Toasted Coconut Muffins

I used to think ill of dried coconut. The only use I could see for it was on one of those grinning Easter bunny cakes with jellybean accents and licorice whiskers. But I have had a bag of unsweetened coconut flakes in the cupboard for a while now, and much to my surprise, this has been an ingredient I use a lot.

While working on a recipe for a decked-out Thai coconut milk rice pudding, I circled back to an old standby, banana-coconut muffins. The good thing is they are so much better than regular old banana bread! They are the muffins you can pretend to be eating for breakfast on your imaginary island vacation instead of facing the abstemious reality that follows New Year's Eve.

Toasted Coconut Muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup AP flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/4 cup cane sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar

2/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted

1/3 cup brown rice syrup

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 egg

1/3 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup sour cream

5 tbsp. soy margarine, melted or 2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted

2 tbsp. dark rum

2 tsp. vanilla

For the topping:

3 tbsp. light brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, chopped (not toasted -- this will happen in the oven)

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the dry ingredients -- don't forget to toast the coconut at 350 for about 10 minutes! -- and set aside. Now stir the wet ingredients together. Combine wet and dry ingredients, but don't overmix. Brush your muffin pan with canola oil and fill the cups almost to the top. Mix the 4 ingredients for the topping and sprinkle this over the muffins before you put them in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes.