Its been a while!

I can't remember the last time I made muffins. For a while there I was becoming known as the "muffin queen" because I was making them so frequently. I will admit I have thought about them. I just haven't had the urge to actually make them. Partly because *gasp* Grumpy doesn't care for blueberry, which are my favorite, and partly because I like to make something "unique" when I can't make my favorite!

This morning I was back on myrecipes.com and typed in banana muffins for my search. I came across this muffin that instantly appealed to me because of it's title. These are more of a healthy muffin than they sound. They are dense but still delicious. Grumpy ate 2 of them - I'm not sure if it was out of hunger or because he liked them, but they are more on the healthy side than on the sinful side.
Tropical Muffins with Coconut-Macadamia Topping
Cooking Light, April 2008


Muffins:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 ounces)
1 cup regular oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2)
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple in juice, drained
1/3 cup flaked sweetened coconut
3 tablespoons finely chopped macadamia nuts, toasted
Cooking spray

Topping:

2 tablespoons flaked sweetened coconut
1 tablespoon finely chopped macadamia nuts
1 tablespoon granulated sugar (I used light brown sugar instead)
1 tablespoon regular oats

**The batter tends to be looser than you expect a muffin batter to be. Don't be alarmed by this, they will still turn out wonderful!

Preheat oven to 400°.

To prepare muffins, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl. Make a well in center of flour mixture. Combine banana and next 5 ingredients (through egg) in a medium bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in pineapple, 1/3 cup coconut, and 3 tablespoons nuts. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.

To prepare topping, combine 2 tablespoons coconut and the remaining ingredients in a small bowl.

Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of topping over each muffin. Bake at 400° for 18 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; place on a wire rack.