos.
http://cookbookqueen.blogspot.com/, Cooking the Books, Kelly-Jane blogs about baked goods (my favorite) and main dishes with equal appeal. We often get multiple recipes in one post…and they are all good.
http://www.tasteslikehome.org/, Tastes Like Home, Cynthia could be my next door neighbor, even though she likes hot & spicy foods and I don’t. Her passion for ingredients is awesome and her photos really capture the beauty of those ingredients.
http://www.findingladolcevita.blogspot.com/ Finding La Dolce Vita, Maryann writes so well, it is always fun to see what she is sharing with us. Great recipes and fine photos, too.
http://technicolorkitcheninenglish.blogspot.com/ Technicolor Kitchen, Patricia has such great recipes…pasta, cookies, truffles, ravioli, pinwheel scones, and more. Very inspiring.

There are rules relating to the E for Excellent award*. Here they are:
- Find at least 10 more blogs of any kind which you deem to be excellent;
- Post about which blogs you picked, linking to me and to them;
- Once you've posted, return here to let me know your post is up, and of course let your 10 award winners know, too.
*If you've already received this award in the past, I won't hold you to selecting 10 more.

And now for the Date Nut Oatmeal Muffin recipe:

Date Nut Oatmeal Muffins
Makes 12

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup sugar
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal, uncooked
¾ cup chopped dates
½ cup chopped pecans
2 eggs or ½ cup egg substitute
2 tablespoons melted butter
¾ cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Spray the cups of a 12 cup muffin tin (or 2 6 cup muffins tins) with baking spray (or grease with butter or shortening)

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix in the sugar and oatmeal. Gently mix in the chopped dates, coating them with the flour mixture. Mix in the pecans.

In a smaller bowl, mix together the eggs or egg substitute, melted butter and buttermilk until well combined.

Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and quickly, with a few strokes, stir to just mix. Fill each muffin cup about ¾ full. Place the muffin tin(s) into the preheated oven and bake for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown.

Serve hot. These are delicious eaten plain, but very good, too with some butter.