Blueberry and Coconut Muffins

The weather took a turn for the worse this weekend and it has been cold and wet and windy....

Perfect weather for cosying up on the couch with a good book and a giant bowl of pesto covered pasta and whilst I have been doing plenty of that, I also managed to spend some quality time in the kitchen, clean the house and got all dolled up for an engagement party last night.

Over the last few weeks I just haven't felt much like cooking so I was really happy to wake up Saturday morning with the urge to bake. A few hours later I had a bench top full of Blueberry and Coconut Muffins, Tim Tam Balls, Stewed Apples and Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce. The house smelt like baked goods and I felt like I was in desperate need of a nap.....all was right with the world.

Later that evening, after said nap, Mr B and I got ready to head out to our friend's engagement party. It was an engagement party with a twist though because you had to go dressed as a character starting with the letter 'A' and as the invite said 'No costume, no entry fool!' (That was Mr T from the A-Team by the way.....)

Anyway, after MUCH deliberation we had decided to go as Al Capone and Alice in Wonderland (the zombie version).......

We had a great night celebrating with our friends and trying to pick out what all the different costumes were! Plus sometimes it's good to just let your hair down, dress up and have some fun.

Speaking of fun, is it weird that all week I have been looking forward to the weekend so that I could sit down with a hot cup of tea and one of these fresh blueberry and coconut muffins? It hasn't happened yet, but I'm telling you it is going to.....they smell divine!

Blueberry and Coconut Muffins

2 cups self-raising flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 tspn coconut essence (optional)
1/2 tspn vanilla essence (optional)
125g butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk (or substitute 1/2 cup full cream milk + 1 tspn lemon juice)
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 180°C and line 15 muffin pans with paper cases.

Combine the flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl. Add the butter, buttermilk, coconut essence, vanilla essence and egg, and stir until just combined.

Gently stir in the blueberries. Don't overmix the batter or you will end up with tough purple muffins. The batter will be really thick at this stage but that's ok.

Spoon among the prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Set aside in the pans for 15 minutes to cool slightly before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx