Date Chai Muffins

What are Natural Sweeteners?

Actually, it is amazing how many natural sweeteners are available. As a matter of fact, honey and maple syrup are the fore runners. Then add sweet fruits, dried without added sugar like dates, raisins, sultanas, prunes, apricots, figs, strawberries, raspberries, goji, cherries etc. Also, fresh fruits like mangoes, bananas, sweet apples are widely used to add sweetness to bakes. Pumpkins, sweet potato are widely used to add natural sweetness too.  In India, palm sugar and jaggery as natural sweeteners which are widely used. Coconut sugar made from the sap of the coconut palm tree is gaining popularity worldwide.

You may say that sugar is natural, made from sugar cane juice. In fact, sugar as we know it, be it brown, white, Demerara, turbinado, muscovado all go through lot of processing and centrifuging.

My Turn To Suggest The Theme

After being a member of this awesome group Breadbakers for a while, I finally took the plunge to ‘host’ the event. For a long time I wanted to host but what put me off was the too technical sounding google documents and htmls and all those alien technological terms. And after checking out the past themes, I came up with natural sweeteners. I challenged the participants not use use any processed or centrifuged sugars or high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners. This included  brown, demerara, turbinado, muscovado, etc as they all go through some stage of centrifuging and processing.

Check Out How Other Bread Bakers Have Used  Natural Sweeteners:

• Blackberries and Honey Bread by Kidsandchic
• Cheddar Honey Flowers by Ambrosia
• Mayuri’s Jikoni – Date and Chai Muffins
• Date Sweetened Banana Bread by Herbivore Cucina
• Sizzling Tastebuds Eggless Banana Chocochip Bread with Cranberries and Coconut Sugar
• Gayathri’s Cook Spot – Eggless Carrot Coconut Quick Bread
• Eggless Wholewheat Maple Banana Oat Muffins by Spill the Spices
• Einkorn Drop Biscuits with Peaches and Blueberries by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• English Granary-Style No Knead Bread by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Grape Bread by The Bread She Bakes
• Healthy Banana & Blueberry Bread by Baking in Pyjamas
• By Baking Yummies – Honey Almond Banana Muffins
• Food Lust People Love –Honey Cider Quick Loaf
• Magnolia Days – Honey Cornbread
• Hostess At Heart –Honey Oat Pain de Mie
• Honey Pineapple Pull-Apart Rolls by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• The Schizo Chef – Jackfruit Honey Bread
• Jackfruit Semolina Muffins with Jaggery by My Cooking Journey
• Mangalore Buns by Sneha’s Recipe
• Maple Bacon Cheddar & Pickle Pull-Apart Bread by A Shaggy Dough Story
• Cook’s Hideout- Maple Pecan Scones
•  A Baker’s House – Maple Oatmeal Bread
• Pain au Levian avec Banane by What Smells So Good?
• Tangerine Honey White Bread by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Learning Tech Stuff

When I asked my son if he knew how to create documents and the html stuff, he naturally replied ‘of course’. So, here I was at peace knowing that come July, I will have my  son’s help on this front. I’ve learnt something new and feel great. Thanks to my son Neel for his guidance and to fellow member Renee Dobbs(Magnolia Days) for assisting me.

• Carrot Bliss Balls
• Beetroot Blueberry Pops
• Batheeth
• Date Paneer Cheesecake
• Rice Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Jaggery Banana Bread
• Beetroot Energy Balls
• Almond, Coconut and Cacao Nib Bites

Date Chai Muffins

This will be my 10th bake for Bread Bakers group and till date except for the buckwheat pancakes I’ve baked with yeast. Due to the request by family for this theme muffins it was. Yes the charming thing about this group is that one can opt to bake any bread, make pancakes or bake muffins or cupcakes according to the theme.
These Date Chai Muffins, taste like a Christmas cake, fruity and spicy. Hubby was really happy that he could enjoy muffins that had no sugar added. He is diabetic, but that did not mean he could gorge on them. Dried fruits without added sugar have low to moderate Glycemic Index and are a rich source of fiber, valuable nutrients and anti oxidants.

Ingredients Required For Date Chai Muffins:

• Pitted Dates – use the soft variety.
• Raisins – any of your choice.
• Dried Apricots, Figs or Prunes – I have used apricots and figs
• Tap/ Bottled Water – required to make the dried fruits into a paste.
• Butter/ Oil – I have used vegetable oil. If you use butter, melt it.
• Salt – a little required to bring out the sweetness.
• Eggs – make sure they are at room temperature and medium.
• Wheat Flour – I have used atta or roti flour. Use wheat pastry flour. You amuse all purpose flour if you want to.
• Soda Bicarbonate – baking soda. As the leavening agent.
• Baking Powder – as the leavening agent
• Chopped Nuts – of your choice. I have used walnuts. Can use pecans, hazelnuts, cashew nuts, etc.
• Fresh Orange Juice – or can replace it with brewed black tea.
• Vanilla Extract – for flavoring or replace it with grated orange zest.
• Chai Tea Spice Mixture/Chai Masala – I have used my home made one. Feel free to buy ready made or flow my recipe and make some at home. Just click here.Can omit if making the muffins for kids as they may not enjoy the spiciness.