Coconut banana muffins are the perfect cofffee break snack

I usually whip up these babies on a weekend to have when I feel like nibbling something sweet with a coffee during the week

Nathaniel Smith baking banana coconut muffins. Photography by Steven Joyce

Nathaniel Smith

less than 2 min read

11:46AMMay 14, 2024

The Weekend Australian Magazine

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Look, banana bread is nice and all, but sometimes I crave something a little smaller and quicker, so I usually whip up these babies on a weekend to have when I feel like nibbling something sweet with a coffee during the week. They’re also a great treat to make with little ones.

If you like this try my other recipes: chilli baked salmon & coconut dahl.

Nathaniel Smith baking his banana coconut muffins. Photography by Steven Joyce

Flayvaful by Nathaniel Smith (Murdoch Books, $49.99). Photography by Steven Joyce

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Banana coconut muffins

Ingredients

• 200g plain flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 3 ripe bananas
• 90g butter or coconut oil, melted, plus extra (optional) for greasing
• 140g light soft brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 5 tablespoons coconut milk
• 50g desiccated coconut
• 100g icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C fan-foced and spray or grease a 10-hole muffin tray with oil or fill with muffin liners.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix and pop to the side. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas – you could use a stand mixer or hand mixer for this part. Once mushy, beat in the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of the coconut milk. You want to mix this until the ingredients are just combined.
3. Once combined, gradually fold in the flour mixture using a spatula. Then add the desiccated coconut and mix until just incorporated; don’t overmix – a few lumps is normal.
4. Evenly divide your batter between the holes in the tray or liners and bake in the centre of your oven for 5 minutes. Drop the temperature to 170C fan-foced and bake for another 18–20 minutes. Test with a toothpick at the 22-minute mark – if there’s wet batter, continue to bake for another 5 minutes; your toothpick should never be dry – a few crumbs is the sign of a perfectly cooked muffin, as it continues to cook once it leaves the oven. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from the tray.
5. While the muffins cool, sift the icing sugar and combine it with the remaining 2 tablespoons of coconut milk. Drizzle over the muffins and serve.
6. Makes 10

This is an edited extract from Flayvaful by Nathaniel Smith.