When we went to Williamsburg last winter we stayed at one of the Colonial Houses and ate at the Williamsburg Inn for breakfast. They had the most wonderful Granola and I charmed a recipe out of the very kind staff at the Inn. I won’t share it here as it may be proprietary and I wouldn’t want to give away any secrets. But I will say that it was super yummy and if you ever get a chance to go to Williamsburg you should treat yourself to a stay at one of the Colonial Houses and breakfast at the Williamsburg Inn. [Click here for a link to Colonial Williamsburg]

My attempt at Williamsburg Inn Granola

That reminded me of a Granola Muffin recipe I came across a bit ago and I decided to adapt that for this week’s Muffin Monday offering. So without further ado I give you… Date Granola Muffins…

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup dried Chopped Dates
• 1 cup hot Water
• 2 cups of All Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 cups of Granola
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup of Vegetable Oil
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray and flour a 12 cup muffin tin.

2. Soften the dates by adding them to the hot Water. Let sit 5 minutes. Drain.

3. In a large bowl mix the Flour, Granola, Baking Powder and Salt.

4. In another, smaller bowl, combine the Milk, Vegetable Oil, Egg, and Vanilla.

5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well.

6. Stir in the Dates, carefully folding them into the mixture.

7. Divide into 12 muffin cups.

8. Bake for 20 minutes.  The muffins should be golden brown and pass the toothpick test. Remove from the oven and let cool a minute before loosening them from the pan (they should come right out.)

9. Serve with butter or applesauce.

These muffins are delicious, but on the dry side so the butter or applesauce is a must.

The original recipe called for sugar. I took that out when I added the dates, and I’m glad I did. These don’t even register on the ritaLOVEStoWRITE Muffin Monday saccharine scale, but the dates give them just a hint of sweetness. Because of their dry texture and their lack of sugar pop taster Maggie suggested we come up with a new category: the “Buffin” (the Biscuit / Muffin). Since I love both biscuits and muffins… I’m down with that.

Taster Bill states simply that they are “Yummy with butter.”

This morning I had mine with tea and an egg over easy. It was a pretty nice way to start the week. IMHMO. (In My Humble Muffiny Opinion).

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