Take That Dunkin'

Everyone is vulnerable to something. Achilles had his heel and I have my sweet tooth. To be honest, I have thirty-two of them. My love for all things sweet is not a secret as I am the first one to order dessert, but it is detrimental in my quest to drop a few pounds. Adding insult to this injury, a Dunkin’ Donuts is housed in the lobby of the building that I work in. I have to walk by this den of temptation each time I walk in and out of the lobby. The expertly baked and perfectly crusted muffins that lay on the top shelf taunt me, daring me to purchase them. They remind me of the Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey. Rather than luring me to rocks in the ocean, they lure me to weight gain. Upon occasion, I have been weak and walked out of Dunkin’ with a waxy paper bag filled with either a blueberry muffin (not the fat-free kind, who is kidding who, those things are not any better for you than the full fat version) or a coffee cake muffin. It’s been a little easier to avoid the pastries Dunkin’ Donuts as I have been brining my own coffee with me each morning, but every now and then temptation strikes.

Because I am weak against pastries, I have been looking for a lower fat and lower calories blueberry muffin. I found it in the Eating Well cookbook that I borrowed for far too long from Wixon. These tasty and slightly messy blueberry muffins are topped with a bit of coconut and macadamia nuts. The macadamia nuts and coconuts whisk me back to the beaches of Hawaii where I spent my honeymoon six years ago. This memory and the song “Toes” by Zac Brown Band is making me thirst for another beach vacation. Oh, poor husband will be hearing how I want to go on vacation again.

Coconut and Macadamia Nut Muffins (a.k.a. Pretend You Are in Hawaii Muffins)
(adapted from Eating Well)
Printable Recipe

¼ cup unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons plus ¾ cup all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons plus ½ cup brown sugar, divided
5 tablespoons chopped macadamia nuts, divided
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups frozen (not thawed) blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine coconut, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons macadamia nuts in a small bowl. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil; stir to combine. Set aside.
3. Whisk the remaining 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, egg, egg white, buttermilk, butter and coconut (or vanilla) extract in a medium bowl until well combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients; stir until just combined. Add blueberries and the remaining 3 tablespoons nuts; stir just to combine. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with the reserved coconut topping and gently press into the batter.
4. Bake the muffins until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack at least 5 minutes more before serving.

I will be following up on the blueberry muffins with a lemon raspberry muffin in a few weeks. Stay tuned….

On a side note, I have friend who also has a huge sweet tooth who is giving up sugar for a year. Bless her heart, I could never and would never do that. Follow her adventures in healthy eating at http://52weekssinsucre.onsugar.com/.