Coconut Muffins

I've recently been hearing about the health benefits of coconut oil. Not only does it benefit one's health, but it is also a substantially stable oil without need of refrigeration. So I purchased a jar of it and have been on the prowl for recipes using it. I came across several recipes for coconut muffins and decided to create one of my own. The batch I made this afternoon came out quite good, though I'm still tweaking it just a bit. They are a bit denser than a traditional muffin though not quite as dense as a biscuit. They're not overly sweet, making them a great foil for fruit spreads, butter, or even cream cheese. If you like coconut, give this one a try!

Coconut Muffins

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup full-fat unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut (plus extra for sprinkling on top of muffins)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in large bowl. In separate bowl, mix coconut milk, coconut oil, egg, and almond extract until thoroughly combined. Mix wet ingredient into dry ingredients until just combined. Mix in 1 cup coconut.

Prepare muffin pan with liners. Portion out batter (which will be very thick) into liners with one ice cream scoopful per muffin cup. Sprinkle additional coconut on top of muffins. Bake 18 - 23 minutes, until test skewer comes out clean and dry. (Muffins will not brown much and stay very light, so test for doneness with clean skewer or toothpick.)

Once done, remove from oven and allow muffins to rest in pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins.