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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Mini Coconut Loaves

Jan 18, 2013 by lovelypantry

I’ve been in quite the baking mood recently. As some of you may have noticed, I tend to use coconut products in my baking (when I can). I love finding healthy alternatives to ingredients or just mixing things up a bit. I found a recipe on Taste Of Home called Coconut Loaf and I just knew, I had to try it. It had the name Coconut Loaf but the only coconut ingredient was the flaked coconut. I turned it up a notch or two and added more coconut loveliness. Now I can really call it Coconut Loaf!

 

 

 

This bread was fragrant, sweet, crumbly and dense. Having something like this every now and again should be mandatory. I decreased the amount of shredded coconut from the original recipe. I figured since I was using coconut sugar, coconut flour as well as coconut milk…holding back seemed like a good idea.

 

 

I baked three of these loaves and was able to give 2 away. One  young lady that I gave a loaf to, ate almost half of it in one go. These loaves are fairly small so I guess it can be a single serving….

 

 

This is certainly a good treat for coconut lovers. Enjoy!

~Lyn

 

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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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