Put the Lime in the Coconut Muffins

coconut-lime muffin header

Sometimes, when I’m juggling eight tasks at once and feeling like a chicken sans tête, cooking needs to be simple to compensate. These muffins are simple. They take an hour to make from start to finish, and then you have breakfast and snacks for the better part of the week. Take half to work with you for instant office popularity.

There’s nothing complicated about this recipe, and nothing onerous about these ingredients. There is only the happy marriage of coconut, lime, and banana, each flavor in a supporting role. If you live somewhere as cold and gray as New York is right now, I hope these muffins will put you in mind of a beachy, tropical cocktail.

So take a minute to yourself. Enjoy one (or a few, who’s counting?) with tea or coffee. You deserve it.

A note about the golden sugar: I like the slight molasses taste golden sugar lends, but feel free to use white sugar if you want.

Makes 16-18 regular-sized muffins, or 54 mini-muffins

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 1.5 cups golden sugar
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 2 teaspoons lime zest
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup coconut cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
  • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • the juice of 1 lime

 Procedure:

1. Heat the oven to 350F. Grease your muffin tins with softened butter, and then dust with flour.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the golden sugar for 2-3 minutes. (Use the beater attachments on an electric mixer. If you’re beating by hand, go a little longer. The idea is to thoroughly blend the sugar into aerated butter, to achieve a soft and lovely crumb.) In a small separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Slowly add them to the bowl with the sugar and butter, mixing as you go until incorporated.

3. Meanwhile, unwrap the bananas from their peelings. Move them to a bowl or plate, and use a fork to mash them into mush. (It should be cathartic.) Add the bananas to the batter bowl, along with the coconut extract and the lime zest. Mix until just combined.

lime

4. Sift the flour together with the baking soda and the salt in a medium bowl. Then, alternately add the flour, the milk, and the coconut cream to the batter, until just combined.

coconut cream

5. Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 of the way to the top. Bake for 18-20 minutes for the mini muffins, 25-30 minutes for the regular muffins. You are looking for a golden cake top, and for a knife to come out clean.

6. Allow the muffins to cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the glaze: whisk together the confectioner’s sugar with the lime juice, and 1-2 tablespoons of water. After 20 minutes, remove the muffins from the tins and use a spoon to drizzle glaze on top of each. Enjoy warm, or move the muffins to a sealed container where they will keep for up to 4 days.

Put the Lime in the Coconut Muffins

Put the Lime in the Coconut Muffins

Put the Lime in the Coconut Muffins

Put the Lime in the Coconut Muffins

 

11 Comments

  1. Nay

    Cris!
    I haven’t got coconut cream, but have coconut milk – can I substitute that? Bc, if the snowpocalypse is as bad as the news is making it out to be, I’ll have to feed B something sweet for putting up with me in such an enclosed space!
    Thanks, lady! x

    • CristinaSciarra

      Nay! Coconut milk would be a fine substitute; honestly, I think it’s the extract that gives it the coconut flavor, so that’s the important bit. And I really hope this storm isn’t bad, because otherwise I will have made 16 pints of ice cream for no reason, and then I will go crazy bah!

  2. Suzanne

    Those muffins look so good, tender and cake like (I say that because thats they way I like my muffins) I love the coconut lime and banana combo. They turned out beautifully!

    • CristinaSciarra

      Thanks, Suzanne! They are rather cake like; don’t tell anyone..

  3. rusty

    Could you pour this batter into a round cake pan and make like a glazed coffee cake?
    Thanks!

    • CristinaSciarra

      Hi Rusty, I don’t see why not. You just might have to increase the baking time a bit.

  4. Ashley

    These look delicious! I’m so glad I stumbled upon them!

  5. Molly

    Can you clarify which ‘coconut cream’ you used? I think the can in the pic is what I have but mine says ‘cream of coconut’ which is the sweetened type. From what I’ve learned (by messing up another recipe calling for it) ‘coconut cream’ is the thick layer at the top of unstirred coconut milk (also in a can) but is something entirely different than ‘cream of coconut’ used in mixed drinks etc. gah. Can you confirm which you used? These muffins look divine!

    • CristinaSciarra

      You are right, it can be confusing! I did actually use cream of coconut for this recipe, because I had around. However, for this recipe, you could certainly use coconut milk, or even the layer of fat at the top of a can of full-fat coconut milk. I hope this helps!

      • Molly

        Thank you so much!

  6. AJ

    Wowww, I’ll be trying these tomorrow. I can’t wait! :oP I have a can of coconut milk and was trying to find SOMEthing to do with them when I found your recipe. The picture is what brought me here — they looked yummers! Thank you for sharing my dear.

Leave a comment