Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins #MuffinMonday

Mar 4, 2013 by lovelypantry

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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

 

 

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.

 

 

Enjoy the first week in March!!!

~Lyn

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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 lovelypantry

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

 

 

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:

• Asparagus, Clam & Bay Shrimp Pasta from Galactopdx
• Bacon Double Cheese Burger Bites from In the Kitchen with KP
• Cheese Stuffed Cannelloni from Curious Cuisiniere
• Garlic Shrimp Bruschetta from MarocMama
• Green Olive, Goat Cheese & Basil Crostini from Hip Foodie Mom
• Indian Shrimp Pulao from Soni’s Food
• Individual Beef “Phyll-ingtons” from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Ranch, Bacon and Cheese Crisps from Daily Dish Recipes
• Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Frosting from Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Rissóis de Camarão | Portuguese Shrimp Dumplings from Family Foodie
• Spicy Red Cabbage Quiche | Veggie Quiche Recipe from Masala Herb

#SundaySupper Valentine’s Day Sweet Eats:

• Banana Bourbon Blondies from The Messy Baker
• Banana Cream Napoleon from Food Lust People Love
• Brown Butter M&M Cookies from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
• Brown Butter Rolo Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies from Damn Delicious
• Chocolate Baumkuchen from Webicurean
• Chocolate Bread Pudding from La Cocina de Leslie
• Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Banana Cream from The Lovely Pantry
• Chocolate Covered Bacon from I Run For Wine
• Chocolate Covered Stuffed Strawberries from Country Girl in the Village
• Chocolate Mousse from Mom, What’s For Dinner?
• Chocolate Roll filled with Nutella Cream from Basic N Delicious
• Chocolate Velvet Ice Cream with Cherry Sauce from Vintage Kitchen Notes
• Cinnamon Sugar Tortillas with Chocolate Sauce from The Roxx Box
• Coconut Sweetheart Cookies from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Coeur a la Creme from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Cream Cheese Mints from Simply Gourmet
• Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Mousse with Coconut Cream from Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
• Dark Chocolate Raspberry Torte from Kelly Bakes
• #GlutenFree Chocolate Almond Cloudless Cake from Cooking Underwriter
• Heart Shaped White Chocolate Cakes with Raspberry Cream from Noshing with the Nolands
• Homemade Cherry Mash Candies from Juanita’s Cocina
• Maple-Date Bars from Diabetic Foodie
• Meyer Lemon Marmalade from Shockingly Delicious
• Mini Samoa Bundt Cakes from Ruffles & Truffles
• Molten Chocolate Lava Cake from Gotta Get Baked
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes from The Meltaways
• Pistachio and Chocolate Souffle from Small Wallet Big Appetite
• Raspberry Custard Tart from Kudos Kitchen
• Raw Fudge Love from Mama’s Blissful Bites
• Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Red Velvet French Macarons with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling from The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
• Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches from Cravings of a Lunatic
• Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies from Magnolia Days
• Red Velvet Sugar Cookie Bars from Chocolate Moosey
• Red Wine Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting from The Urban Mrs.
• Strawberry Shortcake! from The Foodie Army Wife
• Strawberry Valentine Cake Hearts from Ninja Baking
• Tres Leches Tea Cakes with Honey Riesling Soaked Fruit from Neighborfood
• Valentine’s Bakewell Tarts from Happy Baking Days
• Valentines Chocolate Apples from Big Bear’s Wife

#SundaySupper Valentine’s Day Drinks:

• Blood Orange Vodka Martinis from The Catholic Foodie
• Bloody Raspberry Cocktail from My Cute Bride
• Strawberry Gin Fizz from girlichef

 

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

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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 lovelypantry

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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!

 

 

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.

 

 

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

 

 

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!

 

 

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 lovelypantry

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!

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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

 

 

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.

 

 

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 🙂

 

 

Here are the gifts from the #SundaySupper team:

 

Breads / Breakfast

• Pumpkin Biscoff Bread – Dinners, Dishes, and Dessert
• All-in-One Beer Bread Kit – girlichef
• Banana Coconut Coffee Cake with Macadamia Nut Streusel – The Lovely Pantry
• Pancake Mix With Apple Cider Syrup and Candied Walnuts – Tora’s Real Food
• Cranberry Hootycreeks – Baker Street 

Condiments / Ingredients

• Apple Butter – Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
• Cranberry Strawberry Jam – The Meltaways
• Herb Vinegars – Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Harissa – The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Homemade Vanilla Extract – Flour on my Face
• Homemade Cherry Extract – Cravings of a Lunatic
• Nutella Powder – I Run For Wine
• Apricot Pineapple Rum Sauce – Vintage Kitchen Notes
• Spiced Cranberry Apricot Almond Chutney – Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
• Pumpkin Butter – Family Foodie

Soup and Snacks

• A Soup For You – Momma’s Meals
• Maple Nut Granola – Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
• Sweet and Spicy Curried Nuts – Soni’s Food for Thought
• Roasted Spiced Nuts – Mrs Mama Hen 
• Sweet and Spicy Pecans – Supper For a Steal
• Maple Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars – Cupcakes and Kale Chips
• Orange Spiced Chickpeas – Home Cooking Memories
• Turtle Pretzels – The Messy Baker

Sweets

• Rocky Road Candy – Magnolia Days
• Dairyfree Vegan Caramels – Galactosemia in PDX
• Peanut Butter Cookies in a Jar – Mama’s Blissful Bites
• M&M Cookies in a Jar – Damn Delicious
• Monster Cookie Mix in a Jar – What Smells So Good?
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Biscotti – Meal Planning Magic
• Snickerdoodle Snack Mix – Pippi’s in the Kitchen Again
• Butter and Jam Thumbprint Cookies – Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends
• Peppermint Stick Cookie Truffles – The Weekend Gourmet
• Nutella Truffles – Small Wallet Big Appetite
• Peanut Cajetas (Peanut Fudge) – Basic and Delicious
• Cookie Cutter Fudge – Chocolate Moosey
• Pumpkin Roll – Shockingly Delicious
• Homemade Chocolates – My Trials in the Kitchen
• Hot Chocolate on a Stick – Juanita’s Cocina
• Chocolate Toffee “Crack” – Ruffles and Truffles
• Holiday Tree Cake – Noshing with the Nolands
• Salted Caramel Cookies – Mama Mommy Mom
• Fruit and Nut Cookies – In the Kitchen with Audrey

Drinks

• Applepie Moonshine – My Catholic Kitchen
• Holiday Spiced Mocha – Daily Dish Recipes
• Homemade Peppermint Mocha Mix – In the Kitchen with KP
• Homemade Kahlua – That Skinny Chick Can Bake

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 lovelypantry

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.

 

 

 

 

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…

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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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