Sticky toffee chickpeas muffins

Don't expect light, fluffy muffins – these are comfortingly dense and very cheering for elevenses in winter.

Ingredients · Servings 10

250g medjool dates pitted and roughly chopped
400g can unsalted chickpeas drained
50g dark muscovado sugar
50g softened butter
2 eggs
100g self-raising flour
50g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice (or use a mixture of sweet spices, like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and mace)
2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
4 tbsp double cream

Method · 50 min

Put 8 dates in a heatproof jug and pour over 80ml boiling water. Put a lid on the jug and leave for 15 mins until softened – if they don’t feel soft after that time, heat them for 40 seconds in a microwave.
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with 10 paper cases. Add the chickpeas, sugar and butter to the soaked dates and use a hand blender to blitz to a purée. Whisk in the eggs, then stir all but 2 of the remaining dates in.
Add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and spices along with a pinch of salt. Mix everything quickly with a spatula, but try not to over-mix – if the mix feels a bit stiff, add a splash of milk. Divide the mixture between the muffin cases and bake for 20-30 mins until the muffins have risen and are starting to brown on top.
Meanwhile, make the topping. Heat the dark muscovado sugar and 4 tbsp cream in a small pan until it comes together into a toffee sauce – it will have an almost gel-like quality. Add the remaining 2 tbsp cream and stir, then set aside. As soon as the muffins are cooked, spoon some sauce over each muffin. Cut the remaining dates into 10 long strips and put one on top of each muffin. Cool completely – don’t be tempted to eat these warm, as they taste much better cold.

For the topping