Coconut Cream Cupcakes

I LOVE coconut anything so when I found this recipe for Coconut Cream Cupcakes I knew I had to make them. Mind you, these are not low calorie, healthy, yada yada yada BUT if you are treating yourself, this is a great way to do that.

 I like to use a cookie dough scoop to get the batter in the cupcake papers.  Two scoops, no mess, no drips, no clean up of your pan.

 Another benefit to using a cookie dough scoop is that they all turn out perfectly uniform and they all bake evenly.

 I wanted to tint some of the coconut so I put the coconut in 1/2 pint jars, added a few drops of food coloring, put the lids on and shook them well.

Then if you have left over, tinted coconut, you can just put on the lid and save it for another time without wasting it.

 After piping on the frosting, I immediately sprinkled the coconut on before the frosting hardened too much.

 These cupcakes came out moist, light and fluffy.  This is definitely going to be a "keeper" recipe for me.

You can click on the link at the top of the post but here is the recipe as well:

Coconut extract is added for an extra boost of coconut flavor. If you don’t have any, substitute vanilla but I highly recommend the coconut extract.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup coconut milk or regular milk (Again, I highly recommend the coconut milk)

Frosting (recipe follows) and shredded coconut, for decorating

Coconut Frosting:

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup coconut milk or regular milk
• 1 tsp coconut extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar for a few minutes, until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each. Beat in the vanilla.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add about a third to the butter mixture, beating on low speed just until combined. Add half the coconut milk in the same manner, then another third of the flour mixture, the rest of the coconut milk and the rest of the flour. It may look curdled at some point -this is OK.

Fill the prepared muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for 15-18 minutes, until pale golden and springy to the touch. Meanwhile, to make the frosting: beat the butter and half the confectioners’ sugar until smooth; add half the coconut milk, then the rest, and the extract, and the rest of the confectioners’ sugar, beating until you have a slightly stiff frosting. Cool completely before frosting. Sprinkle with coconut immediately as the frosting will set up and become too hard for the coconut to stick if you wait.  Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes.