I hope you love coconut as I will be adding it to a lot of my upcoming recipes. I have started using it every which way. I like my coconut flaked, I like the milk, the extract, and the oil. It’s all good. Last year I had a caramel obsession. That was quite a bit more caloric and limiting. I can add coconut to both sweet and savory dishes.
Coconut curry, yum. Coconut muffins and cakes, sinful! Caramelizing, great cooking technique. Caramel sauce in my savories, uh no. Wearing caramel on my hips…….BIG NO!! Good thing coconut has taken over my caramel addiction.
I promised the kids this past weekend that we would do some baking. While they were busy running around the house being playful and territorial, I invented this recipe for Coconut Cornbread Muffins with Candied Ginger. I keep a few cans of light coconut milk on hand these days, I am grabbing about one can per week for my recipes.
The nice thing about coconut, a little goes a long way as far as flavor and texture go. When I use flaked coconut, I choose the unsweetened variety. For coconut milk, I opt for the reduced fat. I try to keep things as clean, light and healthy as I can. Coconut adds such a great dimension to a huge gamut of recipes. The small amount of fat found in the low-fat coconut milk makes things creamy and satisfying.
How did baking with a 2 and 6-year-old go? Not bad. I did the mise en place (all the measurements.) I had the 6-year-old on wet ingredients and the 2-year-old on dry. I combined the wet and the dry together, the kids each took turns stirring and then they each put some batter in the muffin tins.
The best part by far….eating the muffins!
Coconut and your Health
In the past coconut oil was not so well received. The bad stuff (not what we are using here) was the overly processed hydrogenated coconut oils that were used in cheap foods like movie theater popcorn. As we know, we need to steer clear of any oil that has been hydrogenated because they are artery cloggers. Our bodies just can’t properly process that junk.
Non-hydrogenated Coconut Oil, on the other hand, has been getting loads of interesting, provocative press. Sources say that the oil might have some really good health benefits.
Some benefits include: It might help the body absorb essential minerals and it might play a role in obstructing cell growth in certain cancers. No, I am not telling you to go downloads of Coconut Cake! Eating non-hydrogenated coconut in moderation, without added sugars can be a nice addition to a well rounded, balanced, foodie diet.
A few more neat benefits: Coconut oil has lauric acid, which is known for being antiviral, anti-fungal and antibacterial.
Click the following links to learn more about coconut.
Click HERE for Recipe Details.
Fresh Variations
- Add a handful of chopped dried fruit: Cranberries, Apricots, Cherries, Blueberries
- Add a handful of chopped roasted nuts: Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds
More Cornbread Recipe Links
- Blueberry Cornbread A Cozy Kitchen
- Cranberry Cornbread Recipe Girl
- Green Chili Cilantro CornbreadModern Comfort Food
- Spicy Cornbread Muffins Fake Food Free
- Yogurt Cornbread with Chipotle & Niblets Veggie Belly
Nice! These look like they would be great fresh out of the oven with — you guessed it — a smear of coconut oil (I love the stuff)! beautiful pictures too. I like your craftiness. 🙂
Wow. These are amazing. I ran out of regular cornmeal at about 3/4 of a cup so used coarse ground cornmeal for the rest. It added a nice texture to the muffins. These are definitely being added to my muffin rotation! I might try adding some flaked coconut next time.
Marie Callender’s organic cornbread is to die for…. I’ve used this mix for several years and everyone in my family loves it!! Now, it’s sort of a tradition for me and the little ones to have weekly baking sessions with MC’s cornbreads and muffins. You should visit their website today http://www.mccornbread.com to purchase your mixes. I’m sure you will enjoy the great taste!