Our Tasty Coconut Cupcakes make the perfect Easter dessert! Light and fluffy coconut cake with creamy coconut frosting. Dye the coconut green for darling Easter basket cupcakes!
Tasty Coconut Cupcakes
Coconut Cupcakes are definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. I LOVE all things coconut, and these Tasty Coconut Cupcakes are basically a coconut lover’s dream! Fluffy cake with sweetened coconut flakes topped with pillowy creamy cheese coconut frosting… oh my goodness! Nothing tastes better, I promise. Add a sprinkling of coconut on top and you have a delightful springtime treat that’s perfect to take along on a spring picnic or serve after Easter dinner. Read on to see how to decorate these cupcakes into darling Easter baskets which is such a fun project to involve your children or surprise them on Easter morning.
Suggestions for this Recipe
- Make sure that when is says, “softened” or “room temperature” that you stick to that! The batter will come out SO much smoother if everything is at room temperature, especially butter and cream cheese.
- Do not over-mix the batter! Mix it well enough to combine the ingredients, but then stop. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl very frequently to make sure there aren’t any surprises when you start scooping the batter into the liners.
- It is VERY important that you don’t overfill the liners. I used my melon-baller to scoop the batter in, and that was just the right amount, but you could use a small cookie or ice cream scoop as well.
- To frost, use a thick round tip on your piping bag. Or just use a knife and slather it on top. The great news is you’re going to cover it all with coconut so it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Easter Cupcakes
Looking for simple yet sweet Easter cupcake ideas? You can easily create fun Easter Cupcakes with this recipe. For the Easter grass, just add a drop or two (you can always add more) of green food coloring to a bowl of coconut flakes and stir until the coconut is all tinted green. Sprinkle the green coconut onto the cupcakes. Use jelly beans, Cadbury mini eggs,M&Ms or any of your favorite Easter candy to the top to make the cupcakes look like little Easter egg baskets. They’re so fun to make and even more fun to eat!
More Coconut Recipes
We are big coconut fans and we use coconut in a lot of our recipes. Here are some other coconut favorites:
- Coconut Cream Pie
- Coconut Cake with Coconut Frosting
- Gluten Free Blackberry Pancakes with Coconut Yogurt Syrup
- Coconut Macaroon Cookies
- Caribbean Coconut Fudge Bars
- Coconut Lime Cheesecake Bars
- Coconut Pecan Cookie Bars
- Pani Popo (Samoan Coconut Rolls)
How to Make Tasty Coconut Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups butter softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut, divided in half
For the frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 pound powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about five minutes.
- While mixing on low, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each egg.
- Add vanilla and almond extract and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk to the batter, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Fold in 1/2 of the coconut.
- Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full. DO NOT OVERFILL. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.
- While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. Cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Mix until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar a little at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Mix until desired consistency.
- Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with remaining coconut.
