Muffin Mondays: Blueberry Coconut Muffins

Now that spring is in the air I've been fancying a lighter, fruitier sort of muffin. Blueberries aren't my favorite fruit to add to a muffin, but I saw this recipe for Blueberry-Coconut-Macadamia Muffins on the Eating Well website and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. I had all of the ingredients on hand, and I had a leetle bit of whole wheat pastry flour that I've been wanting to get rid of . . . so I decided on Saturday morning that this was the perfect time to make these muffins.

 

Saturday mornings are a different routine for me. Normally I'm up early and the first thing I do is make my coffee. Yes, I love coffee, and I refuse to go without it in the mornings. I was never a coffee whore until I moved to DC, and then with a coffee shop on every block the smell was taunting me constantly and I gave in -- and there's no going back. On Saturdays, though, the first thing I do is take Lucy out for a walk. Then we come back and ponder coffee and breakfast. At this point I'm more than ready for coffee and a muffin. You know . . . some people think that caffeine makes you smarter? Maybe I can attribute my lack of coffee to leaving the sugar out of the first batch of these muffins. Yup. I made the batter -- and wondered why the texture seemed so off -- popped these babies in the oven and set the timer only to look at the brown sugar on the counter and have a *wa wa wa wa* moment. I said a word that isn't very nice at this point. But, all of my ingredients were still out, so I took the muffins out of the oven and scraped that batter into the trashcan. I hastily washed all of the bowls (downside of muffins -- so many dirty dishes for such a little treat!) and started again. 

At this point I only had about 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour left, so I used a combination of the ww pastry flour and white whole wheat flour. I used two whole eggs rather than an egg plus and egg white because I hate having extra egg yolks hanging around (unless it's going to be enough to make some ice cream). I left out the macadamia nuts because I didn't have any on hand (I never do, they're not a nut that I'm really fond of and they're pricey!!). I thought about subbing almonds . . . maybe next time. The only other change that I made was to use 1/4 teaspoon of coconut extract and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract instead of one or the other. I have to say, I'm so glad that I made these muffins. They're exactly what I like in a muffin. They're not too sweet and they have a fantastic, fluffy texture. I was actually stunned by how tasty they are. If you're a coconut hater -- the only coconut in these muffins is in the streusel topping and it could easily be left off. The muffins also rise beautifully, so if you like muffins that get a nice crown, try these out. I only got 11 mufins out of my batch, and there wasn't any overflow . . . maybe something to note. But the bottom line is, I luh-luh-love these muffins -- try them sometime soon!

Blueberry Coconut Muffins

Eating Well

makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
• 2 tablespoons plus 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
• 5 tablespoons chopped macadamia nuts, divided
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (see Source) or whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut or vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) blueberries

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine coconut, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons macadamia nuts in a small bowl. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil; stir to combine. Set aside.
3. Whisk the remaining 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, egg, egg white, buttermilk, butter and coconut (or vanilla) extract in a medium bowl until well combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients; stir until just combined. Add blueberries and the remaining 3 tablespoons nuts; stir just to combine. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with the reserved coconut topping and gently press into the batter.
4. Bake the muffins until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack at least 5 minutes more before serving.