Milk Chocolate, Coconut, and Banana Chip Mini Muffins
I whipped these miniature muffins up the night before I took off to Florida so that I would have some goodies to bring my family. I was in the mood for something tropical and saw a can of coconut milk in the pantry, perfect! I didn’t have a particular recipe in mind, so I just stuck to the Ratio of 2 parts flour: 2 parts fat: 2 parts liquid: 1 part sugar and came up with these exotic treats. In keeping with the tropical theme, I replaced regular sugar with palm sugar. It’s flavor complements coconut in a wonderful way. As for the mix-ins, I knew shredded coconut would obviously be a component, and then I saw banana chips and thought they would add a nice crunch while still sticking to the theme. I’m usually not much of a milk chocolate person, personally preferring super dark chocolate above all else, but I thought that a mellow milk chocolate would fit in nicely with the other ingredients. I topped them with a simple coconut glaze and garnishes of coconut and banana chips.
I think they turned out really delicious and were exactly what I was going for- not super sweet with a tropical flare. Plus, I was pretty proud of myself for just pulling this recipe out of thin air! They ended up being a great way to kick off Spring Break, and received a whole lot of “Mmm’s” from family and friends!
By the way, this recipe really doesn’t make a lot so you may want to double the recipe (especially if you are making regular-sized muffins).
Milk Chocolate, Coconut, and Banana Chip Mini Muffins
*These can easily be made vegan by simply replacing the butter with coconut oil.
- 4 ounces whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 4 ounces (4 tbsp or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 ounces palm sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 tsp coconut extract
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) lite coconut milk
- 1/4 cup broken banana chips
- 1 1/2 ounces (1/2 a regular bar) milk chocolate, chopped
- 1/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a mini muffin tin, set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the palm sugar and butter for about 3 minutes. Add in the egg and extract and beat until combined (remember to scrape down the sides!).
- Alternately add the flour mixture and coconut milk to the butter/sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined.
- Stir in the banana chips, coconut, and chocolate.
- Scoop into prepared muffin tins and bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean!
- Cool in the tray for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool further.
- *The glaze is optional. I just mixed up a tablespoon or two of the coconut milk with some confectioners’ sugar until I got the consistency that I wanted. Then I just topped half of the muffins with a banana chip, and the other half with some unsweetened flaked coconut.
these are super darling! i love the little banana chip and coconut topping!