Eggless Date Cupcakes

Looking for healthy snack for your kid?? Muffins and cupcakes make a good snack and especially if they are made from dates!! Dates are the delicious treats which have a high amount of dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. If your child or you for that matter dont prefer eating dates as it is, might as well mix in some flour to make these delicious cupcakes out of it!! A big thank you to http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2006/05/27/date-cake-eggless/ who has shared this recipe on her blog. I have made a very few changes to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
18 seedless dates
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the standard muffin pan with greased cupcake liners. (use nonstick oil spray)

Take the milk and dates in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for around 1 minute and let it stand for another 10 minutes (If your dates are refrigerated, you may need to soak them for 2-3 hours to help them soften). After letting the dates and milk stand for few minutes grind it into a smooth paste. If you like the date chunks you can grind it coarsely too. Pour this mixture in a large bowl and add sugar and oil and mix it with a hand mixer on medium till it is well incorporated. Add the flour and baking soda and mix it till the batter is formed.

Pour this batter with a scoop into the prepared muffin pan. Try to spread the batter evenly in the cups. I made around 10 cupcakes of standard size with this batter. Heat in oven at 350 degrees F for around 25-30 minutes or till the toothpick inserted comes out clean. Take out of the oven and let them cool for about 1/2 hour. If you want to frost them, make sure they are completely cooled down. I frosted mine with whipped cream. They taste divine!!

TIP:
You can add chopped walnuts or cashews if you like to the batter. My son does not like it so I left them plain.