Coco Loco: Pina Colada Muffins

Oh hey. Remember me? Yeah, I know it's been a while... but I have a really good explanation.

You see, for most of the last six months, my kitchen was under construction. Which kind of makes it hard to come up with new recipes.

The longer version of that story is that The Mister and I realized that since the Toronto real estate market is completely bonkers overpriced, the little starter home we bought a decade ago was now, for better or worse, our forever home.

So we took a big chunk of our savings and embarked on a big renovation. New walls, new floors, new windows, new entryway, and obviously... new kitchen.

What was meant to be a two- to three-month project dragged through Thanksgiving, and then eventually through Christmas and New Year's Eve.  In the meantime, I borrowed kitchen space from relatives, baked dishes in a toaster oven, and tried to get creative in terms of my photo shoots (including setting up a little "picnic" scene on the one patch of grass in my backyard that hadn't been trampled into oblivion).

But the good news is that I finally have my kitchen back, and it is beeeeeeeautiful.

I have a shiny new gas stove (squeeee!), sleek white cabinetry, and loads of counter space to work on. And after all this time, I have a zillion recipe ideas bouncing around in my head that I can't wait to turn into reality!

In the meantime, though, here's an older recipe I've been hanging onto for a rainy... errr... snowy day.

This recipe was entirely accidental. You see, in my hurry to prepare dinner one night I grabbed what I thought was a can of corn niblets from my pantry, only to discover to my dismay that it was actually a can of crushed pineapple.

Thankfully, I realized my mistake before I dumped the contents of the can into the simmering pot of chili, because I'm pretty sure pineapple and black bean turkey chili don't mix.

(I could be wrong, mind you, because pineapple on pizza is pretty freaking amazing... but I'm totally okay with living the rest of my life without trying turkey-pineapple chili.)

I did manage to grab the right can on my second trip to the pantry, but that still left me with an open of pineapple I needed to use up somehow... and, coincidentally enough, I also had a half-finished can of coconut milk that also needed a purpose.

Which is how these muffins came to be. I paired that can of pineapple and that last bit of coconut milk, and layered loads of lovely tropical flavour to bring a little sunshine into an otherwise pretty miserable winter. They are the antidote to slushy sidewalks and blistering cold winds.

Much like their namesake cocktail, these muffins pair tangy pineapple and sweet coconut with a splash of dark rum, minus the hassle of busting out the blender.

Unlike the cocktail, however, it's perfectly enjoyable to enjoy a couple of these first thing in the morning or as an afternoon snack at the office.

They do look pretty cute topped with a paper umbrella, though, if you really must.

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