Mango Coconut Muffins

I'm probably the last food blogger on earth to discover the world-famous site Smitten Kitchen.  So I've spent pretty much every waking second of free time in the last 48 hours gawking through the hundreds (if not thousands) of posts the First Lady of Food Blogging Deb Perelman has created since 2006. There's plenty to gawk over: this woman does incredible recipe development, gorgeous photos, and has a great sense of humor--and all this in a 42 square foot galley kitchen in New York City. Are you reading between the lines here?

I'm jealous. 

Well, not jealous about the 42 square foot galley kitchen. Just all the other stuff. This is Deb Perelman's full-time job. She spends her days doing what sounds like creative dynamite to me: innovation through cooking. She even has a published cookbook (with dozens of 5-star reviews on Amazon). 

Still, Deb Perelman seems like a totally down-to-earth, accessible person I'd love to be friends with. I'm sure she is. And when I grow out of the maturity level of an 8th-grade-girl I'm sure I will feel far more delight than jealousy while perusing her wonderful blog. For now, I know I can learn SO much from her experience, her cooking methods, her process of recipe creation, and of course the recipes themselves. 

Speaking of which, I'm waxing awfully heavy here for a post about such light, delicious muffins. These mango coconut cuties (adapted from--where else?--Smitten Kitchen) really came together beautifully, a very nice change from my usual choices of fruit in muffins. And despite the fact that, upon seeing them, my 2-year-old exclaimed, "The muffins are hairy!" they do not contain any actual hair. Just "polka-nut," as she later revised her description.

And Deb Perelman, if you ever read this, thank you for blazing the trail for food bloggers all around the world, and for just generally being awesome. Can we be friends?

See? No hair. Just some lightly toasted polka-nut.

Mango Coconut Muffins

(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 c. Greek yogurt

1/2 c. white sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut, divided

1 c. mango, peeled and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, and salt. Add 1/2 c. shredded coconut. In a separate bowl, mix oil, yogurt, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Stir wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Fold in chopped mango. Divide between 12 muffin cups and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 c. coconut on top.

Bake about 20 minutes.