These moist and fluffy orange-scented chai spice date muffins made with whole with flour are gently sweet, satisfying and easy to carry around for an on-the-go breakfast or midday snack! Glaze them with my Orange Cream Cheese Icing for the ultimate fall treat!

This orange chai spice date muffins recipe is a perfect breakfast treat that’s sweetened with dates and figs, boosted with chai spice and made with whole wheat flour for extra fibre goodness!  Whether you’re a chai person or not, you’ll find something to love here. Be it the date sweetness, the orange flavor,  or the wholesome nutty earthy taste and fluffy texture!

This moist and fluffy chai spice date muffin is my mom’s recipe. Long long ago before chai spice was cool, my mom discovered this Indian spice mix on a trip to Dubai, where she was served a super moist date cake with an intriguing spiciness to it.

She asked and asked until she reached the chef who catered the event, he told her about the spice combination he used. At that time, I’m talking about 20 years ago, Chai spice wasn’t quite popular around here.

But my mom just loved that date spice cake and insisted on replicating it. And she did.

So while my mom preferred this recipe as a bundt cake, I prefer it as small individual muffins. Just makes these Chai Spice Date Muffins easier to transport and the perfect on-the-go breakfast muffin!

Why this recipe for Orange Chai Spice Date Muffins works: 

The only changes I made to mom’s date cake recipe was to use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose because, aside from the making these healthier and more filling, I find that it compliments the sweetness of the dates and the warming spice mix perfectly.

When you make these orange chai spice date muffins with regular all purpose flour, you get a real nice strong smooth date and spice flavor, while the whole wheat flour cuts that down a little while adding a slightly bitter-ish and nutty flavor with a bit of a bite.

The other change I made to the recipe was to add a few dried figs and replace some of the dates with them. I feel this adds a bit more character to the smooth date texture, and a slight tang.

Now that’s completely optional, and in all honesty, not a huge factor in the final outcome. It’s a slight twist which I think you might enjoy. The beauty of these muffins is they can be made vegan and taste just as delish!

How to make these Orange Chai Spice Date Muffins: 

Here’s how this delicious and easy orange chai spice date muffins recipe comes together:

Pitted dates and figs are chopped finely and soaked in hot boiling water for a few mins while you prepare the batter. Wet ingredients go in a bowl, dry ingredients in another.

The water and date mix all go into the wet ingredients bowl to form a wet batter, which is then mixed with the dry ingredients. Toss in any add-ons you prefer and the batter is done! Scoop it into your lined muffin tins and bake!

A word about the Orange Cream Cheese Icing: 

To glaze or not to glaze? I say GLAZE! Well, these date muffins are not super sweet, so a nice drizzle of orange cream cheese icing won’t make you feel as guilty as you’d expect and adds a nice sweetness!

Don’t worry, the recipe for the icing is so simple and you can just whip it up while the muffins are baking and cooling.

Tips for success:

• Add nuts and orange, chocolate chips and your favorite add-ons to customize these muffins.
•  Play around with the proportions of figs and dates or swap one for the other.
• Start testing your muffins after 14 to 15 minutes in the oven to make sure they don’t overbake.