Safari Quest in LaConte Fjord, Alaska

In September of 2010 we took a wonderful small-ship Alaskan adventure cruise.  We hiked in the wilderness, walked on a glacier, saw a fjord full of ice bergs, and kayaked in serene waters. Every morning on  our Alaskan wilderness cruise on theSafari Quest, breakfast included an option of fresh baked muffins.  The variety changed daily.  One morning we had coconut lime muffins.  At least the early breakfast eaters did.  Those tasted so good and were so popular I doubt there were any left for the stragglers.  People liked those muffins so much we all talked about them for the rest of the cruise.  Word must have gotten back to the chef because on the last day we had coconut chocolate chip muffins.  I should have liked those even better.  Coconut and chocolate are my two most favorite flavors.  I know for a fact at least one person did like those better because he said so.  But for some reason I was just hooked on the coconut lime, best muffins I ever tasted.  Not having been brilliant enough to ask for the recipe, I’ve just thought about how wonderful they tasted off and on since the cruise.  Then one day we had some overripe bananas and I didn’t feel like making banana bread.  I tried making banana muffins instead.  And discovered that making muffins from scratch without a box of muffin mix is actually quite easy.  So I tried adapting a basic plain muffin recipe into a coconut lime muffin recipe.  The first batch tasted a bit too limey so I made a few adjustments and the second one came out quite well I thought.  So I decided to share my recipe.  I’ve updated the recipe a bit since the first posting and they are better than ever now.  Especially if you use heaping cups on the coconut, canola oil and sugar, and beat the egg with a touch of milk.  For our lactose intolerant friends, this recipe also happens to be dairy free.

Coconut Lime Muffins