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Spring has finally sprung, and what better way to celebrate than with these deliciously colorful Easter cupcakes.
These cupcakes make a tasty addition to your Easter dinner. Also, make sure to check out our full list of cakes and cupcakes for more sweet recipes.
Easter Cupcakes
These easy Easter Cupcakes are not only cute, but delicious too! Fluffy cake with sweetened coconut flakes topped with pillowy cream cheese coconut frosting… oh my goodness! Nothing tastes better, I promise. These cupcakes are a delightful springtime treat that’s perfect to take along on a spring picnic, enjoy after an egg hunt, or serve after Easter dinner. Continue reading below to see how to decorate these cupcakes into darling Easter treats. They are so easy, my kids can help with the decorating!
Bird’s Nest Cupcakes
To make bird’s nest Easter cupcakes, frost the cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting. Then, 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. After the coconut is all green, then sprinkle it onto the cupcakes. Finally, for your “easter eggs”, add jelly beans, Cadbury mini eggs, M&Ms or any of your favorite Easter candy to the top to make the cupcakes look like little nests. They’re so fun to make and even more fun to eat!
Easter Bunny Cupcakes
For the Easter Bunny cupcakes, you’ll need sweetened shredded coconut, marshmallows, a small bowl of pink sprinkles, and also a pair of sharp scissors. Start by frosting the cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Then, cut a marshmallow in half diagonally and push the sticky side of each half into the pink sprinkles. Then press both marshmallows, pointy side up, into the top of the cupcake. Finally, sprinkle the rest of the cupcake with coconut flakes. These Easter cupcakes are a hit with the kids.
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 your Easter cupcakes, 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.
FAQ
Yes! This easy cupcake recipe can be made even easier by using a cake mix. You can make vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, lemon cupcakes, or even carrot cake cupcakes! Whatever flavor you make, your guests are going to love these adorable and delicious cupcakes.
No, you can use any frosting recipe that you like, as long as it is thick enough to stay on top of the cupcake and hold the decorations. I have used buttercream frosting for these cupcakes before and they have come out great.
I would suggest using a stand mixer or a hand mixer for this recipe because you want all your ingredients to be really smooth and it is difficult to achieve that by hand.
More Coconut Recipes
In case you haven’t noticed, we are big coconut fans and we use coconut in a lot of our recipes. If you love these Easter cupcakes with coconut, then try some of our other favorite coconut recipes!
Coconut Cream Pie 
Caribbean Coconut Fudge Bars 
Coconut Cream Cake 
GF Pancakes with Coconut Syrup
- Coconut Cream Pie
- 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)
- Coconut Cake with Coconut Frosting
More Easter Dessert Recipes
If you’ve already tried our Easter cupcakes and you are looking for another sweet Easter treat, then try one of our other favorites!
Classic Carrot Cake 
Bunny Cake 
Carrot Bundt Cake 
Cadbury Mini Eggs Cookies
- Classic Carrot Cake
- Easter Bunny Cake
- Carrot Cake Cookies
- Chocolate Bird’s Nests
- Cadbury Mini Eggs Cookies
- Homemade Reese’s Peanut Butter Easter Eggs
- Carrot Bundt Cake
How to Make Easter Cupcakes
Easter 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
For Decorations
- cadbury mini eggs
- large marshmallows
- pink sprinkles
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 ½ 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.
- Once the cupcakes are completely cool, frost them with a piping bag or knife.
- To make bird’s nest cupcakes, add a drop or two of green food coloring to a bowl of the remaining coconut flakes and stir until the coconut is all tinted green. Sprinkle the green coconut onto the cupcakes and shape into a nest. Add Cadbury mini eggs to the nest.
- To make Easter bunny cupcakes, cut a marshmallow in half diagonally and push the sticky side of each half into the pink sprinkles. Then press both marshmallows, pointy side up, into the top of the cupcake. Sprinkle with the remaining coconut flakes.
Nutrition Information
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What adorable cupcakes! I will be making these for Easter this year!
You had me at coconut! These cupcakes are going to be such a perfect dessert for a baby shower I’m hosting!
I can’t believe it’s already time to be thinking about Easter! I love coconut & the hint of almond in the frosting!
Yummy! My family and I are going to love these cupcakes! I can’t wait to make these with my daughter!
does this recipe actually work? scale of 1 – 10 . 1being the worst and 10bengthe best. please be honest even though you created this recipe.
What exactly do you mean by “work”? Every time we have made these they have worked perfectly. We think they taste great! They are some of my favorite cupcakes.
All purpose flour or cake flour?
Salted or unsalted butter?
We just used all-purpose but cake flour would be wonderful. We typically almost always used salted butter. Hope this helps!
What equates to a stick of butter.
A stick of butter is 1/2 cup. Hope this helps!
How many cupcakes does this recipe make?
l cant wait till l try this recipe .love to cook, ela vermont