Date and Lime Muffins

These whole wheat Date and Lime Muffins are fat-free, except for some healthy fats from flaxmeal and pumpkin seeds. Kids and adults will both love them.

I have been a bit of a tyrant with the sweets around our house, mainly because I am trying to keep Desi’s too-sweet tooth in check. So this weekend, to make him happy, I baked up these Date and Lime Muffins. What I didn’t tell him — and he didn’t guess — is that they have no added oils or fats (except healthy fats from some flax seeds and the optional pumpkin seeds). They are also whole wheat and free of any refined sugars.

This is one healthy sweet that your kids — young and old — will no doubt ask for again and again. The dates and the smidge of maple syrup I added make them sweet enough without being too cloying. I added some rich, spicy nutmeg for its wonderful flavor, and then I added some lime juice because I really wanted that tang to cut through some of the complex sweetness.

Applesauce makes the muffins so moist and tender that no one will tell you didn’t add any oil to them.  I usually add walnuts or pecans or some other nut to muffins because they add good protein along with healthy fats. This time, though, I decided to go instead with some healthgiving seeds– pumpkin seeds — which I just sprinkled over the top instead of mixing into the batter. They brown slightly in the oven and are absolutely divine with the tender muffin.

Gotta run now, but here’s the recipe. Enjoy, all!

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Date and Lime Muffins

Course Breakfast

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 23 minutes

Total Time 43 minutes

Servings 12 muffins

Calories 132 kcal

Author Vaishali

Ingredients

• Dry ingredients:
• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• Wet ingredients:
• 2 cups applesauce
• 1 cup loosely packed dates (about 12-14 dates), pitted, chopped
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp flaxmeal mixed with 6 tbsp water
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, optional, for topping the muffins

Instructions

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and all of the wet ingredients in a larger bowl.
2. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and, with a spatula or whisk, mix until everything's well incorporated. Don't overmix once the ingredients have come together.
3. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Divide the muffin batter equall between the tins, smooth the tops with a spatula, and then sprinkle some pumpkin seeds on top, if using.
4. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes clean.
5. Remove to a rack to cool. After 15 minutes, unmold the muffins and continue to cool on the rack.

Nutrition Facts

Date and Lime Muffins

Amount Per Serving (1 g)

Calories 132

% Daily Value*

Dietary Fiber 3g 12%

Protein 2.4g 5%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

***

Amazing vegan pizza:

You know I like sharing with you great food finds on my Eating DC page, and I have told you before just how much I love pizza. So much so that I dropped to my knees and said a prayer (well, almost) when a zpizza opened not far from where I live, with a variety of vegan pizzas on its menu. This past weekend, feeling a tad too lazy to cook, we ordered and guzzled down a pizza so divine that I just had to share it with you — zpizza’s Casablanca pizza.

One of the best things about eating as a vegan at zpizza is that they can work vegan cheese into a variety of vegetarian pizzas that otherwise would have cheese on them. The Casablanca came with artichoke hearts and button mushrooms and a divine roasted garlic sauce. The vegan cheese was so good and gooey and melting, it was hard to believe it was vegan.

To go with the pizza, Desi and I shared a delicious Pear and Gorgonzola Salad, also with vegan cheese. Again, delicious, nutritious, filling and amazing with a variety of textures and flavors.

Zpizza is a chain, so chances are, there’s one not far from you. What are you waiting for? As if you need an excuse to order pizza.