Maple Walnut Muffins

This week's post comes from an old friend who supplied me with the recipe. It calls for maple extract but I was not able to find that ingredient at my local Publix, so instead of using Grade A Maple syrup, I substituted Grade B, which proudly proclaims on its label that it has a bolder flavor than Grade A. It smells lovely and the toasted walnuts were delicious. Reactions tomorrow. Thank you for your patience, the past few weeks have been hectic and hopefully things are starting to get back to normal.

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups chopped walnuts
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/3 cups maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon maple extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chopped dates

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 20 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Toss the walnuts and butter together on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 to 16 minutes, stirring occasionablly, set aside. Keep oven on.
3. Beat eggs, cream, 1 cup of the maple syrup, and the maple extract together in a mixing bowl.
4. Combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Stir into the egg mixture until just combined. Stir in the dates and 1 cup of the toasted walnuts.
   
5. Fill each muffin cup three-fourths full with the batter. Sprinkle the tops with the reminaing walnuts and drizzle with the remaining syrup. Bake for 20 minutes. Poke a tooghpick into the center of a muffin. If it comes out dry, the muffins are done

Hat tip to M.F. for the recipe