Coconut Cupcakes
It’s almost Easter and these light and fluffy Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting are just what you need to make for that special day!
This recipe doesn’t require many ingredients and more than likely you have everything on hand except for the shredded coconut and coconut extract. Other than that, these cupcakes are easy to make and SO delicious!
You can either top these cupcakes with shredded coconut or you can toast the coconut and make little nests. To toast the coconut, preheat oven to 350ºF and spread shredded coconut out on a baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes until it’s lightly golden brown. You want to keep a close eye on this because it can burn very easily.
The first time I made the nests, I used some of the leftover frosting, dyed it blue and piped little eggs on the cupcakes. The next time I made them, I found pastel colored chocolate eggs at the store and it was so much easier! You can find the chocolate eggs here, here and here.
Here are some of my other favorite Easter recipes:
Happy Baking!
Coconut Cupcakes
Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1/2 cup full fat sour cream
- 1 cup shredded coconut, sweetened
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- One 8 ounce block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Shredded coconut for topping
- Decorative candy or food coloring to make eggs
Instructions:
How to cook Coconut Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a muffin pan with liners.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until combined. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the vanilla extract, coconut extract and sour cream and beat to combine.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until just combined, being careful not to over-mix the batter. Stir in the shredded coconut until combined.
- Using a large ice cream scoop, evenly divide batter into the prepared cupcake pan (it should make 12-14 cupcakes). Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool on a wire rack completely before frosting.
- In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat together the softened butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add in the confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, coconut extract and salt and beat until it's light and fluffy.
- Pipe or frost the cupcakes and top with shredded coconut. If you're wanting to make the nests, toast the shredded coconut in the oven at 350ºF for 8-10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes until lightly golden brown. Let the toasted coconut cool completely before sprinkling on top. Pipe or frost the cupcakes and then top with toasted coconut and either use pastel colored chocolate eggs or pipe eggs in the nests.
- Store cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before eating. Enjoy!