Strawberry Coconut Muffins

These vegan strawberry coconut muffins are the perfect combination of a moist coconut cake-like crumb muffin, topped with a strawberry ganache frosting. Loaded with flavour, everyone will love them!

This recipe is simple and straightforward, it has just the right balance of sweetness and if necessary, the sugar could be replaced with an alternative. Check out my suggestions in the substitutions section.

I usually use regular muffin cases for this recipe, but I came across some snazzy pink polka dot cups that I ended up using. They came out really well, although the cups where much bigger than the normal paper cases I use, thus I was only able to make 3 instead of 6. The only thing I would possibly change in the future, is to add a little natural food colouring to the ganache frosting to get that extra pop of red colour.

If you decide to give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment below and rate it – it’s really helpful to me and the other readers. And don’t forget to take a picture and tag it #thegourmetlarder on Instagram. I love seeing what you come up with! 🙂

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RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS

• EASE: easy.
• FREE FROM: this recipe is vegan, check out the substitutions section for sugar-free suggestions.
• GREAT FOR: a treat, picnics, friends and family visiting.
• TASTE & TEXTURE: a moist coconut cake-like crumb muffin, topped with a delicious strawberry ganache frosting.
• SERVING: with a lovely cup of tea or a cold glass of your favourite milk.
• QUANTITY: 6 muffins (5cm wide base x 4cm high cases) or 3 large muffins 6cm baking cups
• TIME: 2 hours 27 minutes, includes 2 hours chilling.

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INGREDIENTS

For this recipe all you need are these ingredients:

• Cake, plain or self-rising flour – builds structure and holds all the other ingredients together. I haven’t tried any gluten-free flours as yet but if you do, let me know in the comments.

• Cornflour (US cornstarch) – is gluten-free, builds structure and adds lightness to the muffin.

• Unsweetened shredded coconut – adds the flavour and lightness to this muffin.

• Caster or granulated white sugar – adds sweetness and structure.

• Bicarbonate of soda or baking soda – is a raising agent that reacts with the vinegar increasing the volume and lightening the batter prior to baking.

• Coconut oil – is an alternative to butter, adding structure and flavour. If your coconut oil is too firm, melt it gently on the stove top or in a microwave oven until melted but not too hot. If you don’t have coconut oil, any neutral flavoured oil will work. Melted vegan butter could also be a good choice.

• Non-dairy milk (such as almond, oat, rice or soy milk) – adds flavour and replaces regular cow’s milk typically used in this type of recipe. I used soy milk as it contains more protein which results in a fluffer crumb for the muffin.

• White vinegar – contains around 5-10% acidity which reacts with the bicarbonate of soda, increasing the volume of the batter prior to baking.

• Pure vanilla extract or paste – adds that extra vanilla flavour to the muffins.

– Vanilla recommendations: pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste or vanilla pods.

• Freeze-dried strawberry powder – adds the delicious intense strawberry flavour to the frosting.

– Freeze dried fruit recommendations include: strawberry, passion fruit, raspberry, wild blueberry, blackcurrant, mango, pineapple or kiwi.

• White chocolate – I used a vegan white chocolate which works great for making this ganache.

• Coconut whipping cream – It is important that you use the whipping variety to get the correct result.

• Whole strawberries (optional) – for decoration.

• Natural food colouring (optional) – for a richer red colour in the frosting.

Food colouring recommendations: Red liquid food colouring or red food gel.

TIP:

I highly recommend adding a good pinch of salt to your cakes. It might seem counterproductive, but it’s not. Salt helps balance out the sweetness and richness. It also elevates the other ingredients, bringing out the best characteristics of any recipe. In a seemingly absurd or contradictory way, salt intensifies the mouth’s ability to taste sweetness. It is the sodium that sends signals to move glucose into the sweet taste receptor cells in our tongue, triggering the cells to register sweetness. The result is that salt not only alerts our ‘salt sensitivity’, but also our ‘sweet sensitive’ taste buds.
I recommend Maldon Sea salt flakes or Cornish sea salt for baking.

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SUBSTITUTIONS

I would love to know how you get on and share it with the other readers.

SUGAR-FREE AND LOW-CALORIE OPTIONS

• Sugar-free or calorie reduced options: try alternatives such as coconut sugar, honey, natural erythritol, xylitol, stevia or fructooligosaccharide powder instead. There are also sweetener mixes available, that are 70% calorie reduced and low in carb.

• Brown sugar suggestions: Pure Via Baker’s soft brown sugar or Sukrin Gold’s natural brown sugar alternative.

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WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?

• Alternative muffin flavours:
  
  • Lemon and coconut muffins – add 1/2 tablespoon of lemon zest (not juice) to the batter.
  • Chocolate and coconut muffins– add a handful of vegan chocolate chips to the batter.
  • Coconut and almond muffins – add 50g of sliced almonds to the batter or even scatter some on top before baking.

• Alternative ganache fruit flavours – try using different freeze-dried fruits.

– Freeze dried fruit recommendations include: strawberry, passion fruit, raspberry, wild blueberry, blackcurrant, mango, pineapple or kiwi.

• Alternative frosting – for something more traditional try my cream cheese frosting.

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NUTRITION

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STORAGE

These coconut strawberry muffins will keep good in the fridge for 2-3 days in an airtight container.

Freezing: The muffins can be frozen without the cream frosting for up to 3 months. Place them in an airtight container or wrap them individually in plastic wrap. Defrost at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.

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TOOLS YOU’LL NEED

Here is a list of some kitchen equipment that I use and recommend for this recipe.

• Milk Saucepan, 1 Litre With Double Sided Pouring Lips

This small pan is a great size for boiling small amounts of liquids and it has pouring lips built into the rim of the saucepan which makes it easy to use.

• 3pc Silicone Balloon Whisk Set, Colourful Non Stick, 20cm/8″, 25cm/10″, 30cm/12″

The whisks are ideal for mixing hot and cold batters or creams. They come in three different sizes and are very colourful.

• Paper Cases 5cm base x 4cm tall – Pack of 50
• Paper Cases, 5cm base x 3.5cm tall (1.97 inches x 1.38 inches) – Pack 100

These cases are perfect for all your cupcakes, muffins and fairy cakes. They come in two different base sizes and are available in a rainbow of colours.

The Gourmet Larder is an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

TIP: I highly recommend using metric measurements and a digital kitchen scale, rather than cup measurements. If you have ever ended up with dry, dense or crumbly baked goods, it might be because of inaccurate volume measurements, not all measuring cups are made equally. All my recipes on this blog are carefully developed so that you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success, using metric measurements. It is also a lot easier, less messy and you will get far better, consistent results. 🙂
If you are interested in understanding conversions, here you will find the best conversion chart.

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RECIPE TIPS

Do not over-mix the batter – as a result, the muffins will become tough and dense. Mix the batter just enough that you can’t see any dry flour. It’s ok to have some small lumps.

Red frosting – if you want to have a richer red colour in the frosting you can add a little food colouring or gel.

Non-dairy milks – I recommend using soy milk as the higher protein content results in a fluffier crumb.

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