Coconut muffins are a delicious and refreshing treat, and great to bake if you don’t want to follow a tedious coconut cake recipe,and want a quick dessert recipe instead.The muffins combine the crunchy and fresh coconut flavour with the warm and comforting gluten base that are perfect to bake for any occasion. Whether you make muffins with coconut flavour in it, add desiccated coconut on top, use a coconut frosting or add coconut in any other way, they are sure to be delicious and full of flavour. These can be eaten as an indulgent breakfast, a quick evening snack or even as a dessert, being a handy dish for any occasion. So follow this guide to learn how to make coconut muffins and impress everyone at your next party or gathering.
Ingredients:
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 113 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 113 g oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 190 g all purpose flour
- 140 g coconut, shredded, unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 240 g whole milk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 40 g coconut, shredded, unsweetened coconut
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350F or 177C.
- Prepare a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a bowl, add the butter and beat with a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer. Beat until smooth and creamy. Then add the sugar and beat until it's completely dissolved. Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after every addition. Then add the vanilla extract and beat for a minute.
- Then slowly pour in the oil, a little bit at a time. Add a little, beat it in until incorporated, then add some more. In this way, beat in all the oil. Then do the same with the milk.
- In a bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk it thoroughly.
- Then slowly beat in the flour mixture, a spoon or two at a time. Beat that much in, then add another spoon or two of the dry mixture, and beat that in too. In this way, add all the dry ingredients.
- Now shred the coconut and add that to the mixture. Gently fold it in. set aside.
- In a bowl, add the vinegar and baking soda and mix well. It will be bubbly. Quickly pour the vinegar into the batter and mix thoroughly.
- Then spoon this mixture into the muffin pan. Sprinkle some shredded coconut on top of each muffin cavity’s batter. Bake for about 20 minutes. The exact time will depend on the machine you're using. You’ll know it's done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Do not overbake the muffins or they will dry out.
- Once baked, transfer to a wire rack. Top with frosting or icing if you prefer.
- Serve warm.
- Leftover muffins can be stored at room temperature for three days and in the fridge for a week.
Notes, tips and tricks:
- The eggs should be room temperature because they are easiest to incorporate at room temperature.
- The milk should also be room temperature.
- Make sure the butter is room temperature. If you use cold butter, it wont mix in with the batter properly and the batter will be lumpy. And if you melt the butter and mix that in, it will be too liquidy and the batter will become too runny. So let the butter sit out at room temperature for an hour and soften naturally before making the dough.
- The vinegar makes the muffins moist and fluffy and easy to eat. Do not skip that step.
- You can easily double or halve this recipe.
- Do not pour in the oil and milk all at once, or the batter will break. Add a little at a time, beat it in and let it get incorporated, then add some more, tackling a little bit at a time, as instructed. The batter can hurdle if you try to hurry this step.
- If the shredded coconut on top of the muffins starts to brown too much, simply place the tray on the lower rack.
- The recipe calls for unsalted butter. If you don't have that, you can use salted butter too, but then skip the extra pinch of salt. But it's better to use unsalted butter and add teh salt pinch since the salt really brings out the flavour of the other ingredients.