Banana Coconut Muffins
These naturally sweetened banana coconut muffins are for coconut lovers. I bet you can't tell they're made with 100% whole wheat flour!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
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Coconut lovers, this double-coconut banana muffin recipe is for you! I’m confident you’ll fall in love with the sweet, bright flavors and contrasting textures in these little treats.
These muffins taste familiar and comforting, given their fluffy, banana-infused insides. They’re also fun and tropical, thanks to the shredded coconut you’ll find on the inside and on the muffin tops. A little lemon zest brings all the flavors together.
Like my healthy banana muffins, these muffins are also made with whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened (this time, with honey).
These muffins are based on a different recipe, though, and yield smaller muffins that are perfect for satisfying your afternoon sweet tooth. You could also serve them for a grab-and-go breakfast this Memorial Day weekend.
Curious about how this recipe came to be? I can’t remember how I originally found Deb’s Double Coconut Muffins, but I was completely taken by her coconut-topped beauties.
In the original recipe, Deb gives a long list of suggested substitutions, including swapping mashed banana for the yogurt. I was out of my staple Greek yogurt so I reached into my freezer for the bag of ripe, frozen banana chunks to defrost.
This was a serendipitous substitution because the banana adds the sweetness that unsweetened coconut flakes lack. In my second batch, I traded 1/4 cup honey for the 1/3 cup sugar, and found that the dry coconut soaks up the extra moisture in the honey.
I’m three batches deep in this recipe and I can say with certainty that these muffins are best with banana, sweetened with honey and topped with a heavy sprinkle of coconut and some glittering raw sugar.
With my substitutions, if you try yogurt instead of mashed banana, your muffins won’t be sweet enough to delight.
Please let me know how your muffins turn out in the comments! I hope they’re a big hit.
Craving more banana goodness? Here are a few more of my favorite banana recipes:
- Healthy Banana Bread and Healthy Banana Muffins
- Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes and Banana Oat Pancakes
- Favorite Banana Cake
- Vegan Banana Nut Scones
- Banana Almond Smoothie
Banana Coconut Muffins
These naturally sweetened banana coconut muffins are a real treat. I bet you can’t tell they’re made with 100% whole wheat flour! Recipe yields 1 dozen muffins.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour or white/regular whole wheat flour
- ½ cup white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest (the zest from about about ½ medium lemon)
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana (from about 3 bananas)
- ½ cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 large egg, preferably at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, divided
- 1 tablespoon turbinado (raw) sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin with butter or muffin liners (my pan is non-stick and didn’t require any grease).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Stir in ½ cup of the shredded coconut.
- In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, coconut oil, honey, egg and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups (a scant ¼ cup batter each), then sprinkle the muffin tops with the remaining ¼ cup shredded coconut. Sprinkle the tops with the raw sugar.
- Bake for about 17 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer muffins to a cooling rack and let them cool.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Double Coconut Muffins.
Make it vegan: All you’ll need to do is replace the egg with a flax egg. I haven’t tried this substitution myself, but it should work.
Make it gluten free: Based on similar recipes, Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose blend should work well.
Freeze it: The muffins freeze well!
Serving suggestions: I like these muffins served warm for breakfast with a side of Greek yogurt, or with a little dollop of tart lemon curd for a sweet afternoon snack.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
These were outstanding. I used maple syrup instead of honey and made them as “cupcakes” for my daughter’s first birthday – with the addition of whipped coconut cream and berries they were pretty special. And they’ll be in my regular muffin rotation now too. Thanks!
Loved this! It turned out perfect! Such a great recipe.
Though the flavor was good they didn’t rise much at all, I used whole wheat flour in addition they were greasy. I wouldn’t make these again.
I’m sorry you didn’t love these. Did you forget the levin? Did you over mix the batter? That can impact results.
Hi Kate,
Love your recipes! Can I substitute maple syrup in place of honey for these muffins? I know it’s ok on some of your other muffins, just wasn’t sure with this one.
Thanks,
Deborah
Usually that works well and I believe others have tired it and didn’t mind the results.
I just did these muffins and they came out delicious. They don’t puff as much as other recipes, but they are spongy in the inside and not heavy at all. You can eat the whole batch in one go. Also the amount of sweetness is just perfect. Great recipe!
Wonderful to hear, Mai!
I love coconut so I had to try these. They were so delicious! Even though I forgot to sprinkle the remaining coconut on top, didn’t have a lemon AND I accidently overcooked them they were still moist and amazing! Thanks for a great recipe!
These were excellent. Didn’t have pastry flour so we ended up doing 3/4 WW flour and 1/2 unbleached white. Also did 5 drops of dōTERRA Lemon oil instead of zest. Yummy!!! My 2 year old ate 2 back to back.
I’m glad that worked out for you, Sarah!
These are an absolute fav in our house and we’ve followed the same recipe many times without fail!
That’s great to hear, Tara! Thank you for your review.
I have made many C+K muffin recipes at this point but this one flew under my radar until now. These do not get as large as most other muffins, but the texture is worth it. Coconut is subtle enough that even non-coconut lovers enjoyed them in my house! Another great recipe I plan to repeat!!
I’m excited you are enjoying my muffin recipes and enjoyed this one too! I appreciate your review, Eliisa.
Needed to use up some brown bananas and I think I’ve made your healthy banana muffin recipe (with chocolate chips!) about 4 times this month so was looking for something a little different! I made these with all whole wheat flour and subbed lemon zest for lime, with a small squeeze of lime juice in the batter at the end! Delicious and tropical, perfect for “almost summer” in the south!
Thank you for sharing, Lindsey!
Hi. I made these this morning, and they are delicious! I didn’t have wheat flour, so I used all-purpose, and I subbed maple syrup for the vanilla and bumped up the baking powder since mine is a bit old. Otherwise, I followed the recipe. They came out perfect at 15 minutes (my muffin tin is on the darker side). I love the hint of lemon and the coconut flavor. They also are just the right amount of sweetness and have a lovely light texture.
This recipe is amazing. I was looking for a healthy breakfast to take on the go and I cannot wait to wake up tomorrow morning and go to work so I can eat one of these on the way. The store didn’t have pastry flour of any kind, so I substituted the pastry flour with cake flour and then used whole wheat flour like the recipe called for. These turned out amazing and I definitely am going to add them to my regular rotation.
Great to hear, Radhika!
So excited about this! Have you ever made it as a bread instead of muffins? Do you think it would work if I just increased the bake time and lowered the temp to 350? I tripled the recipe. Thank you!
I haven’t made these into a bread, but you could try it. You could try to follow my Healthy Banana Bread! recipe.