Sunday 17 February 2013

Coconut Orange Muffins



Hey guess what? I've got another muffin recipe to share.

At one of the local bakeries they make the most amazing muffin. It is orange and coconut and so moist and amazing. Well last night I wanted one of those muffins, so I went on the hunt for a copy-cat recipe, and I found this one (and many others that sound amazing but not exactly what I was looking for). I liked the idea of throwing the whole orange in because I figured to get the amount of moisture and orange flavour it couldn't just be juice and zest. By the way, orange juice is definitely not orange. When you compare it to the colour of an actual orange pulverized in the food processor it looks so pale and yellow. Maybe it also has something to do with I was using Cara Cara's and they are incredibly dark and so so juicy and smooth.

It was really the perfect time to make these because it is right in the middle of 'specialty orange weeks' at the local grocery store. They have a least 8 different types of specialty, organic oranges that they specially bring in for only a couple of weeks a year. So, I had to buy a few different ones to sample.

I made this recipe just as it was written on food.com, but after this batch I might try and change things up a bit with some addition of some banana or pineapple or...we'll see. Big plans though. The first one of these I sampled once they had cooled tasted exactly like what I was going for. Unfortunately, once they rested overnight they didn't taste identical in the morning. But, they still were pretty good and very flavourful so I guess I can't complain.

One thing worth noting with this recipe is that they do not rise (at all). Nor do they melt down and spread out. What I'm trying to say is that if you have the batter all lumpy and uneven in the muffin tins, you'll pull the finished muffins out and they will have the same mountains and valleys that they did going into the oven. So, not the prettiest, but the coconut sprinkled on top helps and I'd recommend smoothing out the top of the batter in the tins gently with a spoon (I know, a big no-no with muffins, or so my Mom says).

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 Medium Orange (I used 2 small minus a few bites), seeds removed, with peel
1/4 C. Orange Juice
1/2 C. Coconut Milk (or OJ)
1 Egg
1/2 C. Butter, softened
1 3/4 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 C. Shredded Coconut
3/4 C. Sugar
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
2 Tbsp. Shredded Coconut

Directions

~Preheat oven to 375 F
~Wash & slice orange and process in food processor until pureed 
~Add in OJ, milk, egg & butter and pulse until creamy
~In a separate bowl, combine flour, coconut, sugar, powder & soda.
~Fold in wet ingredients to dry.
~Scoop batter into greased or lined muffin tins.
~Sprinkle tops with coconut
~Bake for 20-22 minutes

Enjoy


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