Superfood Muffins

I picked up a young coconut at Windmill Farms Produce, our local farmer's market, today. It was completely on a whim and I had no idea what to do with it, but I had been planning to make some sort of oatmeal and cranberry baked good today, and it came to me that fresh coconut might make an interesting addition.

 Cranberries and coconuts are both considered superfoods, though "superfood" is not a term used by dietitians. Still, they're both tasty and have good-for-you properties, and I'd like to image that little muffin up there wearing a tiny cape. Cranberries are a potent antioxidant, with the highest concentration of phenols which are thought to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, stroke, and heart disease. And coconut contains a healthy form of fat, while the water is high in electrolytes (natural Gatorade!). I even read somewhere that the water was used in place of blood plasma during WWII.

Breaking in to the coconut was interesting though. I did a little research online and after five minutes or so of various pounding and thwacking, I finally succeeded. I ended up with about 3/4 cup of coconut meat and 1 cup of coconut water.

Then I pureed the coconut meat with about 2 tablespoons of the water until smooth. I used this coconut puree in place of the butter in my muffins.

Before I had begun trying to figure out how to break into the coconut, I combined the oats and milk in a bowl, so the oats would soften.

 
I combined the coconut puree with sugar, two egg yolks, and the oats and milk. Then I added a mixture of  flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir gently, just until everything is combined. Next add dried cranberries that have been soaked in hot water, then drained and tossed with about a teaspoon of flour, so they don't sink in the batter.

In a very clean bowl I whipped up two egg whites. I wanted to give these muffins some loft since the oats would make them denser. My egg whites appear to be smiling at me, so they must have agreed.

The egg whites are ever-so-gently folded into the rest of the batter.

Then I used an ice cream scoop to transfer the batter to a muffin-cup-lined and greased muffin pan, and I sprinkled the tops with demerera sugar for a little crunch. I baked them for 30 minutes, let them rest for 10, and my superfood muffins were done!

The result is a slightly chewy muffin, courtesy of the oats, with zings of cranberry and a light coconut flavor. These will make an excellent breakfast for the week, perhaps slathered with honey butter or alongside my new favorite thing, Greek yogurt.

Here's my recipe...

Oat, Cranberry, Coconut Muffins

makes 12

1 cup oats

1 cup milk (I used half and half)

1 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup coconut puree (use softened butter if you're omitting the coconut)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup flour

2 eggs, separated

Demerera sugar

Preheat your oven to 400F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners, and grease with cooking spray oil.

Combine the oats and the milk in a bowl and let sit for 20 minutes. In a separate bowl combine the dried cranberries with hot water for about ten minutes, then drain well and toss with a teaspoon of flour.

To make the coconut puree, blend the meat from one coconut with two tablespoons of the coconut water in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, add the sugar and the two egg yolks, and mix well. Add the oats and milk and mix again.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add this to the wet mixture and gently stir, until just combined. Add the rehydrated cranberries and stir again.

In a very clean, large bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Very gently fold the egg whites into the rest of the muffin batter. Transfer the batter to the muffin pan, filling the cups nearly to the top if you want nice, large muffins. Sprinkle the tops with demerera sugar. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick or tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle of a muffin. Let rest 10 minutes in the pan, and then enjoy!

Related Recipes:

Pumpkin Blueberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Hearty Cherry Muffins

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Apple Pumpkin Muffins

Jello Wrestling

Well, maybe not jello wrestling. But there is wrestling involved. And there is food too.

First up, a few pictures from our trip to Shadow Cliffs last Friday:

Mac hamming it up for the camera

"... Let me tell you 'bout my best friend..."

Mac really swam this time. I tossed a stick out a little, then a little farther, and a little more. All of a sudden he was diving under the water since the stick sank a little, did a turn, and paddled back to shore. I think he surprised even himself, and he wasn't much interested in actual swimming after that. He was very happy to wade though.

Now for the food: We had a going-away party at work today for a coworker so I made a cake. I used Orangette's Banana Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting, but doubled it to make a two-layer cake and added a chocolate ganache filling.

Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Orangette

For the cake:
2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1.5 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large egg
1.5 cup puréed very ripe bananas (I used 4 bananas)
0.5 cup sour cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Chocolate ganache:
9 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiradelli chips)
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs dark rum

For the frosting:
6 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
6 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners sugar
6 Tbs well-stirred canned cream of coconut; not coconut milk
2 tsp dark rum
2/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut (optional, I put it on the side to add as desired)

Place a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly butter or spray a 9-inch round cake pan (I added parchment rounds, then sprayed again), and dust it with flour, shaking out any excess.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Add the egg, and beat until well combined. Add the banana purée, sour cream, and vanilla, and beat to combine well. Reduce the speed to low, and add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix. (Its best to add the flour in thirds or quarters. The batter will be very thick so you'll probably have to mix by hand toward the end.)

Divide the batter equally between the two prepared cake pans, and bake until the top is pale golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-27 minutes.

Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan; then invert the rack over the cake and invert the cake onto the rack to cool completely.

While the cake is cooking or while it cools, make the ganache. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until nearly boiling (but do not allow to boil). Pour over the chocolate in a bowl and stir to melt the chocolate and combine. Allow to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Once cool you can whip the ganache if desired to make it fluffier.

While the cake cools, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and the butter on medium speed until smooth. Reduce the speed to low; then add the confectioners sugar, cream of coconut, and rum. Mix until combined; then increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, about two minutes.

Even the cake layers by slicing off the domed tops with a large serrated knife in a gentle sawing motion (and save the scraps to snack on!). Place the bottom layer on your plate, pour some ganache in the center and spread outward, stopping about half an inch from the edge of the cake to avoid overspill. I used about half of the ganache to fill the cake (put the rest in the fridge, then use a melon baller to scoop out truffles!). Top with the second layer. Spread frosting around the sides and over the top of the thoroughly cooled cake, and sprinkle evenly with coconut if desired.

One of these days I need to get a proper cake stand or plate, instead of using a dinner plate. I also need an offset spatula to make frosting easier and prettier. My dreams are rather humble. This cake is really tasty and moist, like banana bread. The only leftovers from today was one little piece I brought home for Chris, and he's going to have to share it with me!

Finally, the wrestling portion for today. Here's a video I shot of Ayla and Mac playing bitey-face. You can hear Mac grunting and breathing, but Ayla decided to stay quiet tonight. She'll growl and even bark sometimes when they wrestle, but I guess she was camera shy.



I love having two dogs to wear each other out!