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Brown Sugar Coconut Blueberry Muffins

The hunt for tasty ways to use the remainder of our blueberries continues.  It’s not a bad problem to have, that’s for sure.  We have been happily enjoying Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, lots of blueberries in Greek yogurt, and many other treats.  But it was time to make something new.  I already have several blueberry muffin recipes that I love, but when I found a blueberry muffin recipe using brown sugar and buttermilk, I knew it would become an instant favorite.

While the recipe looked nearly perfect as-is, I decided to add a little twist and use coconut oil instead of canola oil.  This was my first time using coconut oil, but I had high hopes it would be the perfect addition to these muffins.

The coconut oil imparts a delicious coconut flavor to the muffins, which works beautifully with the tangy blueberries.  The muffins are incredibly moist as well.  Score for the coconut oil, and score for another fantastic recipe for blueberry muffins!

Brown Sugar Coconut Blueberry Muffins
 
Yields: 12 muffins
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
  • ⅓ cup coconut oil (or canola oil)
  • ⅓ cup buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar, for topping
  • 2 teaspoons sweetened flaked coconut, for topping
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners.
  2. In a large bowl, stir flour, sugar and baking powder.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla until well blended.
  4. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture, stirring gently until just combined.
  5. Gently fold in blueberries.
  6. Divide batter evenly among 12 muffin cups. Top each muffin with a sprinkle of brown sugar and a sprinkle of coconut.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then move to wire rack to cool completely.

Brown Sugar Coconut Blueberry Muffins
Yields 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/3 cup coconut oil (or canola oil)
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
2 teaspoons brown sugar, for topping
2 teaspoons sweetened flaked coconut, for topping

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners.
  2. In a large bowl, stir flour, sugar and baking powder.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla until well blended.
  4. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture, stirring gently until just combined.
  5. Gently fold in blueberries.
  6. Divide batter evenly among 12 muffin cups.  Top each muffin with a sprinkle of brown sugar and a sprinkle of coconut.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then move to wire rack to cool completely.

Adapted from Babble

Pineapple Zucchini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

One of my favorite things about birthdays is birthday cake. Especially making birthday cakes! The birthday person chooses a cake or simply gives me inspiration.  Then I try to make the best cake I can.  When it came time to choose my birthday cake, believe me, it was a tough decision. My head was still in zucchini-mode. I love pineapple, and I love cream cheese. So I was on zucchini, pineapple, and cream cheese mission. Seems easy enough, right? 

I researched a few recipes until deciding on this one, and made a few changes, reflected below.  The frosting is a nice balance of cinnamon and cream cheese and the perfect complement to the cupcakes.  There are chunks of pineapple and hints of coconut and zucchini in the cake.  They are healthy and come in under 200 calories.  Pineapple Zucchini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting made the perfect birthday treat!

* REMINDER:  MAGAZINE GIVEAWAY ENDS TONIGHT!  GO HERE TO ENTER!  *

Pineapple Zucchini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Yields 18 cupcakes

Cake:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt  (optional)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini (squeeze out some of the moisture)
20 ounce can of pineapple tidbits or crushed in juice, drained (I used tidbits for chunkier pieces)

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 18 standard muffin cups with paper liners (fill the empty cups halfway with water). 
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt (if using) and cinnamon.  Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, stir together oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended.  Add zucchini and pineapple and mix until combined.
  4. Add zucchini mixture to dry ingredients and gently fold until combined.  (Note: Batter will be thick).
  5. Divide batter evenly among 18 muffin cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting:

8 ounces Neufchâtel (1/3 less fat) cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

  1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. 
  2. Pipe or spread frosting on cupcakes, as desired. 

Note:  If not serving immediately, cupcakes/frosting should be refrigerated.  Otherwise, the frosting gets too soft.  When serving after refrigeration, let cupcake sit out for 10-15 minutes at room temperature.  (They are good straight from the fridge, however…if you can’t wait like me!)  🙂

Nutrition Information per Serving (1 cupcake and 1/18 frosting)
Calories: 190 ~ Fat: 6g ~ Carbs: 33.6g ~ Fiber 2.9g ~ Protein: 3.2g

Adapted from Skinny Taste