Toasted Sugar and Coconut Creme Banana Muffins

Toasted vanilla bean sugar along with Silky coconut creme infuse these banana muffins for a fresh take on a foodie favorite. These toasted sugar and coconut creme banana muffins are fluffy, au naturale in flavor profile with gentle caramel undertones, and utterly scrumptious. And to other parents who have Fancy Nancy overload these days, that’s a fancy word for delicious AF!

We all love banana bread and banana muffins. Unless you are my brother in law, who is allergic to bananas. The mere sight of a banana, kiwi, shellfish, among a few other foods, sends him into a frantic tailspin! So don’t make these if you have a banana allergy. But the rest of us most likely grew up with banana bread as a staple to our baking roots. And I imagine we all have a classic banana bread from Mom that is a bite of childhood.

Reinventing banana bread and banana muffins to me was all about a subtle enhancement of flavor without overpowering the bananas or veering too far from that classic bake we all love.

Stay At Home Mom Life

Bea turned 6. She loves bananas, so I made these toasted sugar and coconut creme banana muffins to kick off her special day. I have officially been a stay-at-home Mom for 6 years now. So imagine my shagrin as emails have been coming in asking for my resume lately. And it’s not like you can email back, what resume? The one that states: Speedy dishwasher loader, diaper changing expert, toddler tantrum tamer, husband scolder, well versed in all Disney and Nick Jr. characters… Because my friends, that has been my real “job” for 6 years!

But they meant a resume for all the TV and Food stuff I’ve been doing the last few years. What a relief! Especially after I was feeling a little blah when I ate a whole Mandarin and Vanilla Bean Blueberry Swirl Loaf last week. So I sat down and wrote up my TV Chef Resume and sent it out. I will keep you posted on if this blog will be turning into The Media Ventures Of A Real Housewife of St. Louis!

But in all seriousness, I’m pretty excited about what this year holds. I have a good feeling that 2020 is going to be an eventful and amazing one. And I have some strong women to thank for that. In a world where being a minority woman is finally cool, I am proud to be a woman of color and a woman who builds up other women.

Now on to Toasted Sugar and Coconut Creme Banana Muffins!

Coconut Creme

I love using Coconut Milk in my baking. It lends a mild coconut flavor, creaminess, and moisture to bakes. This banana muffin recipe uses a touch of the coconut creme that forms into that thick cream layer on top of the coconut liquid. The Coconut creme in a can of unshaken, undisturbed coconut milk is thick, rich, with buttery, vanilla notes, and that extra oomph of fat that just sings in bakes.

Muffin Tips

Bake muffins at high heat. This will create the dome shape as the heat shocks the batter into rising.

Using both baking powder and baking soda together will also help with the rise.

A combination of whole wheat and all purpose flour adds a slight nuttiness to the banana muffins while balancing out the caramel notes of the toasted sugar.

Toasted Vanilla Sugar

There are two parts to this incredible toasted vanilla sugar. You know when you thought, oh good, an easy muffin recipe. Gotcha! It is easy but it takes some work that yields an incredible flavor. This is a banana muffin recipe that is not just a muffin recipe, but the best banana bread muffin recipe ever due to toasted vanilla sugar!

First, you will make granulated sugar into vanilla infused sugar. Whenever I have a leftover scraped vanilla bean pods I use it to make vanilla scented sugar. I take that discarded pod and suck the life along with any leftover beans it has left to offer. Because those babies are both expensive and fabulous. So don’t throw them away!

To make vanilla scented sugar, just fill an airtight canister with a two to three cups of sugar, depending on how big of a vanilla bean you have left. Then throw in the pod and close it up. Leave it there for at least a couple of days, shaking it every so often to redistribute the vanilla bean. This method will give you subtly scented vanilla sugar.

Next, you will toast that whole load of sugar. Use what you need for these banana muffins and save the rest for frosting, cakes, or as a sprinkled on topping for whoopie pies.

For these toasted sugar and coconut creme banana muffins, simply toast up that vanilla sugar as the recipe states before using it. Note that you will need to make it in advance. Like making Caramelized White Chocolate, this is an extra step that takes some time but is well worth it! Toasting the sugar will add a natural caramel tone to the banana muffins that will truly have people guessing what makes your muffins so amazing! Note that you will use a glass baking dish and low heat to achieve toasted sugar.

Thanks for making these toasted sugar and coconut creme banana muffins. Please share this recipe with the world! For more free recipes and food pics follow me on Instagram!

XO, Sarita

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