Coconut Cupcakes

Last weekend we went to our annual family Easter egg hunt and brunch. It's such a fun day and the kids always have a blast. Since they don't seem to get enough candy in their eggs and don't already have a sugar high by 10 am (wink wink) I thought I would help out and bring some cupcakes to share with everyone. Hey the adults need to feed their sugar monster too! I am a huge coconut fan, and for some reason I associate coconut with Easter and summer. I had to try out this coconut cupcake recipe from mybakingaddiction.com and with a few changes I think these were some pretty scrumptious cupcakes. I could seriously eat the frosting all by itself!

Coconut cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcake:

1 (18 ounce) box French Vanilla cake mix (I used Duncin Hines)
1 (3.4 ounce) package Jell-o Coconut Cream pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 tsp coconut extract
2/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting:

3 sticks of butter; softened 

1 1/2 tsp coconut extract

1/2 cup cream of coconut

2 lbs powdered sugar

4-6 TBSP heavy cream 

toasted coconut for garnishing 

Directions:

For the cupcake: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake tins with 24 liners. In a large bowl mix together cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs, coconut milk, and coconut extract. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in shredded coconut. 

Fill cupcake liners up 2/3rds full, approx 3 Tbsp. Bake in oven for 18-22 min or until toothpick comes out clean and tops of the cupcakes spring back if gently pressed on. Allow cupcakes to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Allow cupcakes to completely cool before frosting.   

For the frosting:

In a large bowl beat the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add in the powdered sugar until all 2 lbs have been mixed in. Add in cream of coconut and coconut extract. Slowly add in heavy cream 1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency is reached. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcake and garnish with toasted coconut. 

To toast the coconut evenly spread toasted coconut on a cookie sheet and allow to toast in the oven at 350 degrees for 5-8 minutes. 

Need a cute Easter cupcake? simply add Cadbury chocolate eggs to the top of these coconut cupcakes! So simple, yet so delicious!