Pigeon Cottage Kitchen

The cherry and cranberry cake I made last week goes perfectly with a cup of tea, now meet the perfect match for a flat white – these coffee, date and walnut muffins! They’re soft, sticky, very moreish and bake in just 20 minutes.

Makes 12

• 12 cup muffin tin and paper muffin cases
• 140g dried dates, I buy the ready chopped ones
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsps good quality instant coffee granules
• 150ml boiling water
• 225g soft brown sugar
• 115g unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 250g self-raising flour
• 100g walnuts, chopped

To make…

• Put the chopped dates, the bi-carb and instant coffee into a mixing bowl and pour over the boiling water. Stir and then leave to stand for 10 minutes. The dates will plump up and dissolve slightly.
• Heat the oven to 190C.
• Set up the muffin tin with the paper liners.
• Stir the melted butter and sugar into the date mixture and mix thoroughly. Beat in the eggs.
• Fold in the flour, combine thoroughly and then mix in the walnuts.
• Using a couple of spoons, divide the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cases. Bake on the middle shelf for 20 minutes. A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.
• Remove the muffins from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool. Cover with a clean tea towel to keep the tops soft.

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