It’s pumpkin season and I intend to make the most out of it… starting with these flourless pumpkin coconut muffins (queijadinhas de abóbora com coco) which are naturally gluten-free, easy and quick to make, yet so yummy. If you’re looking for alternatives for a breakfast or snack on the go, this is a fall treat well worth a try.
Our pumpkin coconut muffins are made from (canned) pureed pumpkin, ground cinnamon, coconut flakes, Parmesan cheese, sweetened condensed milk, cornstarch, baking powder, and eggs. All you have to do is mix the ingredients together in a bowl by hand and bake for about 20 minutes. Easy peasy!
Cornstarch substitutes for flour, giving structure to these muffins without making them dry. You may think strange the addition of Parmesan cheese to this mildly sweet baked goodie… but it adds complexity while balancing the sweetness. In fact, there is no traditional queijadinha without both cheese and coconut — a salty-sweet combo capable of balancing the flavors in baked goodies, with excellent results.
Queijadinha is a kind of baked goodie that originated in Portugal and is popular in Brazil, where there are many flavor varieties… one of them is pumpkin! The coconut in queijadinha pairs perfectly with pumpkin, and is a well-known and highly esteemed combo in my home country. In fact, it is as popular as the combinations of pumpkin-cream cheese or pumpkin-chocolate chip in the U.S.
I have also added an optional coconut glaze to these pumpkin coconut muffins which doesn’t exist in any traditional queijadinha recipe. What can I say, I love to spice things up. 🙂
Give these pumpkin coconut muffins a try and you won’t regret it.
Enjoy!
Flourless Pumpkin Coconut Muffins
Ingredients
- FOR THE PUMPKIN COCONUT MUFFINS:
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14 oz
- 1/3 cup canned Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin or cooked and mashed pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1¾ cups sweetened coconut flakes
- FOR THE GLAZE : optional
- 1 tablespoon coconut milk or water
- 1/8 teaspoon coconut extract optional if using coconut milk
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- To make the muffins: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line 15 baking cups in standard-size muffin/cupcake baking pan and set aside.
- In a medium to large bowl, whisk the eggs lightly by hand for about 20-30 seconds, stir in the condensed milk, pumpkin, cinnamon, cheese, cornstarch, and baking powder until obtaining a homogeneous mixture. Last, mix in the coconut flakes.
- Using an ice cream scoop, pour 1 scoop into each lined baking cup, filling 3/4 full, and bake for about 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let pan cool on a rack. Meanwhile, prepare glaze, if desired, to drizzle over the muffins while they are still warm.
- To make the glaze (optional): Place coconut milk/water, coconut extract (optional if using coconut milk), and sugar in a small bowl, whisking well until smooth. Add more sugar only if needed to thicken. Drizzle over the "muffins" while still warm and let set.
Recipe Notes
STORAGE: Store muffins in an airtight container or ziploc bag at room temperature. Consume within 2-3 days -- or freeze them in ziploc bags (without the glaze)!
FOR FLUFFIER MUFFINS: For extra fluffy muffins, separate the yolks from the whites. Stir in the yolks with the rest of the ingredients, and beat the whites separately until stiff. Add beaten whites to the batter after mixing in the coconut flakes to the batter. Beaten whites have to be incorporate little by little, gently. Because I found these pumpkin coconut muffins to be fluffy enough as they are, I didn't separate the whites from the yolks or beat the egg whites until stiff for mine.
SallyBR
October 13, 2015 at 12:06 pmFantastic memories…. what a great recipe, I definitely have to make this one and take to my colleagues… I know they will absolutely love them!
(deu quase pra sentir o gostinho vendo as fotos…. 😉
Denise Browning
October 13, 2015 at 2:14 pmSo good to hear from you, Sally! My husband ate almost them all. 🙂 I hope you make them and enjoy…and serve with a good cafezinho. 😉
Amira
October 13, 2015 at 1:27 pmNice recipe, I like the coconut and pumpkin flavor mix.
Anna Lucia V. Josephs
October 13, 2015 at 12:53 pmDenise, uma pergunta. Voce diz que as forminhas devem ser forradas (lined), mas com que? m Parchment paper? Aluminum paper? Ou nao faz diferenca?
Obrigada,
Anna Lucia.
Denise Browning
October 13, 2015 at 2:12 pmOla, Ana Lucia!
Quando mencionei que a forma de assar os cupcakes ou muffins devem ser “lined”, quer dizer que eh a forma de assar deve ser forrada com as formas de papel de cupcake tamanho regular (nao sao as minis). As formas de papel sao suficientes e nao precisam de mais nada. Desculpe ai o mal-entendido! Um abraco pra vc.
Deb|EastofEdenCooking
October 13, 2015 at 4:24 pmCoconut and pumpkin! Count me in! What a wonderful recipe fro the season of pumpkin! Happy fall Denise!
Anna @ shenANNAgans
October 13, 2015 at 7:17 pmI LOVE these so, so, soooo much!
On the weekend I was at Costco and they had an epic sale on coconut flour, I went to town and bought a bunch, but with no real plan for it. Ha! Smart shopping right there. LOL!
Looks like I have found my first recipe to use it. Thanks lovely.
John/Kitchen Riffs
October 14, 2015 at 10:37 amI’m a real sucker for anything with coconut. And at this time of the year, pumpkin. Never thought to put the two together, though. But I will! This is inspired — thanks.
Raymund
October 14, 2015 at 1:53 pmI bet this would sound delicious, they nearly look like the Philippine macaroons and this one is even better.
Little Cooking Tips
October 15, 2015 at 2:11 amThe orange pumpkin is not a popular vegetable here and it’s being only available for a few years now, so we haven’t used it much. But having seen all the hype in the States, we really want to try it more in some recipes. Yours looks really amazing Denise, Mirella adores coconut so this is a recipe she’ll definitely appreciate!:)
Wonderful post, loved the addition of condensed milk (of course)!:)
xoxoxo