Feijoa Coconut Muffins

A wholesome muffin for feijoa season

Every Kiwi knows the moment. One week you’re excitedly spotting the first feijoas of the season; the next your entire kitchen bench looks like a fruit bowl exploded. They arrive by the bagful from neighbours, grandparents, workmates, while that one overachieving tree down the road seems to drop a fresh load of fruit straight onto the footpath every day you walk past. It’s abundance at its finest… until suddenly they’re taking over the fridge, developing brown spots, and demanding immediate attention.

These healthy feijoa muffins are a great Sunday bake for the week ahead, and are the kind of muffin that disappears quickly in our house. Grabbed for breakfast on the run (the smell wafting out of the oven is enough to get anyone out of bed), stuffed into lunchboxes, or eaten warm with a tea in hand during that momentary 3pm lull.

Feijoas and coconut are such a dreamy pairing here. The feijoas bring that sweet-tangy tropical flavour they’re famous for, while the coconut adds richness and just enough sweetness to make these feel like a treat without needing loads of sugar. I’ve sweetened them entirely with dates, kept them dairy and egg free, and included a gluten-free option too, because the Nutritionist and Naturopath in me gets a strange kick out of from making healthy cooking taste incredible too.

The result is a muffin that’s fluffy, wholesome, lightly spiced, and momentarily whips you out of Autumn and transports you to a tropical paradise.

If you’re deep in feijoa season, make the most of your bake-session by making this Feijoa Crumble Cake too. Or if you want to dabble in the world of fruit-in-salad (not to be confused with fruit salad), try my Feijoa, Walnut & Caramelised Onion Salad.

What you’ll need

• Fresh or frozen feijoas. Yes, you can freeze those pesky excess fruits. They’re not great eaten raw after defrosting, but in these muffins – perfection. Otherwise pick your ripest fruit from the fridge or bench.
• Dates. Not the fancy Medjools. I try where possible to avoid Medjools unless absolutely necessary, as they often cost four times the price of regular ones. Soaking regular dates in hot water is the cheap man’s way of turning them into juicy Medjools (well, almost). They bring caramel sweetness, fibre, and help keep these muffins naturally sweetened.
• Chia seeds. These form a simple plant-based binder with water. If you don’t have chia, flaxseed works just as well.
• Wholemeal spelt flour (or GF option). For a gluten-free option, you can use ¾ cup buckwheat flour + ¾ cup brown rice flour + ½ cup tapioca flour, OR 1 cup buckwheat flour + 1 cup brown rice flour + 1 tsp guar gum, instead of the wholemeal spelt flour. Or your favourite GF flour mix. Spelt gives a softer, more rustic muffin if you tolerate gluten.
• Coconut milk + coconut oil. Adds moisture, richness, and that subtle coconut sweetness that works beautifully with feijoas.
• Coconut chips. For texture and that lightly toasted topping.The other star of this recipe is coconut. I love using coconut based products in cooking, as they’re more heat stable than some other potential alternatives. For that reason, I’ve chosen to use coconut milk as my liquid, coconut oil as my binder, and coconut flakes to top. Coconut also has a wonderful natural sweetness to it which means we don’t need to add much sweetener to these at all, just a half cup of dates and our one cup of feijoas – just the right amount of sweetness.

Step-by-step: Feijoa Coconut Muffins

Kitchen notes

• Lightly sweet on purpose. These muffins are intentionally only lightly sweetened, which I personally love. If you want a slightly sweeter result, add 1–2 tbsp coconut sugar to the batter.
• No food processor? No problem. If you’d rather avoid blending dates, swap them for ¼ cup coconut sugar and add it in with the dry ingredients instead.
• No feijoas? Flex it. If you don’t have feijoas, use peaches, apricots, plums, pears, apples, or persimmons. This recipe is very much your “use what’s in the fruit bowl” muffin template.
• Don’t overmix. Keep it gentle. Muffin batter should just come together — overmixing = dense muffins, and we are not doing that.
• Consistency matters. Expect a thick batter. That’s exactly what gives these muffins their structure and fluff once baked.
• Extra flavour boost (optional). A few drops of cinnamon essential oil can take these from lovely to next level. If you’re curious about cooking with essential oils and their therapeutic benefits, I cover this in my introductory workshop.

Serving & storage

I love these wholesome sugar-free muffins warm, when the coconut is slightly toasted and the feijoas are soft and jammy inside. But they’re also great in lunchboxes (they hold up really well), busy mornings on the go (totally brekky-worthy), quite afternoon teas with a cuppa, or as a royally wholesome dessert with some vanilla greek yoghurt or ice cream on the side.

Store in a sealed container in the cupboard for 2 days (you can use the fridge instead but it makes them go a bit hard). Or freeze them for up to a month and reheat lightly in the microwave or oven.

If you love a good grab-and-go muffin that’s packed with both fruit and vege, try my Beetroot Blueberry Muffins next. Or have a nibble at the rest of my BGO healthy snacks collection.

V GF NF SF

Feijoa Coconut Muffins

These light and fruity muffins use one of my favourite fruits – feijoas! If you’re a feijoa fan you’ll love these (and if not, come to NZ to try them!) Vegan, dairy, egg, gluten and refined added sugar free.

5 from 1 vote

AuthorBuffy Ellen Gill

Servings 12

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 3 tbsp water

Dry

• 2 c wholemeal spelt flour (or gluten-free = ¾ c buckwheat flour, ¾ c brown rice flour + ½ c tapioca flour)
• ½ c dates
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp sea salt

Wet

• ¾ c coconut / soy milk
• ¼ c coconut oil , melted
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c feijoa , diced
• ½ to ¾ c coconut chips

To Top

• 2 tbsp coconut sugar (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 170°C / 350°F and grease a 12-cup regular muffin tin with extra coconut oil, or line with paper liners.
• Blitz the chia seeds in your food processor until they are semi ground (note that your processor probably won’t fully grind them, but that’s ok). Combine the ground chia seeds with water in a bowl, whisk together, and set aside to thicken.
• Next in a bowl whisk together the wet ingredients and set aside.
• In your food processor, add the dates and blend until they form a powder (it may be slightly sticky depending on how dry your dates are)
• Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the chia seed mixture with the wet ingredients.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Be careful not to over mix. Fold in the diced feijoa.
• Evenly divide the batter into the muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Sprinkle with the coconut flakes and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If desired, sprinkle lightly with the remaining sugar. Cool for 10 minutes, then place on a wire rack to finish cooling.
• Enjoy! These muffins will keep in a sealed container in the cupboard for up to a week, and you can also freeze them.

Nutrition Disclaimer

As a Registered Naturopath and Nutritionist, I create nutritionally-balanced recipes using whole food ingredients designed to support optimal health and wellbeing. While I encourage an intuitive approach to eating, I also recognise the value of understanding calories and macronutrients as tools to build awareness around your intake. This awareness can be helpful in aligning your nutrition with your personal health goals.

Please note: all nutritional information provided is an estimate only. Variations will occur depending on the specific brands used, recipe adjustments, and portion sizes consumed. If you have individual dietary needs or health conditions, I recommend booking a personalised consultation for tailored advice.

Nutrition

Calories: 191kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 3gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 105mgPotassium: 198mgFiber: 4gSugar: 7gVitamin C: 7.1mgCalcium: 47mgIron: 1.4mg

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