Coconut Muffins

This weekend, hubby's sister and her husband are coming to NYC for an anniversary weekend getaway.  They'll be staying with us Friday night, and then moving to a hotel for the next 2 nights (not sure why they don't consider staying on a hard pull-out couch in a room with no door and getting woken up by the munchkin at 6am to be ideal accomodations, but to each his own! ;).  We're going out for dinner Friday night, which means I only get to make one meal for them - breakfast.  Our entertaining has declined dramatically since the munchkin was born, which means when I do actually have people over, it's a great excuse to find new exciting recipes to try. 

I thought I'd serve a couple of muffin choices along with some kind of eggs and potatoes (details still TBD, but hopefully if I'm successful you'll be hearing about it next week!), and I have had Macaroon Muffins from Sweet + Natural on my "to make" list since, well, the day they were posted!  The only thing holding me back was that they have a little more sugar than I normally go for in an every day muffin, which is why entertaining was the perfect reason to give them a try.   I LOVE coconut.  So 3 different kinds of coconut in one muffin?  How could that not be good? 

I am happy to report that this recipe does not disappoint one bit.  They are light and a little bit sweet with a nice subtle coconut flavor (not nearly as overpowering as I thought it might be) and the most amazing buttery texture.  They actually remind me of my Whole Wheat Apple Muffins, except for the key difference that these have absolutely no butter in them!  The shredded coconut does have a good bit of fat in it, but that is countered by the light coconut milk, the coconut flour which has minimal fat but all of the fiber and protein in coconut, and applesauce to eliminate the need for oil.  I think these may become a part of the regular muffin rotation in my house after all, possibly with a little pineapple thrown in next time?  I'll keep you posted, but in the mean time if you like coconut at all I highly recommend you give these a try!

Coconut Muffins
adapted from Sweet + Natural

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 egg
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, coconut flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and shredded coconut.  In a separate, larger bowl, whisk together egg, coconut milk, applesauce, vanilla extract and maple syrup until well blended. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just blended.

Spoon into prepared pans (and top with extra shredded coconut if you want...I chose to keep them simple!) Bake for 12 minutes for mini-muffins (or 16-18 minutes for standard muffins according to the original recipe).

Makes 16-20 mini or 8 standard muffins