20 January 2012

Coconut Muffins (+ Sugar Free Option!)

Given my predilection for a certain tropical drupe, I can scarcely believe it hasn't been the star of one of my baked muffin recipes.

I've quickly remedied that grievous oversight.

Moist, buttery Coconut Muffins
It's also quite nice to shift my attention to tropical items, given the monster snowstorm pummeling the streets right now. I can crank up the heat in my apartment, and imagine I'm somewhere sun-kissed and balmy.


The BF, who is a huge fan of the Pumpkin Spice Muffins, declared that these were the best muffins I've ever made :-)

There is so much coconut (flour, oil, nectar, flakes... !!!) in these muffins, it's nuts.1 Lots of coconut and no gluten, no soy, no corn, no scary ingredients -  just healthy, coconutty goodness (Vegan, coconutty goodness, of course). Mmmmm... the result is a moist and buttery (it's all the coconut!) muffin, with just the right kiss of sweetness.2

They made my apartment smell so very lovely as well :-) 3

You can sub Stevia to make them completely sugar-free; I liked it, but some others didn't share my enthusiasm.
Enjoy with a coconut milk hot cocoa, or pair them with a coconut/pineapple/banana-based smoothie4, and pretend you're on a tropical island.

A tropical island... with muffins.5


Coconut Muffins
(makes 6)
  • 1/2 Cup (70g) Sorghum Flour
  • 1/4 Cup (30g) Tapioca Starch
  • 2 Tbsp (15g) Potato Starch
  • 2 Tbsp (15g) Coconut Flour
  • 1/4 Cup (15g) Coconut Flakes
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder (or make your own)
  • 1/8 tsp Sea Salt
  • 1 Chia Egg (1T ground chia + 3T filtered water)
  • 2 Tbsp (40g) Coconut Nectar or 25-30 Drops Liquid Stevia (if you prefer a sweeter muffin, add an extra Tbsp of Coconut Nectar or a few extra drops of Stevia.)
  • 2 Tbsp (30g) Coconut Oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp (8g) Olive Oil
  • 1/2 Cup So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk
  • 1/2 tsp Apple Cider (or Coconut!) Vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 tsp Almond Extract (Optional)

Oven 350F/180C

Lightly grease or line a 6 cup muffin tin.

Prepare your chia egg, and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the first 7 dry ingredients.
In a separate small bowl or glass, mix together the coconut milk, coconut nectar, vinegar and extract(s). Stir until well-combined and the mixture begins to coagulate.

Add the coconut milk mixture to the dry ingredients, along with the coconut oil and olive oil. Mix until the batter is smooth and uniformly combined.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling them close to full - not overfull though. If desired, sprinkle the tops with some toasted coconut, or do what I did for a sweet/crunchy/coconutty topping:
Combine toasted coconut with a bit of coconut oil, a spoonful of coconut nectar, a dash of vanilla and a pinch of salt. Mix well, and spoon gently over the tops of the muffins before baking (or midway through).
Uh... can you say YUM?

Bake the muffins for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.





 Create a Fabulous Day!




1. COCO-nuts
2. For my tastes; you may have noticed, I tend towards the slightly-less-sweet side. 
3. Sorry, Nag Champa; you're really nice and all, but you're no coconut.
4. Green ones are even better!
5. It could totally happen

8 comments:

  1. Right now, coconut muffins would be like sitting on the beach!


    http://daily-iphoneography.posterous.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. yum!

    and if you had some coconut vinegar (there's coconut eeeverything now) it would be total and complete coconut madness lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ohmygosh! These totally need to be made with coconut vinegar!!!
      I only had ACV on hand, at the time, but I've since replenished my coconut vinegar stock ;-)

      And then I should change the name to Coconut Madness Muffins - genius! - you'd be credited, of course :-)

      Delete
  3. Love this muffin. nice recipes in ur blog

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the idea but these are so dense....not like a muffin at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry to hear they came out dense. I've never had that issue.
      Did you make any substitutions or tweaks to the recipe?

      Delete