Category: recipes

Easy, delicious and healthy banana bran muffins with blueberries! These are a regular breakfast and afternoon snack in our house – I love that they’re so quick for me to whip up, and I usually have all the ingredients on hand! Plus the fact that they’re full of healthy fiber and sweetened mostly with bananas and blueberries! That wins extra mom points, right?

Back to school is in full swing! Charlotte isn’t in school yet, but a lot of her friends are, so I’ve been observing and trying to learn all of the tips and tricks because I know we will be there before I know it! I’ve partnered with some of my favorite bloggers for more back-to-school recipes – scroll to the bottom to check them out too!

As I child, I remember really looking forward to after school snacks! It was always soooo exciting when we came through the door, and smelled a freshly baked treat waiting for us. And these healthy banana bran muffins are the perfect after-school snack. Easy for busy schedules, delicious for the kiddos, and healthy for all of us! I made these this past weekend for a quick and easy breakfast, and they were gone in a flash!

Tools Needed To Make Healthy Banana Bran Muffins with Blueberries:

• Muffin Tin: I love this muffin tin! What you bake muffins in makes a big difference, because different materials conduct heat differently! This tin bakes super evenly, so my muffins (and cupcakes!) always come out more moist! That’s the goal!
• Mixing Bowls: I love this mixing bowl set for all my baking! It’s actually the only set I have in my kitchen right now, which is saying a lot since I bake alllll the time! There’s a perfect size for every task!
• Measuring Cups and Spoons: Another item where quality makes a difference! I’ve owned lots of measuring cups that bend when I scoop ingredients, and it’s so frustrating! This measuring cups and spoons set is strong, and will last you forever! I’ve had mine for about a decade and they’re still good as new!

Healthy Banana Bran Muffins with Blueberries

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Kirsten Bell
• Prep Time: 15 Minutes
• Cook Time: 25 Minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 12 Muffins 1x
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Baking

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Description

Quick, delicious and healthy banana bran muffins! Perfect for an easy breakfast on the go or afternoon snack!

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

1/3 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup bran cereal
2 bananas, mashed
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup blueberries

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and line a muffin tin with liners.

Combine the buttermilk, bran cereal and bananas in a large mixing bowl. Stir together, and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add the butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs to the banana mixture and whisk until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir until just combined. Gently stir in the blueberries.

Distribute the batter between the muffin tins, filling each to almost totally full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Allow to cool completely before removing from the liners. Enjoy!

---

More Back To School Recipe Ideas: 

• Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
• Healthy Egg and Vegetable Breakfast Bake
• Back To School Breakfast Table
•  Hidden Veggie Blueberry Muffins

More Recipes You’ll Love:

• Coconut Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats
• Pumpkin Muffins with Vanilla Chai Glaze
• Blueberry Banana Bread

Tools Used To Make Healthy Banana Bran Muffins:

If you love Pina Coladas (and getting caught in the rain), then I have the perfect cake for you today! A delicious, boozy Pina Colada cake. Moist layers of coconut cake with homemade bourbon pineapple curd between, and topped with bourbon coconut buttercream frosting. I mean, seriously. This cake is like a tropical cruise in a cake, and I am here for it!

Ok so you may be thinking – aren’t Pina Coladas usually made with rum? Yes, yes they are! But it turns out that Brown Sugar Bourbon Pina Coladas are just as delicious (possibly even more so!). I took one for the team and did a taste test, and might make all my Pina Coladas with this Brown Sugar Bourbon from now on!

If you’ve made any of my other cake recipes, you know that I’m not a fan of sickly sweet cakes. In the past I’ve tried coconut cakes that had way too much sugar for my taste, so I was on a mission to create a Pina Colada cake recipe with all the flavor, and less sugar. And the cherry on the top (see what I did there haha!) is the delicious Brown Sugar Bourbon (BSB) in both the pineapple curd and frosting. It’s sooooo good, and I love that hint of flavor throughout the whole cake!

Can we just take a minute to appreciate these gold sparkly cherries? I’m a tiny bit obsessed! The glitter is obviously optional, but suuuuper easy to add for an extra special decoration. And not just for decoration, since it’s edible! All of my assembly tips for this boozy pina colada cake are included in the notes section of the recipe below!

Quick Boozy Pina Colada Recipe Notes:

*You’ll notice that the cake calls for coconut milk. By this I mean the canned kind that you’ll most likely find in the Asian food section of your grocery store. (I used the brand Thai Kitchen.) When you open the can, you’ll see thick coconut cream on top – that’s the part you want to use since it has the most fat. One can should have enough for this recipe!

**The pineapple curd calls for pineapple juice – and this will need to be the canned version too. I found this in the juice section of my grocery store. For some reason only the canned version works – because of how bottled juice is normally preserved, from what I understand. If you use “normal” pineapple juice, (as in from a plastic bottle) the curd won’t thicken correctly.

How Do You Make Pina Colada Cake From Scratch?

• Let’s start with the coconut cake! This is a really easy and simple cake, with coconut flavor from coconut yogurt, coconut extract, and coconut flakes. We cream together our butter and our sugar, add in the remaining wet ingredients, and then add the dry ingredients. Pretty simple, right? And soooo delicious!
• Next up: Our pineapple curd! Curds are so easy to make on the stove, and have really incredible flavor. As in: your friends will be convinced you’re a culinary genius. Which you are, obviously! To make the pineapple curd, we just combine all the ingredients except the butter in a saucepan and let it thicken, adding the butter at the very end. The eggs do all the thickening for us! You can make this ahead of time, and store it in the fridge until you want to assemble your cake.
• Finally, coconut buttercream! I feel like I’m transported to a tropical place when I get a whiff of this frosting, which is honestly the goal! The key to a fluffy buttercream frosting is whipping it on high speed in the stand mixer (or with your hand mixer) for a few minutes to get lots of air into it!

Boozy Pina Colada Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Kirsten Bell
• Prep Time: 15 Minutes
• Cook Time: 30 Minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 16 Slices 1x
• Category: Cakes
• Method: Baking

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Description

A tropical cruise in a cake! This pina colada cake is fun, fruity and delicious!

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Coconut Cake Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons coconut extract
1/2 cup coconut full-fat yogurt
1/3 cup coconut milk*
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

BSB Pineapple Curd Ingredients:

1/2 cup pineapple juice (from a can)**
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar Bourbon
Small pinch of salt
3 tablespoons butter

BSB Coconut Buttercream Ingredients:

2 cups butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar Bourbon
2 teaspoons coconut extract
Maraschino cherries with stems for garnish (optional)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

Coconut Cake Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 6″ cake pans, and line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients, flour through salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, followed by the extracts, yogurt, and coconut milk. Mix until all the wet ingredients are incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Add the dry ingredients, mixing on the lowest speed until just combined. Stir in the coconut flakes, making sure to scrape down the sides again as the coconut likes to stick.

Distribute the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I like to use this scale to be sure each layer is exactly the same). Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.

Pineapple Curd Directions: 

Combine all the ingredients except the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, and stir in the butter a tablespoon at a time. The pineapple curd will continue to thicken as it cools.

Note the assembly directions below for tips on how to add the pineapple curd between each cake layer.

Bourbon Coconut Buttercream

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Add the Brown Sugar Bourbon and coconut extract. Beat on high speed for about 5 minutes.

---

Notes

I prefer to frost cold cakes – I find it easier and there are fewer crumbs. I wrap each cake layer in plastic wrap once they’ve come to room temp, and then let them sit in the fridge for at least a few hours so they’re cold when I’m ready to frost

To assemble with the pineapple curd between each layer of cake, frost an even layer of the buttercream on top of the first layer. Then pipe a border of frosting around the edge of the cake layer. Spoon the pineapple curd into the well that you just created. Repeat with the next layer, and then continue with your crumb coat. (And by the way, I’m posting a video to Instagram in a few days that will show exactly how to do this! Find me @thiscelebratedlife on Instagram to see it!

A crumb coat, if you haven’t heard of it before, is a thin layer of frosting to just seal in the crumbs before you fully frost the cake.

Once your cake is fully frosted, coat it in unsweetened coconut flakes (or sweetened if you prefer).

Top with cherries for a true Pina Colada look! If you want to create the same glitter look that I did here, lightly dry each Maraschino cherry, and then dip them in this edible gold glitter. Easy as that!

Looking For More Cake Recipes?

• Lemon Cake with Chocolate Ganache
• Chocolate Strawberry Cake
• Cookies and Cream Cake
• Fresh Key Lime Cake
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Tools Used In This Recipe:

Thank you to Heritage Distilling Co. for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinion are my own.