Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins #MuffinMonday

Mar 4, 2013 by

Well, its been a while since I’ve made muffins for #MuffinMonday! I was so happy that I actually had something ready to share with you all today. I have been trying to add coconut to many things that I bake, when I can. These muffins gave me the perfect opportunity to experiment a little and also  to make something that my little ones will enjoy.

I really like baking with spelt flour and decided to incorporate it in this muffin recipe. I found this recipe on Canadian Living‘s website. The key ingredient for this weeks #MuffinMonday is Coconut. I used only Coconut Sugar as the sweetener, and used Coconut Oil instead of vegetable oil. Coconut Sugar and Banana were the only ingredients needed to sweeten these little muffins.

 Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins_1

 

 

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins #MuffinMonday

Ingredients

  • 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour, Unbleached
  • 1/2 Cup Spelt Flour
  • 1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar
  • 3/4 Tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/4 Tsp Salt
  • 1 Egg
  • 1/2 Cup Buttermilk
  • 1/2 Cup Mashed Banana (1 med banana)
  • 2 Tbsp + 2 Tsp Coconut Oil
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla
  • 1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375F
  2. In a medium bowl, add flours, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine.
  3. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, add buttermilk, bananas, oil and vanilla.
  4. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet until combined.
  5. Fold in the chocolate chips
  6. Spoon batter evenly into greased muffin liners
  7. Bake for 25 minutes and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
https://lovelypantry.com/2013/03/coconut-banana-chocolate-chip-muffins-muffinmonday/

 

I opted to leave out shredded coconut because I know my kids are picky about “bits” in their muffins. But I’m sure it would have worked well with this recipe. A quarter cup of shredded coconut would have been a nice portion for this recipe.

 

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins-1-2

Ingredients for Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

I reduced the recipe by half and used these cute colourful silicone mini-muffin cups. I find that the muffins come out so much better when I use them as opposed to paper liners. I avoid using the muffin tin directly whenever possible. I also mixed the entire recipe by hand. The batter was so light and easy to manipulate.

 

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins Prep

 

Yet another delightful aroma coming from my kitchen! The kids really got excited and kept asking if the muffins were ready.

 

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins_4

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

I baked these little muffins for my children and they loved it. They were just the right size and were much better for them in my opinion, since I added spelt flour and used coconut sugar.

 

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins_2

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

Enjoy the first week in March!!!

~Lyn

***

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street ~ A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Muffin Monday

Muffin 101

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Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Banana Cream for #SundaySupper

Feb 10, 2013 by

Welcome to the Valentine’s edition of #SundaySupper. Today we are sharing things we prepare for our loved ones. Our fabulous host is none other than Jen from Juanita’s Cocina! I’m looking forward to seeing all the wonderful main dishes, desserts and drinks being shared today!

My family loves sweet treats. Because of this, I try to substitute and lighten things up a bit or just keep it really simple. I love cooking and baking for them. Its one sure way that I can express my love for them. I knew exactly what I was going to make for today’s #SundaySupper. My kids ask for this cake often enough ever since I made it for the first time a few weeks ago. My baby girl can probably list the ingredients because she has been right there beside me each time I have made it. I’ve even offered it as a gift to a gathering that we went to recently. Total win. Simplicity at its very best.

Originally I was planning to post Bailey’s Banana Cream but it didn’t taste the same as how I did it the first time. So since I clearly haven’t perfected it, I will stick with the Banana Cream. It is the perfect complement to the Banana Cake. This recipe is from my very special book, A Real Taste of Jamaica by Enid Donaldson. There is absolutely no way that bananas should ever go to waste. Not with recipes like this one.

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake With Banana Cream

 

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Banana Cream for #SundaySupper

Ingredients

  • 1 Cups All Purpose Flour, Unbleached
  • 1 Tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 Eggs
  • 1 1/4 Very ripe Bananas, mashed
  • 1/2 Stick of Unsalted Butter
  • 2/3 Sugar
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla
  • A pinch of Cardamom
  • 1/4 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips
  • **Banana Cream**
  • 1 Very Ripe Banana
  • 2 Tbsp Sugar
  • 1/4 Tsp Allspice
  • 3/4 Cup Whipping Cream

Instructions

  1. **Banana Cream**
  2. Do this before you make the cake so that it can be refrigerated for a while.
  3. Whip cream either using a whisk, mini blender or regular blender. I used my Magic Bullet.
  4. Mix in the banana, sugar and allspice.
  5. Store in a small container in the fridge until the cake is ready to be served
  6. ***
  7. Preheat Oven to 375F
  8. Grease an 8-inch pan and line the base with parchment paper.
  9. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and salt
  10. In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter.
  11. Add egg and mix to combine
  12. Add mashed banana and vanilla, then mix to combine
  13. Add the flour mixture into the banana mixture and mix just until combined. Finish combining by hand with a spoon if needed.
  14. Fold in the chocolate chips
  15. Bake for 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean
  16. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack.
  17. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes before slicing.
  18. Serve topped with Banana Cream
https://lovelypantry.com/2013/02/chocolate-chip-banana-cake-with-banana-cream-for-sundaysupper/

 

I didn’t change much when it came to the ingredients. I added a pinch of cardamom – just because. For the Banana Cream I replaced nutmeg with allspice. Nutmeg isn’t my favourite. I’ll use it when I have to but for this recipe, the allspice was a lovely addition.

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake Collage

 

The chocolate chips are an additional treat for this recipe. By itself, it is simply wonderful. The aroma while it is baking is heavenly. Once baked, you’ll find yourself wanting more and more. I speak from personal experience. The banana adds such rich moisture to this cake.

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake With Banana Cream

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

 

I was bringing desert over to a friend’s house recently. I wanted to dress up this sweet wonderful cake. I doubled the recipe and split the batter. Added chocolate chips to one half and left the other one plain. I decorated the plain cake with slices of banana. Oh, how I love a pretty cake. This cake goes well with Vanilla Ice Cream, of course.

Banana Cake as a gift

Banana Cake as a gift

 

The cream was really lovely. I wondered at first if Banana Cream with Banana Cake would be too much banana. Well, the answer was no. It wasn’t. It was awesome. My kids loved it and have grown to expect it whenever I make this cake. I think I will have to break them out of that expectation.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake With Banana Cream

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake With Banana Cream

 

I just can’t get enough of this cream! I really should figure out the Bailey’s version. I must!!!

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake With Banana Cream

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake With Banana Cream

 

 

Please be sure to check out all the wonderful recipes brought to you by the #SundaySupper family!!

#SundaySupper Valentine’s Day Breakfasts, Apps & Main Dishes:

#SundaySupper Valentine’s Day Sweet Eats:

#SundaySupper Valentine’s Day Drinks:

 

#SundaySupper Valentine’s Day Tablescape:  A Romantic Table For Two Please from An Appealing Plan

***

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on Twitter on Sunday, February 10th to talk all about Valentine’s eats and treats!

We’ll tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world.  Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET and you do not want to miss out on the fun.

Follow the#SundaySupper hashtag, and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat.

Check out our#SundaySupper Pinterest board for more fabulous recipes and food photos!

 

 

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Chocolate Banana & Truffle Muffins for #MuffinMonday

Nov 19, 2012 by

I guess every now and again, we can indulge in some chocolate goodness. Besides, there’s no better time than the upcoming holiday season. The sweet indulgences that I get flooded with on Pinterest leaves me no choice but to just dive in!

When I first saw this recipe as our selection for #MuffinMonday, the first thing I wanted to do was add chocolate chips. But then I thought… that’s too easy. And is it really festive? Of course it would taste great but, I wanted to do something else. From now until the end of the year, our #MuffinMondays will be quite sensational. I hope I can keep up! I’ll be wearing my special holiday pants on from now on. You know? The one with the stretchy waist? Yes, you know the one. We ALL have a pair!

On my trip to the grocery store, I went along my merry way, picking the items on my list. I came across my most favourite treats ever! Belgian Chocolate Truffles!!!! You guys have no idea how much restraint it takes for me not to have more than one or two at a time. That’s why I rarely buy them unless it’s around Christmas time.

While I was envisioning what I was going to do with my truffles, I had to figure out how not to eat them. Sadly, I lost about three before they could get to the batter. I wanted my muffins to have a truffle centre. Can you imagine that smooth velvety truffley centre of a muffin? Heavenly! What I love about this muffins that it’s not overly sweet but still quite a chocolatey muffin. This is the most decadent muffin I have made to date. The possibilities are endless, now that I’ve made these gorgeous muffins.

 

Chocolate Banana & Truffle Muffins

 

 

Chocolate Banana & Truffle Muffins
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A chocolate treat with a sweet and decadent truffle centre
Author:
Recipe type: Muffin
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 1 Tbsp 2% Milk
  • 2 Tsp Vanilla
  • 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 2 cups All Purpose Flour, Unbleached
  • ¼ Cup Dutch Dark Cocoa
  • 1 Tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • 15 of your favourite Truffles
Instructions
  1. Preheat Oven to 325F
  2. Grease a 12 hole muffin pan, or line with 12 paper cups
  3. In a medium bowl, mash bananas until smooth. Add milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Mix until combined
  4. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy
  5. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition
  6. Add the banana mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined
  7. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder. Combine with a whisk.
  8. Add flour mixture gradually to the banana mixture, stirring to combine after each addition
  9. Put about 2 tablespoons of batter into each paper liner
  10. Add a truffle to the centre and then cover with batter until about ¾ full
  11. Bake for 22 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean
Notes
This recipe yields 15 muffins Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/banana-bread-recipe/index.html

 

I didn’t actually decide to add the cocoa powder until when I realized that the batter was going to be plain. Yes, filled with sweet flavourful banana, but plain. I added it on a whim, and hoped that it would turn out okay. I can’t see how I could have gone wrong with adding more chocolate.

 

Each Truffle inserted into batter

 

I used two spoons to  fill each cup with the remaining batter.

 

Truffles covered in batter

 

The kitchen was filled with that comforting aroma of chocolate. I could not wait to dig in! You have no idea!

 

Warm Muffins

 

And because I simple could not wait for my muffins to cool, this is what my truffle shavings looked like after a mere few seconds of making contact. I wasn’t complaining though! It wasn’t the look I was going for but hey ~ I ate this one first!

 

Melted Truffle Shavings

 

I just couldn’t help but wonder what the inside looked like… yes, the muffins were still warm. I was on a roll 🙂 The centre gets firmer when the muffins are completely cooled.

 

Warm Truffle Centre

 

Sweet, messy, awesome, Truffles! Believe me when I say none of this went to waste.

 

Truffle Shavings

 

I waited for the muffins to cool completely so that I could cover them with some truffle shavings. I allowed the truffles to firm up a bit by putting them in the fridge for a few minutes before using them.  This helped me to achieve the desired results. I was very VERY happy with these muffins. My family LOVED them!

 

Chocolate Banana & Truffle Muffins covered in Truffle shavings

 

Happy Monday!

 

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Muffin Monday: http://bakerstreet.tv/muffin-monday/

Muffin 101: http://bakerstreet.tv/muffin-monday/muffin-101/

 

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Banana Coconut Coffee Cake with Macadamia Nut Streusel for #SundaySupper

Nov 11, 2012 by

I’ve been looking at this recipe for a few days now. I was determined to make it and thanks to #SundaySupper, I’m able to share it with you all today. You see, we are entering a wonderful season of giving – Thanksgiving in the USA, and of course Christmas is almost upon us. It is a beautiful thing to give a thoughtful home-made gift to family and friends at this time of the year. This weeks theme for #SundaySupper is Gifts From The Kitchen. The host this week is our very own Susan from The Wimpy Vegetarian. With our usual spectacular line up, we hope to inspire you with gift ideas for the season. Please take a look out our baked items, condiments, soups, snacks, drinks and yes, without a doubt…sweets. Maybe you’ll find something special and thoughtful for you to give as a gift.

I chose this recipe because of the ingredients and how easy it was to prepare. The aroma was just something to talk about. It was awesome when my husband came home from work and the house smelled wonderful. He was a nicer man and I know this cake had something to do with it!

 

Banana Coconut Coffee Cake with Macadamia Nut Streusel

 

I gave one cake away already to a friend and she and her mother loved it. Giving home-made gifts are always nice, but it is very important to consider food sensitivities. I plan to bake another set without the macadamia nuts. I’m sure it will taste just as fabulous. The nuts are there to give added texture. Either way will be fine. The streusel has a nice crunch because of the Turbinado sugar.

 

Banana Coconut Coffee Cake with Macadamia Nut Streusel for #SundaySupper
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A wonderful cake infused with banana and coconut with a sweet and crunch streusel topping. A perfect gift for any holiday season.
Author:
Recipe type: Cake, Dessert
Ingredients
  • Dry Ingredients:
  • 3½ Cups All Purpose Flour, Unbleached
  • ¾ Cups Flaked Coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
  • 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
  • 1 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • Wet Ingredients:
  • 1 Cup (2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter, Softened
  • ¾ Cup Granulated Sugar
  • ¾ Cup Coconut sugar
  • 4 Eggs
  • 3 Ripe Bananas, mashed
  • ¼ Cup Strong Brewed Coffee
  • ¼ Cup Coconut Milk
  • 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
  • Streusel Topping:
  • ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
  • 2 Tbsp Coconut sugar
  • 2 Tbsp Turbinado sugar
  • ½ Tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 4 Tbsp Cold Butter, cut up in small pieces
  • ½ Cup Macadamia Nuts, coarsely chopped (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Grease and flour three 8X1/2-inch round foil cake pans and set aside
  3. In a medium bowl, add flour, coconut, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift to combine. Set aside
  4. In a large mixing bowl, add butter, granulated sugar and coconut sugar. Beat with a mixer until fluffy and fully combined
  5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
  6. Beat in coffee, coconut milk and vanilla.
  7. Beat in mashed bananas on low speed, just until combined
  8. Spread batter evenly in prepared pans. (about ¾ full)
  9. For the streusel: In a small bowl, add streusel ingredients and mix with a fork, combining until it appears to be like coarse clumpy crumbs. Stir in the macadamia nuts. Sprinkle evenly over the cake batter
  10. Bake for 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  11. Allow to cool in the cake pans for about 30 minutes before serving.

 

I made a few adjustments to make it a little more interesting. I replaced brown sugar with coconut sugar. I replaced the milk with coconut milk. For the streusel, I went half and half with coconut sugar and turbinado sugar instead of using brown sugar. I believe this gave it a more coconut flavour than just the shredded coconut in the body of the cake itself.

 

Banana Coconut Coffee Cake With Macadamia Nut Streusel

 

The cakes came out beautifully. They were fully baked at 35 minutes as per the recipe.

 

Banana Coconut Coffee Cake With Macadamia Nut Streusel

 

I didn’t wait too long to taste the cake. It is an absolute MUST that the cook and the official testers sample the cakes before they are given away. Unless of course, its something that you bake all the time and you know exactly what you’re going to end up with.

 

Banana Coconut Coffee Cake With Macadamia Nut Streusel

 

I for one, was completely satisfied with this cake. It is a nice item to bring as a gift while making your rounds over the holiday season, and its something that can be easily shared among a small group of people. I was very grateful for the inexpensive foil baking pans. It made the gift convenient to bake in, and portable! I enjoyed dressing these cakes up. I’m sure they will put a smile on anyone’s face 🙂

 

Banana Coconut Coffee Cake With Macadamia Nut Streusel

 

Here are the gifts from the #SundaySupper team:

 

Breads / Breakfast

Condiments / Ingredients

Soup and Snacks

Sweets

Drinks

Please join on us on Twitter throughout the day during #SundaySupper on November 11.  In the evening we will meet at 7pm EST for our weekly #SundaySupper live chat.

All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag or you can follow us through TweetChat.

We’d also love to feature your own posts for Gifts From the Kitchen on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board to share them with all of our followers, too.

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Almond Banana Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

Jun 25, 2012 by

That title was a mouthful. The best mouthful I’ve had in a while. I can’t tell you enough how much I enjoyed these muffins. Thank goodness for Muffin Mondays!

When I saw this recipe, my first thought was…this isn’t the healthiest muffin recipe but I can work with it! I was determined to make this muffin as healthy as possible. Ah well, I’ll experiment some more at a later time but these muffins were terrific. They were beautifully moist with a lovely hint of espresso, and of course a few Dark Chocolate Chips to make it really special. You know Dark Chocolate is good for you, right?

Todays recipe is adapted from the book called Baked: New Frontiers In Baking by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito. I made a few changes that would hopefully ease my conscience even just a little. I wanted to incorporate almonds so I replaced regular milk with almond milk. I also substituted 1/2 cup all-purpose flour with almond flour (or almond meal). I had a bag of sliced almonds just waiting to be used. I put some in a food processor and pulsated until it was finely ground. I placed a few sliced almonds on the muffin batter just to see what it would be like and it turned out just fine. I knew the kids wouldn’t like them there so they had the ones without the almonds. I only used 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips. Good call – it was just the right amount for me.

 

Almond Banana Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

 

5.0 from 3 reviews
Almond Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
An almond infused muffin with a hint of espresso and dark chocolate chips
Author:
Recipe type: Muffin
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • ¼ cup almond milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
  • ½ cup almond flour (3/4 cup sliced almonds in a food processor)
  • 1 tsp instant espresso powder
  • 1½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ cup dark chocolate chips
  • A few tablespoons sliced almonds for garnish (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F
  2. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with muffin liners or grease with cooking spray
  3. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas then stir in sugars, butter, milk, and egg. Set aside
  4. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt
  5. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined
  6. Fold in the chocolate chips
  7. Fill each cup about ¾ full
  8. Sprinkle a few sliced almonds on top of the muffin batter (optional)
  9. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean
  10. Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes
Notes
This recipe is adapted from Baked: New Frontiers In Baking Yields 16 muffins

 

We started eating these muffins before I took photos. How on earth did I let that happen!? Once you’ve had one of these muffins, I kid you not, you won’t be able to stop…

 

Almond Banana Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

I was quite pleased with the almond slices on top. They were perfectly toasted and crunchy.

 

Almond Banana Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

Extremely moist and rich in flavour. These muffins are a delightful breakfast or snack!

 

A bite from an Almond Banana Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Muffin

 

We thoroughly enjoyed my adaptation. I will continue to convince myself that I made myself a healthy version of the original recipe.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

I hope you enjoyed todays post. Have a wonderful week!

~Lyn

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