Sticky toffee date muffins

This is another delicious recipe of Ina Garten. Those muffins are soft, moist coated with sweet and sticky toffee sauce.We enjoy them very much I hope you will too.

Ingredients for 12 - 18 muffins:

• 225g pitted dates
• 450ml water
• 1 tsp soda
• 110g butter
• 90g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 vanilla extract 
• 300g flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp baking powder

To bake those muffins start with cooking dates.

Pour the cold water into a big pot add chopped dates. Bring to boil. Then leave to simmer for about 1 minute. Remove from heat stir in the soda. Be careful the mixture will bubble up. Set aside to cool down a little.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Cream the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time. Al last add flour and salt. This will create very lumpy mixture. 

Now it is a time to add the date mixture. Pour half of the mixture into the bowl with the lumpy batter. Mix well then add the remaining date mixture. At last stir in the baking powder. This will make the batter to bubble up.

Pour the runny batter into prepared earlier muffin cases. Fill them up to the top as they don't rise much. Bake about 20 minutes.

While the muffin are in the oven prepare toffee.

Ingredients for toffee sauce:

• 110g butter
• 120g brawn sugar
• 80ml double cream
• 1/2 vanilla extract

Combine the butter, sugar, cream and vanilla in a medium size sauce pan. Bring  to boil then reduce to simmer gently for a few minutes until thickened.   

When muffins are baked remove them from the oven and poke with toothpick. Pour over them the runny toffee sauce.

Let them set then spread another toffee sauce layer over each muffin top.

 Enjoy !