Giant Gluten Free Toasted Coconut Muffins

I have a vivid memory of tasting my first coconut ice cream bar as a kid from the neighborhood ice cream truck: one of the dreamiest flavors I’d ever encountered and probably ever will. That revelation has lead me to try and recreate various different coconut treats through the years, and these giant gluten free coconut muffins are the most recent one. They’re fluffy, packed with heavenly coconut flavor, tons of toasted desiccated coconut, and absolutely covered in the most incredible coconut glaze. If you’re a coconut fan, these are the muffins you need to make this week (plus, they’re wildly easy to make!). If you’re looking for more coconut bakes, try these coconut butter cookies, or these piña colada cupcakes, or these classic lamingtons, or this glorious coconut custard pie, or these toasted coconut cupcakes!

For those of you just joining the muffin craze we have on our blog, we started creating GIANT muffin recipes about 7 months ago after reminiscing over the giant Costco muffins we used to eat (read: devour) as kids prior to getting diagnosed with Celiac. This giant muffin saga has now consumed our every free moment (not really but it’s exciting) and we continue to create new flavors with gusto. Back to the rest of the giant muffins! So far we’ve made these giant poppyseed muffins, giant blueberry muffins, giant chocolate chip muffins, giant double chocolate muffins, giant banana nut muffins, giant strawberry rhubarb muffins, giant apple streusel muffins, these giant lemon raspberry muffins, giant cherry chocolate chip muffins, these giant coffee walnut muffins, these giant pistachio apricot muffins, these giant orange marmalade muffins, these giant zucchini muffins, these giant mango muffins, these giant peach muffins, these giant chocolate zucchini muffins, these giant lavender earl grey muffins, these giant lemon saffron muffins, these giant ube white chocolate muffins, these giant chocolate orange muffins, these giant cinnamon chip muffins, these giant pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, and these giant yuzu muffins!

Tips for the Dreamy Toasted Coconut Muffins:

A few tips for getting these to turn out perfectly:

• Use the right-size of pan! Apparently, Costco keeps their giant muffin pans as a trade secret because we can’t find them ANYWHERE on the internet and you can find EVERYTHING on the internet. Bravo, Costco, for a secret well-kept. However, we’ve found a way to crack the code and gone ahead and just used these brilliant 4-inch cake pans because, after careful inspection, we’ve discovered that Costco muffins are exactly 4-inches in diameter! HA! Take that, Costco-bakery-lords. I never thought I’d be regularly using 4-inch cake pans but here we are. I’ll just need to make a bunch of tiny cake recipes next!
• Get that flavor! Coconut extract is one of my favorite flavorings – so easy to toss in and it adds a dreamy, intense coconut flavor. Mixing that with toasted coconut does even more – and toasted coconut so easy to make! Be sure to use unsweetened desiccated coconut (the really small shavings, not the big long strands of sweetened shredded coconut) for the best flavor and texture.
• Don’t over-mix your batter! Muffins need a lot of lift, especially these giant ones, and if you over-mix your batter, you’ll end up with sunken muffins which is no fun.
• Use a good 1-1 gluten free flour mix! We use the Bob’s Red Mill one (the baking mix), though we’ve heard good things about Cup-4-Cup and I’ve now started using the Dove’s Free From Plain White Flour (not self-raising as that contains an unknown amount of leavening agents and it’s safer to use plain flour and add an exact measurement of your own leaving for these kinds of bakes). We’ve only tested this recipe with this one so if you want them to turn out exactly like ours, we recommend snagging a bag of that specific 1-1 gluten free flour.
• Do NOT open the oven door during baking time. Tape it shut if you have to! You can certainly turn on the oven light and peek and the gloriousness that is a set of rising muffins nearly-ready to be devoured, but do not open that door! Opening the door will immediately lower the oven temp and prohibit your muffins from rising correctly. If you’re in the last few minutes of baking and need to test to see if they’re done, open the oven just a tiny bit and reach in and just tap the top of one – if it springs back it’s done, if it presses in like a foam mattress topper, it’s not and needs a couple more minutes!
• GLAZE: glazes are a super easy way to elevate your muffin game. The glazes we use are essentially just powdered sugar and a liquid – in this case, milk and coconut extract. The key with glazes is getting the consistency right – you want to be able to drizzle or pour the glaze, so it needs to be able to move a bit, but you don’t want it to just pour off your muffins completely. You want to get to a thicker consistency (it should be thick when you stir it), that slowly pours when you lift up your stirring spoon. This will ensure that your glaze stays mostly on top of the muffin and that it stays opaque and doesn’t run off in a giant puddle. If your glaze seems to thin and runny, just add more powdered sugar! Vice versa if it seems waaaay too thick and you can’t even get it to pour, add a touch more milk.
• These will keep in an airtight container (or in ziplock baggies) for a week or so – and they freeze REALLY well! So if you want to make a batch and save a bunch, put them in a sturdy plastic container or a freezer plastic bag and pop them in there. Then microwave for about 30-45 seconds (from frozen) before eating! I even like popping mine in the microwave for 10-15 seconds from room temp to get them all warm and floofy again before eating.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Giant Gluten Free Toasted Coconut Muffins

These fluffy muffins are dreamily filled with coconut flavor, toasted coconut, and topped with a coconut glaze!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Resting time30 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: breakfast, coconut, costco muffins, easy, glaze, gluten free, muffins, simple, toasted coconut

Servings: 6 giant muffins

Calories: 500kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• Six 4-inch round cake pans (link below to the ones we use)
• Cookie sheet

Ingredients

For the muffins:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 Cup white sugar
• 1 Cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 Cup milk
• 3/4 Cup full fat coconut milk
• 1/4 Cup sour cream
• 2 1/2 tsp coconut extract
• 2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it – link below to the one we use
• 1/2 Cup sweet rice flour
• 1/4 Cup arrowroot starch
• 1/4 Cup packed blanched almond flour
• 1 Cup toasted desiccated coconut (unsweetened) instructions below for toasting
• 2 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt

For the glaze:

• 1 1/4 Cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp full fat coconut milk stirred
• 1/2 tsp coconut extract
• 1 Tbsp milk
• pinch salt

Instructions

• First, toast your coconut! Dump the unsweetened desiccated coconut into a large frying pan and heat over medium, stirring constantly, until the coconut begins to turn golden (this will take a few minutes). Do not let it turn fully brown, this is burned, just golden. Once golden, remove from heat and pour coconut into a bowl to cool to room temp.
• Once the coconut is cooled, make the muffin batter! It will need to rest at room temp for 30 minutes before baking. First, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, coconut milk, sour cream, milk, and coconut extract until thicker and smooth. Add in the gluten free 1-1 flour, sweet rice flour, arrowroot starch, blanched almond flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until just combined (do not overmix). Finally, fold in the toasted coconut. Then let the batter sit either on the counter for at least 30 minutes before baking (you can let it rest in the fridge for longer if you want).
• Once the batter has rested preheat the oven to 425° Fahrenheit and place your six 4-inch cake pans on a cookie sheet. Grease each pan with cooking spray, then spoon batter into each one evenly (they should be about 3/4-5/6 full). Bake for 5 minutes and then turn down the temperature to 350° (without opening the oven door!! Keep it closed) and continue 25-35 minutes until the tops spring back with touched (do NOT open the oven while baking or the muffins will not rise fully, only open the oven a tiny bit to check if done). Let cool nearly-completely before turning out and glazing.
• While the muffins are cooling, make the glaze! In a medium cereal bowl, stir together all of the glaze ingredients, starting with 1 tbsp of coconut milk and adding the other milk as needed, until fully combined and very smooth (this may take some working). Check the consistency of the glaze: you're looking for a glaze that can drizzle over the muffins, but doesn't flow too quickly or it will simply run off and not hold on top of the muffins. Add more powdered sugar if it seems too thin/runny. Taste as you go! A bit more salt will bring out the sweetness of the coconut.
• Then use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the muffins, and serve! You can let the glazed muffins sit at room temp for 30-45 minutes for the glaze to harden, then put into zip-top bags and keep in the fridge or freezer for up to a week. Best-served slightly warm, so pop them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds from room temp!

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your muffins!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber