Almond Joy Muffins

Coconut, almonds, and chocolate? Count me in!

I had some coconut puree leftover from making fresh coconut milk, and I really didn’t want it to go to waste. So of course I used it as an excuse to make muffins with chocolate.

I love adding any type of hearty moisture to muffins like sour cream, yogurt, or ricotta. So I figured why not use the moist coconut puree? I added a bit of water to it to make it a little more moist, and subbed it for when I would normally use sour cream or yogurt. It not only made the muffins moist, but added the yummy sweet flavor of coconut.

I really liked the crunch of the toasted coconut almond topping, and the hint of almond extract. And who wouldn’t like hidden jewels of chocolate inside a muffin? These are a definite repeat in my book.

If you don’t have any coconut puree on hand, you can either quickly puree some in the blender or food processor using shredded coconut (1/2 cup) and water (1/4 cup, adding more if needed) or sub with sour cream or yogurt (plain, vanilla or coconut if you can find it) and add in more shredded coconut into the batter for more flavor.

  

*Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup coconut puree
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 egg
1 teaspoons almond extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used mini)
1/2 cup shredded coconut, optional

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Topping:
1/4 cup sliced or chopped almonds
1/4 cup chocolate chips (or more)
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Directions
Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with non-stick baking spray. Preheat oven to 350 Farenheit.

In a large bowl, mix sugar and butter together with a wooden spoon. Next, mix in the coconut puree, sour cream or yogurt, egg, and almond extract. Add the dry ingredients, and mix just until combined, batter will be thick. Stir in chocolate chips and shredded coconut. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, gently combine the topping ingredients. Divide the topping between the muffins by sprinkling about a tablespoon onto each muffin top.

Bake 18-20 minutes, or until slightly golden and coconut had been toasted to a light brown. Let cool 5-10 minutes before removing from muffin tin. Enjoy warm or cold.

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