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Banana Coconut Muffins

03.02.2013 by J. Doe // 8 Comments

Yes, I know. This is my third banana muffin/banana bread recipe.

Indulge me.

The Child, it turns out, bought me a really nice muffin pan for Christmas, along with some cookie sheets. I already had some nice cookie sheets but I’m not complaining – having a lot can be handy. But my muffin pans were not good, and the pan selected by The Child – well, it is a very good pan, thick aluminum with big cups for big muffins. The only thing to do, then, was to make muffins.

I had some overripe bananas – I usually do, which is why I so often make banana bread. But not long after Christmas, I ran across a copy of The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion in a used bookstore. I’ve heard wonderful things about King Arthur recipes from numerous people recently, so I bought the book.  It contained yet another recipe for banana muffins – completely different from both Fannie Farmer’s Banana Bread and Biloxi Banana Bread.

The King Arthur book contains a base muffin recipe, and then a list of ingredient combinations that can be added in to make whatever muffins you like. It is a spectacular recipe – yes, spectacular – because the muffins rise beautifully, yet have a fine, moist crumb.

The bananas are not mashed and blended into the batter the way they usually are, but rather diced finely and mixed in with the coconut at the end. I wondered if this might result in less of a banana taste in the muffins, but it really didn’t. I loved the added flavor and texture of the coconut, but it could easily be omitted if one didn’t care for coconut.

Banana Coconut Muffins

Banana Coconut Muffins
 
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Total time
35 mins
 
Author: King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion
Serves: 16
Ingredients
  • 3½ cups unbleached all-purpose or cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 bananas, diced finely
  • 1½ cups shredded unsweetened coconut
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and lightly grease 16 muffin cups or use paper liners.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with a handheld or stand mixer until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl to make sure all the butter is incorporated, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  4. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix until incorporated.
  5. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low-speed just until the batter is smooth. Add diced bananas and coconut and stir just to incorporate.
  6. Fill the muffin tins and bake for 18 to 24 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  7. Remove the muffins from the oven, cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove the muffins from the pan to finish cooling on a rack. Muffins left in the pan to cool the entire time will become tough from steaming.
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This is my contribution to Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Why not swing by and see what other simple pleasures await?

Categories // All By Myself, The Joy of Cooking Tags // baking, bananas, coconut, recipes, single parenting

Kate Smith’s Coconut Squares

12.04.2012 by J. Doe // Leave a Comment

A while back, I went on a hunt for the original cookbook that the Busy Day Cake appeared in, and when I found it, I purchased several vintage recipe booklets on ebay. I was astonished to discover one called Kate Smith’s Favorite Recipes, which I assume was also produced by the Swansdown Flour Company, as Ms. Smith is pictured gleefully holding up a box of said flour.

A little more poking around, and I learned that Kate Smith lent her name not only to this booklet, but also to several cookbooks, one of which, The Kate Smith Company’s Coming Cookbook, even has the following review on Amazon:

WARNING: THEY ARE NOT DIETETIC; so have NO expectations of figure friendly recipes.

If you are looking for a Kate Smith cookbook on Amazon, chances are good that you already know who she is. If you don’t know,  check out this video of her singing God Bless America.

Great voice, right? But not a figure that suggests you might want her salad recipes.

Anyway, I bought myself a copy of the Favorite Recipes booklet, because I was curious what sort of treats I might find inside. One day, when I wanted a treat but not a trip to the store, I dove into her book and found a recipe for coconut squares, which I made because I happened to have all the needed ingredients on hand.

After mixing it all up, the batter seemed like it needed something, so I chopped up and tossed in two squares of a Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate bar I had. The squares are moist and soft, with lots of coconut flavor and texture contrasting with smooth bits of chocolate. I think the contrasting crunch of macadamia nuts would also be a nice addition; or if you added chocolate and almonds, you’d have an almond joy square.

I had to make two batches, in the end – the first batch mysteriously disappeared and I later learned were consumed quickly by the neighbor children. The Child then requested I make more, because she was going to her friend’s house and wanted to bring some there, too. They whip up in quickly – in about ten minutes, and disappear quickly as well. The speed, as well as all the possibilities for variations on the theme, mean I’m happy to add this recipe to my permanent collection.

Kate Smith's Coconut Squares
 
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Total time
35 mins
 
Author: Sprung At Last, adapted from Kate Smith's Favorite Recipes
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 cup sifted cake flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 6 tbsp butter
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 2 squares chopped semisweet chocolate
Instructions
  1. Sift flour and baking powder together; set aside. Cream butter thoroughly; add sugar gradually, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add vanilla and coconut. Add flour gradually, beating well after each addition. Mix in chocolate chunks (or whatever you decide to add, if anything).
  2. Spread into a buttered 13x9 baking dish, and bake 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cool and cut into squares in pan.
Notes
The original recipe says it makes 2 dozen, presumably itty-bitty, squares. I cut a dozen squares, in a size that struck me as reasonable. My point? Your mileage may vary considerably.
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Categories // The Joy of Cooking Tags // coconut, cookies, vintage recipes

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