Pineapple Muffins with Coconut Crumble

In honor of LiveSTRONG Day I wanted make something to participate in the Taste of Yellow event hosted by Winosandfoodies.com. The rules are to make some kind of yellow food and include a heart in the picture of the item. While I was thinking over what I could make, I found a heart shaped muffin tin that I had bought years ago, unused and in its original packaging. So I decided to make some type of yellow cupcakes or muffins. I'm not a big cupcake fan so I went with muffins. I turned to my trusty Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor cookbook and narrowed it down to either lemon or pineapple... pineapple won.

I have loved every recipe that I have ever made from Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor so I had high expectations. This recipe didn't let me down. It's really easy to whip up a batch of these and the coconut crumble which you top the muffins with really makes these special. And the smell of toasting coconut while the muffins bake makes the whole house smell great too.

Pineapple Muffins with Coconut Crumble Makes 12 muffins Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan Coconut Crumble ½ cup packed light brown sugar 2 tablespoons self-rising flour 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature ½ sweetened flaked coconut Muffins 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature ½ cup granulated sugar 1 large egg 1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained ½ cup milk ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 cups self-rising flour

Place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Mist the bottom of 12 muffin cups with the vegetable oil spray. Set the pan aside.

Prepare the crumble: Place the sugar, flour, and butter in a small bowl. Work the butter into the mixture using a fork. Stir in the coconut and set the crumble aside.

Prepare the muffin batter: Place the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture is creamy, 30 seconds. Add the egg, pineapple and juice, milk, and vanilla and blend on low speed until just combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Fold in the flour with a wooden spoon or the rubber spatula, 25 strokes. The batter will still be a little lumpy. Spoon or scoop 1/4 cup batter into each prepared muffin cup, filling it two thirds of the way full. Sprinkle a heaping teaspoon of crumble topping on each muffin and gently press the topping into the batter. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the muffins until they are lightly golden and just spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the muffins, lift them up from the bottoms of the cuts using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. The muffins are ready to serve.

Blueberry-Coconut Pound Cake Muffins

Lately I've been making cupcakes for my co-workers. We are all working a lot of hours in preparation for our project launch on September 17th. One of the guys I work closely with prefers muffins over cupcakes. He also really loves coconut. I discovered this recipe for Individual Blueberry-Coconut Pound Cake Muffins from Sara's Secrets while looking for something he may like. The only problem is that this recipe only makes seven muffins so I have to multiply it by 6 to make enough muffins for my entire team.

These went over very well. In fact a few people told me they are the best muffins they have ever had. And I have to agree. Some team members don't like muffins (I can't imagine) but they tried them anyways and gave me a big thumbs up. Even my family liked them and they told me not to lose the recipe because they are so amazing.

I really like that they are kind of like a pound cake because they are heavier. There is alot of cocount so if you don't like coconut you might not like these muffins. But if you do like it, you'll fall in love.

Individual Blueberry-Coconut Pound Cake Muffins
Serves 7

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest
2 large eggs
5 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter and flour 7 (1/2-cup) muffin cups (just butter if nonstick).

Beat together butter, sugar, and zest until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in cream, then flour and salt, on low speed until just combined. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut and gently stir in blueberries.

Spoon batter into cups, filling the cups, and smooth tops. Sprinkle tops with remaining 3 tablespoons of coconut.

Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean and edges are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Invert onto a rack and cool.

Pineapple Muffins with Coconut Crumble

I originally bought the fixing for these muffins to participate in the Muffin Monday blogging event. The problem was that I didn't get to make them in time. So i decided to make them Sunday morning for breakfast.

The smell of the coconut baking is amazing. But the best part is getting at the crumble while it is still hot. These muffins didn't last too long as leftovers. They become to moist, maybe due to the pineapples. By the second day of leftover I had to throw them out.

Pineapple Muffins with Coconut Crumble Crumble: 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 2 tablespoons self-rising flour 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut Muffins: 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 large egg 1 can (8oz.) crushed pineapple, undrained 1/2 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 cups self-rising flour

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Spray the bottom of 12 muffin cups with vegetable spray.

Prepare the crumble: Combine sugar, flour and butter in a bowl. Work the butter into the mixture using a fork. Stir in the coconut and set aside.

Prepare the muffin batter: Place butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric miser on medium-high speed until the mixture is creamy, 30 seconds. Add the egg, pineapple and juice, milk and vanilla and blend on low speed until just combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Fold in the flour with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, 25 strokes. The batter will still be a little lumpy. Spoon or scoop 1/4 cup batter into each prepare muffin cup, filling it two thirds of the way full. Sprinkle a heaping teaspoon of crumble topping on each muffin and gently press the topping into the batter.

Bake the muffins until they are lightly golden and just spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 180 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cook for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the muffins, left them up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. The muffins are ready to serve.