Being a grown-up is tough, isn’t it? Between spring cleaning, checkbook balancing and apartment hunting, I am oscillating between feelings of overwhelm about how much I have and do not have. I remind myself that I am a self-sufficient adult, fully capable of dealing with these sentiments and situations, but sometimes I just want to stomp my foot and shout, “I don’t wanna grow up!” Alas, outbursts don’t get me anywhere these days. Action! Action is the answer.
I hope you don’t mind if we get a little tropical around here while we wait for local fruit to arrive at the markets. Given the popularity of this banana almond smoothie, my best-ever banana bread and the recent banana oat pancakes, I don’t think you will. If you like bananas and shredded coconut, I’m confident you’ll fall in love with the sweet, bright flavor and contrasting textures in these comforting little treats.
I can’t remember where I found a link to Deb’s Double Coconut Muffins, but I was completely taken by her coconut-topped beauties. I immediately shared a link to the muffins on facebook with a status along the lines of, “I’m fighting every urge to stop doing what I’m doing and bake these.” At the urging of Kelsey, Adrienne and Erin, I finally stopped working and baked muffins at an odd hour of the night.
I’m glad those three lovely ladies motivated me to make those muffins that night, because if not, I might not have made the substitution that made me fall for these muffins. In the original recipe, Deb gives a long list of suggested substitutions, including swapping mashed banana for the yogurt (did you catch that?! You can trade fruit purée for yogurt in baking. If you have experience making this swap, let’s trade notes). I was out of my staple Greek yogurt so I reached into my freezer for the bag of ripe, frozen banana chunks to defrost.
This turned out to be a serendipitous substitution because the banana adds the sweetness that unsweetened coconut flakes lack. In my second batch, I traded 1/4 cup honey for the 1/3 cup sugar, and found that the dry coconut soaks up the extra moisture of the honey. Lemon zest brightens up the flavor. It all works marvelously. Yogurt, on the other hand, produces muffins that are not sweet enough to delight. I’m three batches deep in this recipe and I can say with certainty that these muffins are best with banana, sweetened with honey and topped with a heavy sprinkle of coconut and some glittering raw sugar.
These naturally sweetened banana coconut muffins are a real treat. I bet you can’t tell they’re made with 100% whole wheat flour! Recipe yields 1 dozen muffins.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin or line the tin with muffin liners.
Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, then sprinkle the muffin tops with the remaining ¼ cup coconut (about 1 to 2 teaspoons each). Top with a very light sprinkle of raw sugar.
Bake for about 17 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer muffins to a cooling rack and let them cool.
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Double Coconut Muffins.
*A note on the coconut oil: If your coconut oil goes back to its solid state when you’re stirring the batter, just warm the mixture for short 30 second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each, just until it is melted again.
Freeze it: The muffins freeze well!
Serving suggestions: I like these muffins served warm for breakfast with a side of Greek yogurt, or with a little dollop of tart lemon curd for a sweet afternoon snack.
Mmmmmm, bananas are just so good in baked treats. Mind you, I’m a fan of yoghurt too. it’s probably a win-win for me either way!
Cheers to being a kid at heart in the midst of adult “things”, to fruit puree acting as yogurt, and to muffins that make my mouth drool!
Those look like JUST the ticket for this rainy Thursday… I’m thinking about perhaps toasting the coconut a bit for a little extra nutty flavor. Mmmmmm.
Mmm such a yummy combination of flavours! Love it!
Those look so delicious, I might be able to get my husband to eat coconut with these guys.
I’m having an I dont want to be an adult day too! These muffins look DIVINE and after my success with your banana bread, this is next! And yay you! on the nomination!!
Thank you, Julia! If you enjoyed the banana bread, you will certainly love these muffins!
I couldn’t think of a better way to start your day, friend. So, so so excited for your nomination–it’s so well deserved. The space you’ve created here, your writing, your photography, your cooking style, and your encouragement within the community is just fantastic. Hats off to you!
I am currently obsessed with coconut, so these muffins looks perfect! :) Might make a batch this sunday and give them to my parents for an Easter treat :) Thanks for sharing!
I am crazy for coconut! Love these muffins! Congrats again on your award! So happy for you!
I have been subbing bananas and other fruit purees for yogurt and/or butter for some time.
I’ve had the best luck with Bananas, Pumpkin, and (to a lesser degree) Apple butter. Getting the right balance of oil, moisture, and dry ingredients can be, as you mentioned, tricky. You said you’d like to trade notes? I’d be delighted too.
Thanks so much for your fantastic comment, Joanne! So far I have only successfully swapped fruit purée for yogurt in this recipe. A couple of months ago I had a hunch that I could swap yogurt for the banana in my favorite banana bread recipe. I made the batter and had cooked the bread halfway when my friend called and urgently needed a ride, so I had to pull it out of the oven! I tried baking it the rest of the way later, but it was sunken in the middle. I will try again and let you know how a properly baked yogurt loaf turns out. :) I also want to experiment with strawberry purée—I am hopeful I will be able to blend fresh strawberries, drain off some of the juice and make strawberry bread.
Subbing Yogurt for Banana in banana bread? I’ve not tried that. Sounds like you may be on to a basic quick bread recipe to act as a palette for other flavors.
When working with fruits (including bananas and even pumpkin puree) especially if a recipe is moisture sensitive (for example dough for cinnamon rolls) I like to freeze my fruit. When the fruit is thawed, it releases a lot of liquid. I like to drain off the excess liquid from the fruit, save it, and add it back in place of other liquids in the recipe. For example, if a recipe calls for milk or buttermilk, I use the fruit liquid along with buttermilk or milk powder in place of using actual milk. This way, I get the benefit of using the fruit puree in place of some of the fat, while controlling the texture and amping up the flavor with the reserved juice. It still takes some experimentation when converting a recipe to get the texture right in the results. Some times I end up having the adjust the bakingpowder/soda to account for the acidity of the fruit.
I have one cinnamon roll dough recipe that I can make with pumpkin, banana or apple butter. I also have a scone recipe that I can make with yogurt or any fruit puree, and a muffin recipe that works with yogurt or any fruit puree. I’ve tried recipes that call for babyfood fruit purees. In my opinion, frozen fruit adds a lot more flavor to the end product than processed babyfood.
Joanne, I am totally intrigued by your freezing method and will definitely have to try it soon. I read about a cafe that freezes pineapple chunks for the same reason in The Flavor Bible just the other day. Thank you for elaborating on the method. I think I’ll try it with strawberries first!
I’m on a coconut kick right now and loving these muffins!
Me too! I can’t get enough coconut these days!
Oh.My.Gawd…I’m going to be dreaming about these muffins now until I make them. I’m going to see if I can sub almond flour for the whole wheat flour for a gluten-free version. Mmm…coconut+banana. And triple congrats on the Saveur nomination!!!!!!! Woot woot. You deserve it. You work so hard and your blog is beautiful.
Thanks a million, Alissa! Let me know if you try subbing almond flour, that sounds like a tasty swap.
These look incredible and I’d love to try something different with bananas (I always default to banana bread). Gorgeous photos!
Hey! first time commenter, long time lurker. I have made both the original muffins and now your adaptation… I like them both. They are quite different. And yours are a tad more complicated–but it was worth it! Yum!
Thanks for commenting, Christy! I’m glad you liked them! I just had one of Deb’s muffins for breakfast (her recipe, but with unsweetened coconut and added strawberries). Yum.
Oh yum! I just have to try this variation! And I love that you eat them with greek yogurt or lemon curd. Both sound awesome.
Made these muffins adapting few of the ingredients and was happy with the result. The addition of the lemon zest is a brilliant idea, as it works well with the flavour of the banana and the coconut.
Sea salt sounds like a great idea! Thank you for the great comment, Lianne.
These muffins are absolutely delicious! I used 3/4 cup light spelt flour, 1/2 cup whole spelt flour, extra lemon zest and a flax egg. I also drizzled honey on top in place of the sugar. I will definitely be making these again, as soon as my next batch of bananas over ripens!
Thanks, Holly! Your substitutions sound great.
Hi Kate, I am gathering ingredients to make these tonight. The rhubarb is up in our garden…any chance you have a healthy strawberry rhubarb muffin recipe? I can’t find one anywhere without butter and brown sugar! Is it just too sour to not use sugar?
Amy, I’m sorry for my delayed response. I’ve never made strawberry rhubarb muffins. I just googled honey-sweetened blueberry muffins and found this recipe (haven’t tried it) but I bet you could sub strawberry and rhubarb for the blueberries. If the muffins are tart due to the rhubarb you could always add a drizzle of honey to the finished product!
Good question, Juliana. I’m pretty sure you could skip the honey altogether. Maybe add a little more banana to make up for it? Please let me know if you try!
Holy smokes I just made these and I’m having one fresh out of the oven. DIVINE. Not too sweet, perfect texture, tasty coconut banana flavor, and the lemon (I used lime) zest makes all the difference. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Thanks for commenting, Alison! I’m so glad to hear that you love the muffins.
I just made these muffins and they are delicious!!! The flavor of the coconut and the banana pairs so well together. I made them exactly as written (using whole wheat pastry and whole wheat flour) and they turned out great. Thanks for the great recipe! I LOVE your blog!
Thank you, Sara! So glad to hear that you’re enjoying my recipes!
These muffins are amazing! My kids love them. Thank you!
Happy to hear it! Thank you for letting me know, Erica.
Hi! Just about ready to make these now that I have almost all of the ingredients except whole wheat pastry flour…could I substitute that for anything else??
Hey Lauren, just replace it with white or regular whole wheat flour. Should work great!
These muffins are my favourite! I was wondering if you would have an idea on how to make them gluten free? I need to go on an elimination diet, and would love to have some tasty treats that are gluten free. Let me know if you have any ideas! Coconut flour? How much? It absorbs liquids more than typical flour, so usually less is required. Let me know what you think! Thanks!
Hey Alisha, I bet an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend would work great. Coconut flour is really tricky and would probably require some serious adjustments, so I wouldn’t start with that one.
Wow – I make muffins every week for my husband and boys. These were a huge hit. They are definitely going into the rotation. I did not have whole wheat pastry flour so I just used a combo of whole wheat and white. They still turned out delicious.
Wow these were so good!! I put unsweetened cocoa powder in mine and they turned out really well, they makes you feel full which for me is important. A perfect breakfast!
Thanks, Klara! So glad you enjoyed the muffins.
I’m thinking of substituting gluten free flour instead of what the recipe calls for. Any thoughts?
P.S. I love your site! Have had great success with everything I’ve tried!
They are perfect! Super easy, super healthy (I love that they are without sugar.) and super tasty. I think I will make them again and again.
Thank you, Tereza! Glad you’re loving the muffins!
i just made these as i happen to have some bananas i needed to use. I used a GF flour mix in place of both of the regular flours listed in the recipe and it worked out great!!!! super yummy and would totally make these again.
Thanks, Virginia! Glad to hear it!
Thanks a lot, I just made them (with sunflower oil as coconut oil is v expensive here in Turkey, and I used grape molasses instead of honey, grape molasses being a very common daily turkish staple).
Looking forward to try out more recipes from your lovely site!
Thanks, Nina! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Wow-tasy, moist, light and prefection!! So happy to have healthy recipes like this that are also so nutritious! I substituted maple syrup for the honey. I will make a coconut oil lemon curd to go with. Thanks!
Thank you, Linda! I never thought to make coconut oil-based curd, that sounds great!
Thank you for this recipe, they are delicious!! As i didn’t have honey i substituted it with a combination of soaked chia seeds and apple puree, and it turned out well.
Thanks, Mel! Glad your muffins turned out well!
Another very good recipe! Thanks, Kate!
Oh wow yes I just made these and they are delicious! I didn’t have whole wheat flour or pastry flour so I used 3/4 of a cup of white flour and 1/2 cup of buckwheat flour with a few tablespoons of flax meal. I also added in some goji berries and yellow raisins, it smells delicious and has such a light tropical sweet taste to it I’m just in love thank you for this recipe !
No, definitely do not substitute coconut flour for other flours, ever—unless you want super dry results, as coconut flour absorbs a TON of moisture. Gluten-free all-purpose flour would be your best bet. I think coconut sugar would be fine in place of the honey.
These muffins are great! I am a novice baker and found this to be easy and quick enough to make before work. I hate to be “one of those people” and substitute but I had just bought some coconut flour and used 1/4 a cup on these bad boys! I just got really excited about the coconut flour!! Added a tiny bit of extra moisture. They turned out awesome! No tunnels, not dense, not dry…. Now if I can only keep my roomie from scarfing down the whole lot!
Hi. I couldn’t find a pastry flour, can I just use the whole wheat flour instead?
Thanks for the great recipe – love the lemon, coconut and banana combination! I reduced the honey and added 50g dark chock chunks and a choc drizzle to the top. I had quite a thick batter, having used slightly less oil and honey, but the cooked texture was great!
Thanks again for your recipes, I am a big fan of your banana bread too!
Oh and I used 11/4cup normal whole wheat flour and it worked out well.
Hi Tolu, if you’re just selling them to your local community, that’s fine! They sound great!
Everything Ive made of yours has turned out super yummy! But for some reason, these turned out hard and dry. I bake all the time, and followed the recipe, so not sure where I went wrong…?
This is my go to recipe when I have aging bananas lying around. I sometimes add in other things on a whim. In my last batch, I omitted the honey and added in a 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips. That’s what I love about muffing recipes, they’re so easily customizable!
Me, too! Your variation sounds delicious, Sarah.
Just made these with my roommate, and we love them! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
You can’t go wrong with chocolate. Thank you, for the star review!
Hmm… that shouldn’t be the case. Ovens can vary. Did you use metal muffin tin?
Wow these muffins are incredible! I made them yesterday with a bit more coconut because I love the coconut flavor and turned out amazing. I added some poppy seeds and chia seeds, perfect! Thanks for your recipes!
I love how you chose some additional add-ins and glad it turned out! Thank you, Magali.
That’s great these are a favorite for your family, Dana! I appreciate you sharing. Have a great day!
Loved these! Perfect level of sweetness and the coconut on top is delicious. Swapped coconut oil with butter and worked fine.
Great to hear! Thanks, Katie!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I didn’t have any lemon so I added lime zest instead, and then decided to add a bit of lime extract (because I was also out of vanilla!), and once I was fully committed to the lime approach, I decided to add a handful of (pureed in the blender) kale which gave the muffins a gorgeous “lime green” color. (It also meant sneaking some kale into my kids’ diets!) I did reduce slightly the amount of banana so that the banana and kale combined measured one cup. They turned out super yum. My kids will be lucky if I save them any!! Thank you again!
Hello! I was curious if I could sub a different sugar for the turbinado? Would coconut sugar work?
When I took the first bite, I thought I didn’t like it and that it wasn’t sweet enough. By the third bite, I loved them. I didn’t sprinkle sugar on before baking, because I’m making them for work and some people are sugar free. The lemon is the ticket! If I made them again I would sprinkle on the sugar and maybe try maple syrup instead of honey. I used all whole wheat flour and the texture came out really well.
I’m glad you ended up loving them, Steph! Thank you for your review.
Just made these as stated (used regular ww flour) except I didn’t add sugar on top. These are absolutely PHENOMENAL! I used ultra ripe bananas which I think makes all the difference in the sweetness. My kids and husband all devoured them. Definite keeper. This may be my new favorite muffin recipe. Thank you! Outstanding!
I’m glad you loved them! Thanks, Rachel for sharing.