Progress on My Massive Tub of Coconut Oil

A year or so ago, I went all granola and bought a massive tub of organic, extra-virgin, unrefined coconut oil after reading about some of it's nutritional benefits.

Coconut Oil

• has fewer calories than other fats
• is apparently more easily converted into energy
• is less likely to cause build up in the heart and arteries
• has a long shelf life and is less likely to spoil

There is a long list of other claims of health benefits of coconut oil (aiding in weight loss, promoting healthy digestion, strengthening the immune system, and so on).

I've been cooking with coconut oil (often sustituting it for other oils and butter) and using it as lotion for me and Grace and really like it.  But, with such a huge tub (yeah, it's a gallon), I still haven't made much progress.  So today, I decided to get serious with it and made a batch of yummy blueberry muffins.  I tweaked this recipe.  

Here's my version:

Relatively Healthy Blueberry Muffins (you'll see why I can only say "relatively" :o))

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour plus 1/4 cup for the crumbling topping
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup coconut oil, melted (the original recipe replaces some of this with applesauce but I didn't have any on hand - definitley use applesauce if you have it otherwise that's a lot of oil)
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/4 cup brown suger

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lighty grease 12 muffin cups (confession - my batch didn't fit into 12 muffin cups, I ended up making 15).

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl (1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt).

Beat together sugar, coconut oil, honey and egg.  Stir in the blueberries (don't over-mix or they get too mushy).

Add the flour mixture to blueberry mixture until just moistened.

Spoon batter in muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.

For the topping, combine the extra 1/4 cup flour, brown sugar and butter until it forms a crumbling mixture and sprinkle on top.

Bake for 18-30 minutes (my oven is weird so I set the timer for 15 mins and they were definitely done).

Make a cup of tea and enjoy a little treat while the baby sleeps!

Mom, I just had a moment where this reminded me of your - I mean Florence Lacey's - mango bread!