Grease 8 of the cups in your muffin pan. If using a good, reliable non-stick pan, skip this step.
Place chopped, pitted Medjool dates and baking soda into a small bowl. Cover with hot water and stir to dissolve the baking soda. Let sit for 10-15 minutes to soften.
Prepare your flax eggs by whisking together ground flax seeds and water. Set aside to thicken.
After the 10-15 minutes have passed, transfer the dates and the liquid to a food processor or blender and puree until a paste has been formed. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg until combined.
In a large bowl, add date paste, flax eggs, vanilla extract, and melted coconut oil and mix together.
Add dry ingredient mixture to wet mixture and stir until combined.
Divide batter into the 8 muffin cups.
Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle of the largest cake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes.
If you are not serving all 8 cakes at the same time, remove the cakes you will not be using and set them aside. See note below for further instructions.
Using a wooden skewer or something similar, poke several holes through each cake. (see note below about this step)
Spoon about a 1 ½ tablespoons of the warm maple caramel sauce over the top of each cake. Let sit for another 10 minutes.
Remove each cake and place on its serving plate. Spoon another ½ tablespoon of maple caramel sauce over each cake. Add toppings, if using.
Notes
It's important to know that all gluten-free flour blends use different ingredients and ratios, so results will always vary when you use different blends. I have never used any other brand of flour to make these muffins (other than Bob's Red Mill), so please know that your results may not be the same as mine if you substitute with a different gluten-free flour.
Coconut flour will NOT work with this recipe.
You need to use something that will make holes larger than what a fork or toothpick would give you or the caramel sauce will not soak in well. Use a wooden skewer or a butter knife
If you will not be serving all 8 cakes at once, stop at step 10. Set the extras aside and don't poke holes into them or add any maple caramel sauce. Let them cool and then store them in an airtight container (they will keep for about 2 days). When you're ready to serve them, wrap them in foil, and place them in a warm oven for a few minutes until they have heated through. Once they have been reheated, go through the poking, caramel drizzle x 2, and serve!
Nutrition info is based on 1 cake with maple caramel sauce and without any other garnishes. Nutrition info is only to be used as a rough guide. Click to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.