Put the Lime in the Coconut

Had a couple of these for breakfast this morning. Lime, coconut, pineapple... they remind me of sitting on a beach, staring at blue ocean waves, sipping a margarita. Ooooh what a nice thought... just need to toss in a scantily clad hot cabana boy with a palm frond fan and that's one heck of a muffin ;)

Shelly's Margaritaville Protein Mini Muffins

3/4 cup Spelt Flour
1/2 cup Vanilla Protein Powder
1/4 cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
dash of Salt
1/2 cup Cottage Cheese (I used Pineapple Cottage Cheese)
1/2 cup Pineapple Chunks, well drained
3 Tablespoons Sugar Free Torani Syrup (I used SF Vanilla)
1 Egg, beaten

Topping
1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
1 teaspoon Sugar Free Lime Jello Powder, dry
4 Macadamia Nuts, crushed

Preheat oven to 350. Whiz in a mini food processor cottage cheese and pineapple till smooth.

Spray mini muffin tin with Pam and set aside. Mix all ingredients together till combined.

Spoon into muffin tin (a mini ice cream scoop works great) and sprinkle with a pinch of topping.

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Remove pans from oven. Allow to cool in the pan for 3 minutes. Transfer muffins to wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Store in a sealed container to keep them soft and moist. They freeze great too. Makes 24 mini muffins.