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Blood Orange Coconut Muffins are made with fresh blood orange juice, orange zest, mashed banana and sweetened coconut. Seasonal blood oranges give flavors of raspberry and grapefruit that compliment the banana and coconut for a delightful breakfast treat. Make this recipe as 6 large or 12 small muffins, topped with shredded coconut and a vanilla blood orange glaze.
Ingredients You Will Need
- Blood Oranges provide a lovely citrus flavor and a gorgeous pink hue to the muffin glaze. If you can’t find any, swap then our for naval oranges or grapefruit.
- Sweetened Shredded Coconut can be used either in shredded pieces or place them in a food processor for a couple spins to make a rough powder. The more granulated coconut folds nicely into the batter and is easier to chew.
- Full Fat Coconut Milk gives a little extra coconut taste to the muffins.
- Over Ripened Banana for added moisture and more tropical notes.
How to Make Blood Orange Coconut Muffins
I love the simplicity of this recipe, all you need to do is mix the wet and dry ingredients separately then mix them together for a thick muffin batter. Fold in the shredded coconut as the last step before transferring the batter to the muffin tin. I’m partial to larger muffins, but this recipe will work for either 6 large or 12 small muffins. If you decide to go with the larger ones, make sure to fill the muffin wells just a bit more than 3/4 of the way full but not all the way, so the tops don’t run over. See baking time adjustments for different sized muffins in the recipe notes.
Allow the muffins to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Although the muffins taste amazing warm straight from the oven, its best to wait and add the vanilla orange glaze after they’ve cooled. This prevents the glaze from melting and running off the muffin tops onto your plate.
Tips for Orange Coconut Muffins
- If you don’t have any blood oranges, the juice and zest can easily be swapped for another orange or citrus like lemon, grapefruit or limes.
- Top your muffins with a sprinkling of coarse sugar and a little more shredded coconut to give a sweet crunch to the top of the muffins.
- I like to measure out the batter using an ice cream or large cookie dough scoop to fill the muffin pan or paper liners.
- Allow the vanilla orange glaze to set before storing.
Vanilla Orange Glaze
Add a little extra orange sweetness to these muffins with a drizzle of vanilla orange glaze. A simple and beautiful topping that just takes three ingredients. Stir together the powdered sugar, blood orange juice, and vanilla, then pipe across cooled muffins with a piping bag or spoon.
How to Store Muffins
Muffins give off moisture when they are kept in an air tight container, to prevent soggy leftovers, I store mine with a couple paper towels. Just line the bottom of your container with paper towels to act like a sponge and absorb any moisture. Muffins will stay fresh at room temperature for up to 3 days.
★★★★★ Please leave a star rating and review below if you make this recipe! THANK YOU!!
Blood Orange Coconut Muffins
Ingredients
Coconut Muffins
- 2/3 cup (133 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons blood orange zest, zest of two oranges
- 2 1/4 cups (282 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 3/4 Cup (180 grams) full fat coconut milk or coconut cream
- 1/3 cup (75 grams) fresh blood orange juice
- 1/2 cup (110 grams) mashed over ripened banana, about 1 large banana
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 Cup (57 grams) salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, blitzed into smaller pieces by food processor
Topping
- coarse sugar
- shredded coconut
- sliced blood oranges
Blood Orange Glaze
- 1 cup (110 grams) powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh blood orange juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 350 F (176 C) and line a large 6-cavity muffin pan with paper liners or a light coating of non-stick baking spray.
- Place the granulated sugar in a large bowl and work the orange zest into the sugar, mixing with a small fork. Let sit for a few minutes to allow the sugar to absorb the oils from the orange zest.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using the large bowl with the orange sugar, add in the coconut milk, mashed banana, eggs, orange juice, vanilla, and butter. Whisk until smooth.
- Spoon the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients a third at a time, mixing until incorporated.
- Add the coconut flakes and fold them into the batter with a silicone spatula.
- Divide the batter evenly amongst all 6 muffin cavities.
- Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar and more shredded coconut before placing in the oven.
- Place the muffin pan on middle oven rack and bake for 20-22 minutes until golden, a toothpick inserted into the center comes should come out clean.
- Place the muffin pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes ,then gently lift each muffin from the pan.
- To make the glaze, stir all ingredients together in a small bowl with fork or whisk until smooth. To make thicker add more powdered sugar, a tablespoons at a time. To make thinner, add another tablespoon of blood orange juice.
