Forget winter, eat these: Banana-Coconut Muffins

I am so over winter. Maybe that's why I've had coconut on the brain lately. We were snowed (and iced) in on Sunday, and I had a ripe banana on the counter that needed to be used, so I went searching for a recipe for banana-coconut muffins. I found this one on Baker Street that looked promising and got to work.

Generally, when I bake, I do not hold back. I consider baked goods to be treats that should be eaten less often but fully enjoyed when I do indulge, so bring on the butter, cream, etc. However, I often make muffins for us to have in the mornings, and since B is the biggest consumer of said muffins, I usually try to make them a bit healthier, so they can be enjoyed a bit more often.

So I decided to adapt the recipe, subbing coconut oil (which had the added bonus of upping the delicious coconut flavor) for the butter, honey for the sugar, and white whole-wheat flour for the all-purpose. I also tweaked the process a bit because I didn't want to top the muffins with coconut (I folded all of it in with the batter instead, and it worked great.). These muffins were delicious and made me believe there just might be reason to hope spring isn't too far off now. Enjoy!

Banana-Coconut Muffins
Adapted from Baker Street
Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1¼ c. (156 g) white whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. table salt (or ½ tsp. kosher salt)
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (about ¾ c.)
½ c. coconut oil, melted
½ c. honey
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla
¾ c. sweetened flaked coconut

Instructions:
1. Put oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray or line with muffin cup liners.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the bananas, coconut oil, honey, egg, and vanilla until well combined. Fold the flour mixture and coconut flakes into the liquid mixture until just combined.

3. Divide the batter among the lined muffin cups (about ¼ c. of batter each) and bake until the muffins are puffed and golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 22-25 minutes. Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly.

P.S. The granola in the picture above is from this recipe, a simple favorite around here.