I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconut Muffins

I had just come from a beautiful time at a wedding in another state, and was about to drive to someone else's wedding in another country. Jenn was excited. Jenn was inspired. Jenn was downright tired. And, you may not know this, but that means that Jenn was singing Disney songs...and getting the baking bug. 
So the night before her family packed up and drove to Canadia, Jenn started the soaking process for a lovely bunch of coconut muffins. 
And, in case you find yourself lodged in between three countries, two weddings, and less sleep than you can shake a stick at (nope, never understood that phrase), Jenn is sharing her recipe concoction with you so you can go coconut crazy, too. 

~1-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
~1/2 cup rolled oats
~2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar or Kombucha + 1 cup full-fat coconut milk. 

Mix above ingredients together, and let soak for about 12 hours in a bowl covered with a towel. I usually do this at night so that the muffins can be baked in the morning. But you can always soak it in the morning and then bake the muffins at night. You work with your schedule, deal?
But, whenever you do decide to bake your lovely bunch of coconut muffins, begin the baking session by turning your oven on Bake (imagine that) to 375 degrees F. 
Take a bit more than a half cup of coconut oil and melt it on the stove on medium. Save half a cup of the melted coconut oil for the next step, but, for now, grab a tablespoon or two of the melted oil to grease a muffin tin. Believe me, do this step at the beginning and you will thank me at the end. 

Then....

~2 local, pastured eggs
~1/2 cup evaporated cane juice or Sucanat or other solid natural sweetener (powder in food processor if coarse)
~1 teaspoon vanilla
~1/2 cup virgin, unrefined coconut oil (melted if solid at room temperature)

Mix the eggs, sweetener, and vanilla in a bowl, slowly pouring in the melted coconut oil as you stir. You are stirring in the coconut oil slowly in order to prevent its heat from pre-cooking the batter. 

~2 teaspoons cinnamon
~1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground cloves
~3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
~1 teaspoon sea salt
~2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

Now you get to whisk the spices and thatthingthatmakesthemuffinsrise into the egg mixture. Whisk well! And smell but do not touch! Mmm. Yeah, you know this is going to be a lovely bunch of coconut muffins, for sure.
After you have enjoyed the fragrance of this merry concoction, and once the egg/spice mixture is thoroughly whisked, add said whisked mixture to your bowl of soaked wheat, oats, and coconut cream. Stir until you have a pretty homogeneous mixture, but take care not to over-stir. Good! Now you have yourself a muffin batter.

~1/2 cup dried cranberries
~1/2 cup chopped cashews, preferably soaked.
~1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Stir these last three yumminesses into your batter, and guess what? Thou hast just made a lovely bunch of coconut muffins! Almost.

Fill the greased muffin tin with your muffin batter and bake at 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. You know the drill: stick a toothpick in the center of the center muffin to see if the toothpick comes out clean. When it does, you know the muffins are done. But, you know what? I think you can tell by the smell and the colour of the muffins. When the kitchen has this delicious aroma wafting in the air and your muffins are this beautiful toasty golden brown colour, you know they are ready to pop out of the oven. 

Whenever the muffins are ready, remove muffin tin from the oven and let it cool for about ten minutes before eating or storing the muffins (yeah right!).

And now you have yourself a lovely bunch of coconut muffins, perfect for taking on road trips, eating as a part of breakfast, or turning them into a special snack while you nostalgically watch Disney's The Lion King!

*While the recipe is definitely customised, Wardeh from Gnowfglins gets the credit for the basic recipe.