Berry Coconut Muffins

These are adapted from "Blueberries-and-Cream Mall Muffins" from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman, one of my go-to cookbooks I keep on the shelf in my kitchen. I'm not sure what malls are like where Marcy grew up, but I don't actually know what a mall muffin is. I used marionberries and coconut flakes, but thinking back, if I had used coconut milk in place of buttermilk and coconut oil in place of butter, these would have tasted more strongly of coconut. As they are, they are tender and sweet. This recipe makes a lot; for us I think 1/4 recipe is best. The recipe times are also intended for the jumbo muffin size; if you make regular muffins they won't need to bake as long. I went with 10 minutes at 425 and the remainder at 350.

Berry Coconut Muffins

2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 large eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp each pure lemon and orange extract, optional
5 cups, approximately, all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups semi-frozen berries
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut or unsweetened dried coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 425 F. Arrange oven rack to middle position.

Generously spray 12-cup large or standard muffin pan or a 24-cup small muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray and then line with paper muffin liners. Place pan on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

In a mixer bowl, blend sugar with oil and butter. Briskly add eggs, vanilla, and other extracts. Fold in 4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Blend somewhat before next blending in buttermilk and sour cream. Batter should be quite thick; if not, add a touch more flour. Gently fold in berries with a spatula, trying not to break them apart.

Using a large ice-cream scoop, scoop a very large amount of batter into prepared muffin cups, loading them as full as you can. Dust tops of muffins with a little sugar.

Bake 15 minutes at 425 F; then reduce oven temperature to 350 F and bake until muffins are golden brown and spring back when gently pressed with fingertips, about 12-16 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from pan.