Two golden pineapples purchased at the peak of ripeness. They  ventured to another city, carefully nestled in their own travel bag. Set on a foreign counter, they relaxed, observing the silly goings-on of a weekend vacation between friends, making it all the way to the end of the trip without being moved from their counter spot.

Back into their travel bag – their own magic carpet – to return to the home of the person who adopted them from the store. Another few days and these pineapples were running out of time. But it wasn’t too late.

When time runs out, let the rum flow out. Create a time capsule of flavor for this fruit to carry on.

Rum Soaked Pineapple

Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the tops and bottoms from the pineapples
Stand the pineapple up and carve the exterior away by guiding the knife with a gentle sawing motion from top to bottom, repeating this around the pineapple til the skin is removed
Cut the pineapple into vertical quarters
place each quarter on its side to slice away the core
Dice up the pineapple and pack into mason jars
Fill in with rum of choice, I used Don Q Gold
Tighten the mason jar lid and store in the refrigerator
I allowed to sit for a week before using one of the jars to make these luscious muffins

Pineapple Coconut RuMuffins

2 Cups AP Flour
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Stick Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
2 Eggs, Room Temperature
1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 Single-Serve Container of Pineapple Greek Yogurt,  5.3 oz (Plain is fine)
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 ¼ Cup Sweetened Coconut Flakes
1 Mason Jar of Rum Soaked Pineapple, Drained

Preheat oven to 350°F
Line Mini Muffin Tins with paper of choice (this recipe made 48 mini muffins, then I added slivered almonds to the rest of the batter and made 5 regular sized muffins)
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
Cream butter and brown sugar
Incorporate eggs one at a time
Add vanilla
Slowly sweep in the dry ingredients til just mixed
Depending on how small the pineapple was diced originally, it might be a good idea to make the chunks a little smaller, I used a fork and roughlt mashed the pieces in a bowl
Use a rubber spatula to fold in the pineapple followed by the coconut
Scoop into muffin tins and bake mini muffins for 10-12 minutes or regular muffins for 15-17 minutes

A virgin version of these muffins can be achieved with fresh or canned pineapple! Just as delicious, minus that rum punch.