FAMILY RECIPE: COCONUT OAT MUFFINS

Coconut Oat Muffins make the best and the tastiest breakfast muffin. These muffins are so soft and full of flavor, made with old fashion oats, lots of coconut, and agave nectar. It’s great to have one of these muffins for breakfast because they are filling and nutritious.

I was cleaning and sorting my baking goodies cabinet the other day and realized that I had four bags of coconut. I knew I was a bit of a coconut addict but I didn’t realize that it was that bad! I had a full bag and three open bags. Immediately, I knew that I had to bake something as soon as possible and add lots of coconut.

A bowl of oatmeal is a good way to start the day. A muffin is a convenient way to start the day. Putting oatmeal into a muffin is bringing together the best of both worlds – or, at least, that is a very convenient way to justify having two of these tasty Coconut Oatmeal Muffins for breakfast before finishing that first cup of coffee. They’re inspired by oatmeal cookies, and you’ll find toasty oats, sweet coconut, butter, vanilla and cinnamon in every bite.

The muffins are slightly dense, since they are packed with so much good stuff, but they’re still fluffy and very tender, not heavy. They have a lot of shredded coconut in them. Fortunately, coconut is not an aggressive flavor, so it blends easily with the cinnamon, vanilla and other ingredients without overpowering them. You can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut in these muffins, depending on your personal preference (I prefer sweetened) and what you have on hand. Toasted coconut will work, but I actually prefer untoasted coconut because it brings a little bit of additional moisture to the muffins and helps keep them soft and fresh, even a day or so after baking.
INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup gluten free oat flour (or other flour of choice) See notes for homemade oat flour.
• 1/2 cup coconut flour (sifted)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 tbsp vanilla plant protein of choice (a pea protein based protein works best)
• 1/4 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 tbsp tapioca starch or arrowroot starch
• 1 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp melted coconut oil or butter
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup non dairy milk (almond or coconut)
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup shredded coconut
• Orange Slices to garnish
• optional – sugar free or regular sweetener if you prefer sweeter (ex. 1/2 c xylitol sugar)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line or grease a muffins pan. Set aside.
2. Combine your dry ingredients; flours, protein, starch,  and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. In another bowl, whisk together your juice, egg, extracts, oil, and milk.
4. Slowly combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Mixing at you pour. Then use a hand mixer to mix the battle together until smooth. If the batter is too dry (thick) add more milk.  Fold in your shredded coconut. Save a few tbsp for topping.
5. If you are wanting the muffins to be more sweet without adding sugar, fold in an extra 1/2 c xylitol sugar.
6. Scoop the mix muffins cups. place a thinly sliced orange on top of each muffin and a sprinkle of shredded coconut.
7. Bake at 375 F for 18-25 minutes, depending on your oven. Check at 15 to make sure they don’t burn. It depends on the flours you use and type of oven..
8. Remove and let cool for 15 minutes until removing from pan.
9. Serve or store in sealed container in fridge for later. These also freeze well for up to 4 months.