I really don’t know what I did before I made these muffins.

I think I woke up. I think I ninja-kicked Mr. How Sweet out of bed so he would stop snoring.  Waddled my way down the stairs and promptly threw myself on the worn carpet where I cried out, “I seriously can’t wake up. I will die if I wake up now!” After relishing in my now 36-hour sugar hangover, I’m pretty sure it was this moment that I remembered brushing my fingers across a squishy mango in the crisper drawer the day before. Right after I declared that I was “never baking again!”

 

Mangos must be squishy to taste good. Fact.

Other things that have seen better days in my crisper drawer? A molded grapefruit that is jammed beneath five pounds of apples, two pounds of lemons, three more mangos, and two bunches of cilantro, and therefore is far too much work to dig out. A half-used bag of pre-cut celery, opened two weeks ago for chicken noodle soup, but is now being saved for something that I might think of in the next six minutes.  A semi-eaten orange that seemed like a good idea at the time but was chucked when the devil on my shoulder wanted frozen peanut butter cups instead.

 

If you happen to drop by today, I hope you aren’t craving fruit.

But I do have muffins. So feel free to ring my bell.

After recalling the cushiony mango, I was deadset on combining it with creamy coconut and mashed banana, preferably in the form of a frothy, iced beverage laced with shots of tropical rum and served in a sugar-rimmed glass with a large slice of lime. And a cherry.

 

You see how well that turned out. Muffins are the next best thing. Consciences are for chumps.

Mango Colada Muffins

makes 14-16 muffins

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large ripe banana, mashed

2/3 cup chopped mango

1 cup lite coconut milk (I used Trader Joe’s brand)

1 cup shredded coconut

coarse sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with liners.

Combine flours, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. In a food processor of blender, add banana, egg, mango, coconut milk, vanilla and butter. Mix or pulse until ingredients are combined and mango is almost but completely blended in with a few chunks remaining. Mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to form a batter. Fold in coconut.

Using an ice cream scoop or 1/3 cup measure, add batter to each muffin line and top with coarse sugar. Bake for 15 minutes, or until muffins are cooked through.

I’m thinking that these muffins would make happy hour even happier… perhaps crumbled on said icy drink? That’s todays plan.