Piña Colada Muffins

Winter has finally arrived here in Jerusalem as it has been raining on and off for the past few days. I have been waiting to make these muffins until it was really wintery out here because I think these are perfect rainy day muffins. Besides the fact that there is literally a chorus to a song about piña coladas and rain. These are great for a rainy winter day because while you watch the rain, you can take a bite of these muffins and get little bits of pineapple and coconut and you can imagine you are lying on a tropical beach somewhere sipping a piña colada. 

Piña colada literally means strained pineapple in Spanish and that is the main flavor of the famous drink and of these muffins. The other ingredients of the drink are rum and coconut cream. There isn't any rum in these muffins, but you can substitute the vanilla extract with rum extract if you've got it. I also wanted to amp up the coconut flavor so there are three types of coconut in these muffins. I use coconut milk, coconut oil, and coconut flakes so the batter itself has a mild coconut flavor and then there are chunks of coconut that give great texture to these muffins. 

If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain then you're going to like these muffins. 

Piña Colada Muffins

2 1/2 cups flour 

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt 

1 cup coconut milk*

1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice

1/4 cup coconut oil*

2 large eggs 

2 tsp vanilla extract or rum extract

1/2 cup sugar + 2 Tbsp for sprinkling on top 

1 cup finely diced pineapple**

1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 

*You can use any type of milk in place of the coconut milk and canola oil can be used in place of the coconut oil. 

**You can use fresh, frozen that has been defrosted or canned. If using canned or frozen pineapple, make sure it is well-drained. 

Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C 

Coat a standard-size muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or line with paper liners. When I make a muffin without a crumb topping I just spray the pans to pop the muffins right out because there's no issue of losing some crumb topping. 

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

In a liquid measuring cup mix together the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients along with the sugar. Mix until just combined. Make sure not to overmix your batter or else your muffins will be dense and chewy. Fold in the pineapple pieces and coconut flakes. 

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin and sprinkle the tops with the reserved sugar and a few more coconut flakes. 

Bake for 15-18 minutes 

Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tin before popping out and cooling on a rack. 

Yield: 12 standard-size muffins