Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins

A muffin loaded with bananas, coconut and a healthy dose of dark chocolate topped with even more coconut!

Ah, gotta love snow days. These muffins were inspired by the foot of snow outside my door. Boston is buried! What better way to celebrate the snow then a muffin chocked full of flaky white coconut. If you pair it with bananas, then it feels like maybe it’s meant to remind you of tropical locations beckoning your name. A far off destination with fruity drinks with little umbrellas in them, bottles of suntan lotion on standby, and so much sunshine you forget that your car is buried under a mountain of snow.  Ok, so maybe it won’t completely make you forget you have to brush off your car but it sure is cheaper than booking a island getaway.

Ok back to the actual muffin recipe. I adapted this recipe from a Cook’s Illustrated Bakery style muffin recipe. I made a few substitutions and additions. I first started by using a combination of whole wheat flour and regular all purpose flour.  I wanted to bulk up the nutrition value of these muffins. Ok, I know a cup of whole wheat flour doesn’t exactly make these healthy, but it sure does help with the guilt of eating two (or three) in the morning.  My rule of thumb is twice as much regular flour to whole wheat.  Or sometime I might go as much as 1:1 ratio (1 cup to 1 cup).  I never like to completely swap out all of the all purpose flour.  All whole wheat makes a dense muffin. And a dense muffin makes me a sad girl.    

Look at those muffin acrobatics going on in that photo. I would like to take credit for that. I actually attempted to stack them and gravity took over. Worked out for the best, if I do say so.

The next big muffin makeover was the omitting all the butter. Yup, you heard right. No. Butter. Instead I swapped it out for coconut oil.  The coconut oil gives it a nice crumb. My coconut oil had solidified so I set the jar in a saucepan of water on low heat just to soften it a bit. Coconut oil has a lower melting point than butter so it will melt quite quickly so keep it an eye on it. If you have never tried using coconut oil in your baked goods, I suggest you give it a try.  It’s a direct 1:1 substitution for butter or margarine. Apparently, you could use coconut oil for quite a few other things besides your favorite muffin recipe. But this blog is about baking…

I also used greek yogurt in this recipe. Greek yogurt in baked good recipe imparts a fantastic tangy flavor. You could always substitute buttermilk or sour cream if you don’t have any. These days, though, I have greek yogurt in my fridge all the time. It’s great for savory recipes as well as sweet. And healthier than sourcream, too! Who doesn’t love that? I then added in some almond milk to up the liquid content and balance out the dry ingredients. The only reason I added in almond milk was because it was the only dairy I had going on in my fridge (well that wasn’t past it’s expiration date).  You definitely could substitute in another liquid dairy of your choice, especially if allergies are a concern. And last but no least once I combined the wet and dry ingredients. I mixed in two overripe bananas, a whole lot of coconut, and good dark chocolate for good measure. Topped off with more coconut right before popping them in the oven. Banana. Chocolate. Coconut. Divine.

Here are a couple tips for you for when you are Making muffins can sometimes be a frustrating experience.  Who hasn’t that bakery muffin with that crunchy top and delicate crumb inside to then only be defeated every time you try to make muffins at home? I know I have. Here is the deal, people. You want that bakery style muffin. Stop mixing! I know it seems like just one more turn of that spatula will do the trick. Is that a speck flour, then you better stir, stir, stir, right? Wrong. Put. Down. The. Spatula. Too much stirring = tough muffins. If you use a mixer, make sure you use it on low speed and finish the last couple go around the bowls with your spatula. You’re likely to do less damage.

The other trick I have for you. Fill those muffin pans. Like actually fill. To the top. Maybe even a little higher than the top.  Muffins aren’t cupcakes (ok I know it’s a very close cousin) but  the batter should be more dense than a cupcake so you are allowed to fill to the top this time.  It makes those nice high-domed muffins you drool over at your local coffee shop.  Excess really is best in this case.

Ok well I’m off to shovel my way out of this snowstorm. Maybe just one more muffin before I go. You know for stamina of course.

Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins

A healthy muffin chocked full of coconut, banana, and dark chocolate topped off with toasted coconut!

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Author: Heather Perine

Ingredients

• ▢ * 2 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ * 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ▢ * 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ * 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• ▢ * 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/2 cup coconut oil softened
• ▢ * 1 3/4 cup sugar
• ▢ * 2 eggs
• ▢ * 1/2 greek yogurt plain
• ▢ * 1 cup almond millk
• ▢ * 2 large overripe bananas
• ▢ * 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• ▢ * 2 cups coconut divided

Instructions

• 1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Prepare your muffin pans by either using cooking spray or liners.
• 2. In a large mixing bowl, combine your flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• 3. In a mixer, combine your sugar and coconut oil. Mix on low speed until light and fluffy. Add your eggs one at time. Mixing until incorporated.
• 4. Add in your yogurt and milk alternating with the dry ingredients.
• 5. With a wooden spoon add in your bananas, 1 cup of the coconut, and chocolate chips. Be careful not to over mix.
• 6. Spoon the muffin mixture into each muffin well. Top each with the remaining 1 cup of coconut, distributing evenly.
• 7. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely on a muffin rack.

Notes

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated Bakery Style Muffins

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