I followed a recipe from a cookbook we bought at the King Arthur flour course last fall. The sweetened coconut was substituted with unsweetened, because that’s what I keep on hand. Jim thought the banana muffins would be improved with a sprinkling of sugar on top. The bourbon-soaked cranberry-cherry muffins were perfect.

Fresh
1/2 cup (1 stick)
3 eggs
1/2 cup (4 oz.) sour cream
1 ripe banana
3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Pantry
3-1/2 cups (14-3/4 oz.) all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup dried fruit, such as cranberries, cherries, raisins, or combination
1/4 cup bourbon, of substitute with rum or orange juice

Make muffin batter base
Preheat over to 400 degrees-F. In a small bowl, soak dried fruit in the bourbon. In a separate small bowl, mash the banana and set aside. Line two 12-cup  muffins pans with paper liners. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs to the butter and sugar, one at a time until incorporated. Add vanilla and stir. Slowly add flour mixture until smooth.

Divide batter
Pour half of the batter into a second mixing bowl. In one bowl, add sour cream and berries, stir until combined. In the other bowl, add the mashed banana and coconut, stir until combined.

Bake
Spoon muffin batter into lined muffin cups using an ice cream scoop. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the pan for five minutes. Then transfer muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Serve
Serve muffins once cooled or store in an airtight container.

Banana-Coconut Muffins (blue wrapper)

Bourbon-soaked Cranberry-Cherry Muffins