Queijadinha de Laranja (Orange Coconut Muffin)

By Valentina Dimitrova | Updated on February 26, 2026

How do you plan to spend Mother's Day? And what special dish do you have planned? To celebrate my day, I'm going to be having queijadinha de laranja (Brazilian Orange Coconut Muffins)!!! This baked goodie of Portuguese origin brings me closer to a dear maternal figure of mine, my late grandmother.

A stack of queijadinhas de laranja or Brazilian Orange Coconut Muffins

It also requires only 5 ingredients, is ridiculously easy and quick, naturally gluten-free, and super DE-LI-CIOUS. It looks like sunshine but it is actually a gift in a baking cup!

Our queijadinha de laranja is made from sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, coconut...

Closeup of a brown dehusked coconut

... and both orange juice and orange zest... All you have to do is mix the ingredients together all at one time in a bowl by hand and bake for about 20 minutes.

Sliced oranges and a cracked coconut shell on a black board

As you can see, queijadinha de laranja is so, so easy to prepare that even my seven and eight-year-old can make it by themselves. Oh, yeah! They'll do the preparing... and I'll do the eating! What a great present for me, and sense of accomplishment for them, don't you think? 😉

Spooning batter for queijadinha into muffin tins

When I'm the one making queijadinha de laranja, I put in very little effort, yet get heaps of praise... and enjoy devouring them like no other... But that is not all! The other advantage of them being so easy to make is having more time to do other things that I love such as shopping, spending quality time with my children, and photographing...

Yes, time to do what I cherish is a present that I appreciate as much as my Mother's Day tulips (reminiscent of the great tulip harvest in Holambra, São Paulo, Brazil)... but nothing as great as my children's love!

A montage of red and yellow tulips

Enjoy our queijadinha de laranja, do what you love the most, and have a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

xx

A slice of orange queijadinhas

A stack of queijadinhas de laranja or Brazilian Orange Coconut Muffins
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5 from 16 votes

Orange Coconut Muffin (Queijadinha de Laranja)

Queijadinha de Laranja (Orange Coconut Muffins) is a five-ingredient, quick, gluten-free gooey (not fluffy) muffin that only requires mixing the ingredients together at one time by hand and then baking. It is super moist and tasty!
Course:Dessert, Snack
Cuisine:Brazilian
Prep Time 7 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Servings 16
Calories215 kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 cans sweetened condensed milk 14 oz
  • 4 large room temperature egg yolks
  • 3 cups sweetened coconut flakes
  • 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
  • ½ cup fresh orange juice

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line a standard-size muffin baking pan with baking cups (or a mini muffin pan, if desired).
  • In a medium to large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir well by hand until obtaining an homogeneous mixture (about 30 strokes). This will help prevent mixture from tasting eggy.
  • Using an ice cream scooper (or a cookie scooper if making mini muffins), fill the baking cups ¾ full, clean away any drips, and bake for about 20 minutes (standard-size muffins) or 13 minutes (mini muffins). Remove from oven, place baking pan on a rack, and let queijadinhas cool completely. Enjoy! Yield: About 16 standard-size or 48 mini.

Recipe Notes

1. STORAGE: Store queijadinhas in an airtight container or ziploc bag at room temperature. Consume within 2-3 days.
2. Queijadinha is a kind of baked goodie that originated in Portugal, and is popular in Brazil. There are many types of "queijadinhas", but the traditional one is prepared with grated coconut, cheese, sweetened condensed milk, sugar, butter, and egg yolks. As you can see, my type doesn't take cheese, butter, and sugar!
3. If you would like to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese to our recipe, go ahead. It will make our queijadinha de laranja a bit less sweet. As for me, I prefer mine as it is!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 215kcal

** Nutrition labels on easyanddelish.com are for educational purposes only. This info is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate, since the nutrition content of recipes can vary based on ingredient brand or source, portion sizes, recipe changes/variations, and other factors. We suggest making your own calculations using your preferred calculator, based on which ingredients you use, or consulting with a registered dietitian to determine nutritional values more precisely.

Please note that health-focused and diet information provided on easyanddelish.com is for educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. Consult with your doctor or other qualified health professional prior to initiating any significant change in your diet or exercise regimen, or for any other issue necessitating medical advice.

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5 from 16 votes (8 ratings without comment)

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27 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Denise, your pictures, your recipe - they are so great! I love the idea of combining orange and coconut flavor. Sound like a perfect dessert!
    Have a lovely day!

  2. 5 stars
    The best picture of this post is hands down the two of you. So so beautiful. God Bless you all.
    I adore simple recipes and full of yumminess. THis sure sounds super delicious and good. The coconut, the orange everything sounds so good together.
    Love it.

  3. Oh, I love this combination---orange and coconut!!! What fantastic muffins. I hope you have the terrific Mother's Day you deserve. xoxo

  4. I have not had queijadinha for ages...I like the orange in it...looks fabulous Denise...beautiful photos!
    Enjoy the rest of your week my dear 🙂

  5. Just looking at your beautiful pics makes me hungry for these amazing sweet treats and not only for Mother's Day.

  6. Boy, this is a fast dish. And what a great payoff -- it looks gorgeous! And I'll bet the flavor is fabulous. Really nice -- thanks.

  7. Such a wonderful post for Mother's Day! I adore the precious photos of your daughters. And the recipe is fabulous, any dessert which includes citrus and is quick to make is divine!

  8. 5 stars
    Orange zest and coconut? What a delicious combo! Super easy, flavorful, full of aroma;excellent recipe Denise! Loved the pictures of your young ones!:)
    Lot's of love,
    Panos and Mirella
    xoxoxo

  9. 5 stars
    I'm very new into baking. And this is the kind of a recipe that a novice baker like me can deal with happily 🙂 Thanks a ton for the muffins and the pictures.

    The name of coconut and orange make my soul dance 🙂

    1. Nuzrat:
      It's so good to have you visiting again... Thank you for stopping by! I am glad to hear that's a combination that you enjoy... They are very easy to make. Just to let you know they are not fluffy as a regular muffin but ooey gooey and moist. It is like coconut custard pie without a crust.
      I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Wishing you a wonderful week!!! xx