Vanilla Coconut Mini-Muffins

This recipe comes from the Clay Corner Inn of Blacksburg, Virginia.

I love the combination of chocolate and coconut, which is why both usually end up in my morning oatmeal.  The original recipe didn't call for chocolate chips, but I thought they'd be too bland without (1) chocolate, or (2) adding more intense coconut flavor.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup shredded coconut

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease mini-muffin cups or spray with non-stick spray.

2) In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips.  Whisk until thoroughly blended.

3) In small mixing bowl, combine butter, egg, milk, and vanilla.  Whisk until thoroughly blended.

4) Add milk mixture to flour mixture.  Stir by hand until just combined.

5) Fill each muffin cup half-full.

6) Bake for 11 minutes or until a knife inserted in center of muffin comes out clean (do not allow to brown on edges).  Remove muffins from cups immediately and cool on rack.  Yield: 36-44 muffins.

Notes: I baked the first batch for 12 minutes (per the original recipe), and they were slightly too crusty.  Next time I'll bake for 10-11 minutes.  Also, the coconut flavor was not as pronounced as I thought it would be, so I'll substitute 1/2 teaspoon of coconut extract for some of the vanilla.

Kid Participation:

* Pour dry ingredients

* Whisk dry ingredients

* Pour wet ingreidents

* Crack egg

* Stir wet ingredients

* Stir combined batter

* Scoop batter into muffin cups