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Pineapple Muffins

Pineapple Muffins

Pineapple doesn’t make it into my baked goods very often. This is partially because it is a little bit inconvenient to chop up a whole pineapple for just a cup or so of chopped fruit and partially because I just don’t have that many recipes for it. But this is a shame because pineapple is a fruit that cooks very well. Roasted pineapple, a great summertime dessert, is sweet and tender, and pineapple baked into a muffin, bread or cake turns out the same way.

Since I had some leftover pineapple in my fridge (from a time I was feeling motivated to cut up a whole, spiny fruit), I decided to take my own advice and bake it into something for a snack. The result was pineapple muffins. These muffins are moist and tender, and the small chunks of fresh pineapple seem to triple in sweetness as the muffins bake, giving the finished treats a great tropical taste.

I added a little bit of shredded coconut and a little bit of orange zest to these muffins to highlight the pineapple flavor. The coconut adds a little bit of texture to the muffins and definitely brings out the tropical-ness of the pineapple. The orange zest brings out the citrusy notes of the pineapple, making the whole muffin taste brighter. Lemon or lime zest would make a great substitution, too.

Serve these muffins while they’re still slightly warm with a little bit of butter. They make a great snack in the afternoon, but are easy enough to make (as long as you have some pineapple on hand) that they are well worth the effort of getting up a few minutes early so you can bake a batch for breakfast.

Pineapple Muffins
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup buttermilk
6 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
2 tsp orange zest
1 cup chopped pineapple
coarse sugar, for topping

Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and shredded coconut.
In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, melted butter egg and orange zest. Add to flour mixture and stir to combine, mixing only until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Stir in chopped pineapple.
Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups (cups will be very full) and sprinkle generously with coarse sugar.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Cook muffins on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 12 muffins.

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22 Comments
  • Tina from PA
    May 26, 2010

    Wow, I never thought to put fresh pineapple in any baked goods! [ I guess that’s why you have a blog & I don’t . LOL.]These look awesome! Will be making these wonderful looking treats this weekend. Thank You for sharing a great idea !

  • Linda
    May 26, 2010

    They sound amazing. I love pineapple anything (other than fake flavoring) and coconut too–sounds like a dream muffin. I will have to try it when I get one of those pineapples as well. 🙂 Thanks for another great idea!

  • Amanda
    May 26, 2010

    Definitely sounds like a winner. I always have fresh pineapple handy for my green smoothies. Bed,bath and Beyond has a pineapple corer that takes all the fuss out of cutting up a pineapple..I love it!

  • I think I might make these as cupcakes and put some coconut frosting with toasted coconut on top. Yum!!

  • Belinda @zomppa
    May 26, 2010

    I’m glad the pineapple got it here today!

  • Kitchen Corner
    May 26, 2010

    My first time see this pineapple muffins. I’ve never think of pineapple can be added into muffins. That’s a good idea! Thanks for sharing.

  • Dawna
    May 26, 2010

    How lovely! I am a big fan of pineapple coffeecake, myself. Fresh pineapple adds such tenderness to any batter. I’ll have to try your muffins with my next leftover pineapple.

  • Ari
    May 26, 2010

    How well do you think these would turn out with canned pineapple? I’d love to be able to make these out of season. I might try them this week, since the cafeteria at my uni has fresh cut pineapple I can snag (saves me the trouble of cutting it myself!).

  • Kristel
    May 26, 2010

    Thanks for another great recipe! I’m pregnant and on a citrus kick at the moment, so we’ve got plenty of pineapple to spare in the house. I plan on baking these this weekend. =)

  • pinoypen
    May 27, 2010

    yeah. It is really burdensome troubling getting a pineapple peeled and chopped and at the end getting only a handful of flesh. LOL. However, it is worth it since pineapples are very rich in fiber. Well, that is what I always think every time I peel a pineapple.

  • Patricia Scarpin
    May 27, 2010

    Oh, Nic, one of my top favorite fruits – I made little cakes with pineapple the other day and they turned out so moist, yum! I bet your muffins are delicious.

  • Lori @ RecipeGirl
    May 27, 2010

    I love it! I never think to do a tropical sort of muffin. This sounds great.

  • Sarah S.
    May 27, 2010

    I baked these last night – subbed out 1 cup flour for whole wheat flour, and an additional half-cup for wheat germ, per usual for baked goods in our house. Added a bit of additional moisture from some leftover coconut milk and the juice from the pineapple – and yum. very moist, flavorful muffins.

  • Sally599
    May 27, 2010

    Pineapple and blueberry muffins are even better.

  • caroline
    May 27, 2010

    I have a hard time using up a whole fresh pineapple, so mine often makes its way into baked goods such as these cupcakes.

  • Paula
    May 28, 2010

    oh, I`m gonna to do these muffins!

  • Lisa
    April 24, 2012

    This recipe sounds great! I have leftover pineapple right now and was searching for a recipe like this to help me us it up. Thanks!

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