I wanted to make some fruity muffins today, but we're all out of blueberries and cranberries which are my go-to berries for muffins. I contemplated flavours like carrot and morning glory, but they all seemed to have a tonne of oil and sugar in them. After raiding the freezer, I found some pineapple chunks that have been languishing in the back for months. I decided to look for a recipe that would let me use them up.

I like pineapple, coconut, and banana together. And, while the recipe still uses a fair amount of oil and sugar, it's definitely scaled back from what I was seeing in a lot of the other recipes. I actually cut the sugar back again and don't feel that the muffins were any the worse for it. Next time I'll try cutting back both the salt and oil a little as well. I also think it'd be nice to experiment with adding a bit of rum and using honey rather than sugar as the sweetener. Although, if I were to do that, I'd probably reduce the sweetener even further since honey is a bit sweeter than sugar (per unit volume). Gotta love supersaturated solutions!

Oh, and I almost forgot the other change I made! I replaced half the flour with whole wheat flour. I'm quite happy with the flavour and texture the muffins gained by having that bit of bran in there. I think the 50:50 mix worked out quite well.

Tropical Muffins

Adapted from Bare Feet in the Kitchen

Ingredients

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. honey (or 1/2 c. sugar)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. rum (optional)
• 1/2 c. crushed pineapple¹
• 3/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
• 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour²
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) and line muffin tin with papers.
2. Combine bananas, coconut oil, vanilla, honey, egg, salt, rum (if using), pineapple, and coconut and mix well.
3. Combine flours and sift in baking soda and cinnamon (if using) and mix well.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until just combined.
5. Spoon batter into lined tin and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 20-30 minutes.

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Variations

Vegan

Ingredients

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. agave syrup
• 1 flax egg
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. rum (optional)
• 1/2 c. crushed pineapple¹
• 3/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
• 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour²
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon (optional)

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¹ I turned my frozen pineapple chunks into crushed pineapple by chopping it in the blender. ^Back
2 If all-purpose flour isn't available, feel free to substitute pastry/plain/soft/standard flour here. Muffins and quick breads don't need the extra gluten anyway. ^Back