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Dreamy Coconut Cupcakes

These dreamy coconut cupcakes are moist and packed with shredded coconut both inside and out and frosted with a delicious cream cheese buttercream. Plus lots of options to customize it to your personal preferences!

An assortment of coconut cupcakes topped with coconut in red cupcake liners

Coconut. You either love it or hate it. For me, coconut has it’s place. I love it in certain foods, but not in others. For example, coconut shrimp. Eh, it’s oaky. But the Professor loves it.

Now. coconut cupcakes, bars and cookies? YUM! Pina coladas? Pour me a glass!

Coconut oil? Eh. When you cook with it, your food tastes like coconut! You know I prefer my extra virgin olive oil!

Why is this recipe so great?

When I first made these coconut cupcakes, I followed Ina Garten’s recipe. She uses butter as the cupcake base and yes, it was quite delicious. But I prefer baking with olive oil, so I’ve adapted the recipe.

This cupcakes are full of coconut flavor in the cupcake and topped over the dreamy cream cheese frosting. These are also baked with yogurt instead of buttermilk because I always have yogurt on hand. Yogurt makes these cupcakes incredibly moist.

They are really easy to make and not the usual run-of-the-mill chocolate and vanilla cupcake. I mean chocolate has a special place in my heart, but sometimes you want something different.

And different doesn’t mean difficult or expensive or boring. Just delicious sweet coconut goodness that are perfect for a picnic, birthday party or even a swanky cocktail party.

Ingredients you need

Labeled ingredients for coconut cupcakes

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You can make just the cupcakes and frost them with regular buttercream or store-bought frosting. You can also use the cream cheese frosting for any of your cupcake recipes.

Cupcake Ingredients

Frosting Ingredients

Closeup of several coconut cupcakes topped with coconut in red cupcake liners

Recipe Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Using a hand mixer or whisk, combine olive oil and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

A bowl of olive oil with sugar and a rubber spatula and bowl of shredded coconut next to it

2. Mix in yogurt and milk until thoroughly combined.

Adding yogurt and milk to coconut cupcake batter

3. Add eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract.

Adding eggs and vanilla to coconut cupcake batter

4. In a medium sized bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

5. Add the flour mixture into the oil mixture and whisk until just combined. Over mixing can cause the cupcakes to be dense.

Adding flour mixture to coconut cupcake batter

6. Fold in the unsweetened shredded coconut.

Adding shredded coconut to coconut cupcake batter

7. Spray a 24-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray or line with paper cups. Fill each muffin cup ¾ up to the top with batter.

A bowl full of coconut cupcake batter with a cupcake pan filled with red cupcake liners and some filled with batter

8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in a 350ºF oven, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Overhead view of a cupcake pan filled with coconut cupcake batter

9. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the pan and finish cooling on a cooling rack.

10. To make the frosting, use a stand mixer or hand mixer and whip up butter and cream cheese until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

11. Mix in heavy cream, vanilla and almond extract.

12. Add powdered sugar and mix on low speed until smooth.

13. Frost cooled cupcakes any way you like, with a piping bag or a knife.

Overhead view of a cupcake pan filled with yellow cupcakes with half of them frosted

14. Top with sweetened shredded coconut.

Overhead view of a cupcake pan filled with coconut cupcakes frosted and topped with shredded coconut

Expert Tips and Recipe FAQS

When mixing up any cake or cupcake batter, the key is not to over mix the batter once the flour is added. This can make the cupcakes dense and tough.

What can I substitute buttermilk with?

The acid in both buttermilk and yogurt helps the leavening and create a light and fluffy dessert. If you have a recipe using buttermilk, you can substitute every 1 cup of buttermilk with ¾ cup Greek yogurt and ¼ cup milk. If you don’t have yogurt on hand, you can also use sour cream or crème fraîche.

Can I use unsweetened shredded coconut instead of sweetened?

It all depends on how much sugar you want in your cupcakes. Since the cupcakes are already sweet, I personally preferred unsweetened coconut. But for the top of the cupcakes, I like sweetened coconut. You can toss your unsweetened coconut with some powdered sugar to sweeten them.

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Yield: 24 cupcakes

Dreamy Coconut Cupcakes

An assortment of coconut cupcakes topped with coconut in red cupcake liners

These dreamy coconut cupcakes are moist and packed with shredded coconut both inside and out and frosted with a delicious cream cheese buttercream. Plus lots of options to customize it to your personal preferences!

Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Additional Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cup granulated sugar
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup yogurt
  • ½ cup milk
  • 7 oz unsweetened shredded coconut
  • ¾ lb unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 lb cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 ½ lb powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 TBS heavy whipping cream or milk
  • 4 oz sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 350ºF Spray a 24-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray or line with paper cups. Set aside.
    2. Using a hand mixer or whisk, combine olive oil and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
    3. Mix in yogurt and milk until just combined.
    4. Add eggs, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 ½ teaspoon almond extract until just combined.
    5. In a medium-sized bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to the batter.
    6. Gently fold in unsweetened coconut.
    7. Fill each muffin cup ¾ up to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
    8. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the pan and finish cooling on a cooling rack.
    9. To make the frosting, use a stand mixer or hand mixer and whip up butter and cream cheese until fluffy.
    10. Mix in heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla and ½ teaspoon almond extract.
    11. Mix in powdered sugar on low speed until smooth.
    12. Frost cooled cupcakes and top with remaining sweetened coconut.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.

If you prefer baking with butter, then use ¾ lb of butter (1 cup) instead of olive oil. If you prefer baking with coconut oil and want more coconut flavor, use 1 cup of coconut oil.

I preferred using unsweetened coconut baked inside the cupcakes as I felt the cupcakes were sweet enough. You can use sweetened coconut, if you prefer sweeter cupcakes.

For the frosting, you can substitute coconut oil for butter or cream cheese or both. It all depends on the flavor you are looking for.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 621Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 97mgSodium: 198mgCarbohydrates: 63gFiber: 2gSugar: 48gProtein: 6g

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