Coconut muffins

Judging by the melting snow on both my driveway and my roof, spring is definitely on the way. I got the first whiff of it this weekend, when I was almost tempted to break out the shoes and lighter coat.

It's not quite tropical weather just yet, though, so all the more reason to enjoy some Carribean flavour in the form of these coconut muffins. They get some nice flavour from coconut oil and flaked coconut, and you could even substitute the yogurt for some coconut milk to totally max out the taste.

But even with two kinds of coconut, these are delicious enough to tide you over to summer.

This is the first time I've ever used coconut oil, which is solid at room temperature (think good ol' Crisco for comparison). And when you're not baking with it, coconut oil does double duty as a beauty tool, and a star ingredient in this beachy hair spray.

So it requires melting before you can use it in the recipe. Do you spot my new gas stove in this picture? It's so great, even if it's a little less than clean in this shot.

Here are the muffins headed for the oven. This recipe makes 10 small-medium sized muffins. I used parchment paper liners here, which are an awesome find. Not even a crumb wasted!

And here they are finished, complete with toasted tops. I froze most of these and they were just as good from the freezer as they were fresh. Always a good and practical sign in a muffin.

 

Double Coconut Muffins
From Smitten Kitchen

Yield: 10 standard muffins

1/2 cup (110 grams) virgin coconut oil
3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (60 grams) whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup (230 grams) full fat Greek-style yogurt, at room temperature is best
1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature is best
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
3/4 cup (90 grams) sweetened shredded coconut, divided

Preheat oven to 375°F. Either grease 10 muffin cups with butter or coconut oil, or line them with papers.

In a small saucepan, warm your coconut oil just until it melts. It should still be on the cool side. (The egg and yogurt should also be at room temperature to avoid re-solidifying the oil.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together your flours, baking powder and salt. Stir 1/2 cup shredded coconut. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, coconut oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients until just combined. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups then sprinkle the top with remaining 1/4 cup coconut, about 1 to 2 teaspoons on each.

Bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out batter-free, about 20 minutes. Transfer muffins to a rack and let cool.