Healthy, moist muffins filled with pineapple chunks and topped with toasted coconut flakes. Made with whole wheat flour and no oil or refined sugars! Perfect for an on-the-go breakfast or afternoon snack!
After what seemed to be a very cold winter, we are finally warming up. This warm weather has me dreaming of fresh fruit. Just a couple of months until we can have ripe and juicy fruit at a reasonable price. I can’t wait! These muffins will keep me satisfied until then.
These tropical muffins are a healthier take on hummingbird cake. There are two key fruits in this muffin- banana and pineapple. Think banana bread with a tropical twist! Each bite is filled with sweet pineapple chunks. Using canned crushed pineapples lets us enjoy these muffins all year round! But if you can get your hands on fresh ripe pineapples, go for it! All you need is 1 cup with some of the juices.
Muffins make the perfect after school snack. My kiddos jump for joy when they come home from school to muffins on the counter. If we have leftover muffins, I toss them into a resealable freezer bag and keep them in the freezer. When I’m in need of a quick breakfast or snack, I take one out of the freezer and warm it up quickly in the microwave. You can also take them out the night before to defrost in the refrigerator.
Tidbits
- Bananas– Use very ripe bananas. The darker and uglier, the better! Just like the ones you would use for banana bread. The darker the banana the sweeter it will be!
- Instead of butter or oil, I use unsweetened applesauce. It helps keep the muffins moist.
- Milk– Any variety of milk will work! I’ve used both full fat coconut milk (canned) and low-fat cow’s milk. Both worked great!
- If you don’t have honey on hand, use pure maple syrup in its place (1 for 1 ratio).
- Toppings– I use unsweetened coconut flakes to top these muffins. The Hubs doesn’t care for coconut, so I leave some without it. I think chopped pecans would be delicious too!
- I use the same baking method as my Chocolate Banana Muffins. Using a high temp for the first 5 minutes helps give these muffins a good rise!
Tropical Whole Wheat Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ripe medium bananas
- 8 oz canned crushed pineapple with 100% pineapple juice undrained
- 1 egg large
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup milk any kind
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut flakes optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. Line 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners or spray with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Make sure there are no large chunks left. Whisk in the crushed pineapple, egg, applesauce, honey, coconut sugar, vanilla, and milk. Mix until it is completely combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix until fully combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients in the dry ingredients. Gently mix until combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
- Spoon batter into liner. Filling each all the way to the top. Top each with coconut flakes.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425F. Then reduce oven temperature to 350F and continue to bake for an additional 14-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. *Do not open the oven while the oven is reducing in temperature.
- Allow muffins to cool in the muffin pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.