b is for blended drink mix

the piña colada has long been my favourite blended drink. whether virgin or non- (technically a piñata colada), the sweet combination of tropical flavours is like an island getaway for my tastebuds. (this may come as a surprise to those who know that i typically avoid coconut, but i think that's mostly to do with texture, which isn't an issue here.)

every time i see my piña colada mix in the fridge, i ask myself that age-old question: "what would that taste like in muffin form?"

well, wonder no more! the answer is: freakin' awesome!!!

i'm pretty shameless about my secret to good muffins: using quaker muffin mix as the base. in this case, we begin with a plain bran muffin (10/3 cups of dry ingredients), and build (read: improvise!) from there! even when i'm making something more traditional, instead of following the package instructions and adding an egg, i often use a banana for binding - it's flavourful and gives us that exotic vegan factor... which also means no cholesterol.

incidentally, it also makes me feel like a spy because pat thinks she hates bananas. in reality, she loves my baking... as long as she doesn't know what went in. (it's like most people and anchovies! though i would *never* put those in muffins.) anyway, the point is that i have to hide what i'm doing whenever i bake at charbonneau house. feel free to debate the ethics of this.


the substitutions continued as i traded the water (4/3 cups) for an equal amount of pineapple juice. happily, many, many pineapple tidbits also jumped in there, along with a dash of that inspirational blended drink mix. (it doesn't take much to have a real impact! be careful!)

after filling up the lined muffin tins, i sprinkled sweetened medium coconut on top and baked for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. the coconut toasted beautfully.

after we had our evening prayer time and the muffins had cooled enough to hold their shape (and i had paced the floor sufficiently) they were ready to grace our table.

pat, kevin, mike, heide, and i dug in... and i think the verdict was unanimous:

loaded with flavour while light and moist, these muffins are keepers!

notes
- i've reconsidered the pineapple tidbits: using crushed pineapple in place of the water would have made more sense, structural-integrity-wise. the downside of crushed pineapple is that the consistency of the muffin would be more homogenous, and i like playing with textures. something to think about...
- for a more creative garnish, maybe half a maraschino cherry could be tucked into the top. something tells me that also sticking a little plastic sword in there might be too much!
- unless... two birds, one stone! what if i skewered pineapple tidbits and a cherry on a sword, and put it into the batter-filled muffin tin? would the muffin bake up to enfold the fruit? hmmm...


sweet dreams! i'll be spending mine dancing to reggae on a white sand beach... with an icy piña colada in hand, of course :)