Easter Coconut Cupcakes Recipe

Easter has all manner of food traditions associated with it, ranging from hot cross buns to the ubiquitous jelly beans. The sweets tend to be pastel, pretty, and plentiful, with a wide array of Easter candy at the center of the celebrations. Those candies are put to fun and festive use in our Easter coconut cupcakes, which might just be a coconut-lover's dream come true. As recipe developer Katie Rosenhouse describes her latest creation, "These cupcakes are super easy to prep, with a triple dose of coconut flavor by way of coconut milk, shredded coconut, and coconut extract. They're light, fluffy, and nicely balanced by the cream cheese frosting."

The real joy, however, comes when you're decorating the cupcakes. "The fun of these are in the toppings, which are easy to bring together but impressive enough to be a real hit at your next Easter gathering." Rosenhouse opted to fashion adorable bunny ears out of candy melts, and to fill her "nests" with bright pastel eggs, but you could turn to jelly beans or Jordan almonds, or any of your favorite treats from your Easter basket. Of course, coconut lovers don't have to wait till Easter to enjoy these cupcakes. "Coconut cupcakes are always a crowd-pleaser, so leave off the Easter toppings, and they can be enjoyed year-round."

The cupcake batter is made from butter, granulated sugar, egg whites, coconut extract, flour, baking powder, salt, coconut milk, and sour cream. Additional ingredients needed for the frosting include cream cheese and powdered sugar, while you'll also need shredded coconut for topping.

One note on the coconut milk: The canned kind is what's called for here. Using the thinner coconut milk that comes out of a carton might alter the texture of the cupcakes to some extent.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Line a standard cupcake pan with liners. Set it aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until smooth and combined.

Beat in the egg whites, one at a time, until incorporated.

Add the coconut extract, flour, baking powder, salt, coconut milk, and sour cream, and beat until uniform.

Portion the batter evenly between the cupcake liners.

Bake for 14-16 minutes or until the cupcakes spring back to the touch.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

If desired, to prepare the bunny ears, cut 3-4-inch-wide strips of parchment paper.

Use a small paring knife to swipe melted white candy melts onto the parchment to look like bunny ears.

Let stand until set, then top with an inner layer of melted pink candy melts.

Let stand until firm.

To prepare the buttercream, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy.

Add the cream cheese and beat to combine.

Add the confectioners' sugar, salt, and extract; beat until smooth and pipeable.

Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star tip (or use a spoon or small spatula) and use it to top the cupcakes decoratively.

Top the cupcakes with toasted coconut and bunny ears or Easter candy eggs as desired.

Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.

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If you have a lot on your plate ahead of the Easter holiday, you can check one thing off your to-do list early: preparing the cupcakes in advance. The cupcakes themselves can be baked, cooled to room temperature, and then refrigerated for two days or frozen for longer storage. The frosting, too, can be made up to four days before using and refrigerated until needed. You may need to beat it again once it softens up, though, to restore some of the fluff. If you'll be making decorations — like these rabbit ears — out of candy melts, these can be wrapped in paper and refrigerated for two weeks without any noticeable deterioration in appearance or flavor.

You can frost the cupcakes and apply any desired decorations up to a day in advance, if need be. Doing it on the day itself, however, will see them at their freshest and prettiest (and might be something family and friends can have some fun with). Leftover cupcakes will be fine in the fridge for up to four days. It's okay to freeze them, as well, since the cream cheese-coconut frosting is sturdy enough that it shouldn't suffer too much from the freeze-thaw cycle.

There are a number of different ways to change up these cupcakes, including repurposing them for different holidays or occasions. (Easter, after all, doesn't have a monopoly on coconut.) A few additions can change the whole flavor profile, as well. Add almond extract to the batter and slivered almonds and shaved chocolate to the topping, and you'll have Almond Joy cupcakes. Go with pineapple and rum extracts and chopped dried pineapple for a piña colada effect. Passion fruit puree and lime zest can also be added for a more unusual tropical twist.

You can also add a few drops of food coloring to the coconut for a festive effect or, if you won't be using a piping bag, simply mix the coconut into the frosting and color both together. In keeping with the Easter theme, you could go with green to make the coconut resemble Easter basket grass, while green would also work for St. Patrick's Day. Tint it pink for Valentine's Day, blue for a wintertime "snowball" theme, or divvy it up and tint it all the colors of the rainbow to make cupcakes perfect for Pride Month.

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