Are your taste buds ready to travel to the tropics from the comfort of your kitchen? Then preheat your oven and get ready for the easiest, creamiest Coconut Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.
A combination of coconut milk and sweetened coconut flakes intensify the rich flavor of these cupcakes, which do double duty as dessert and tabletop décor thanks to the addition of pretzel palm trees. Tangy cream cheese frosting helps secure the graham cracker crumb sand in place, and blue cupcake wrappers give the illusion of tiny edible islands floating atop the sea.
You may recognize the concept of pretzel trees as cupcake toppers from my go-to holiday recipe for Christmas Tree Cupcakes. Add these coconut cupcakes to your dessert repertoire and show-stopping cupcakes can now be on your dessert table be it summer or winter.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup coconut milk (full fat)
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
For the frosting:
- 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
- Pretzel rods
- Green candy melts
- Green sprinkles
- Equipment: piping bag
Instructions
Make the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. (Use blue liners if you want to mimic the ocean.)
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set it aside.
- In a liquid measuring cup, stir together the coconut milk, egg whites and vanilla extract. Set it aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Alternately add the dry and wet ingredients in 3 increments, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat the batter just until combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Stir in the coconut then divide the batter equally into 12 cups in the muffin tin. Bake the cupcakes for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool for 5 minutes in the pan then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting and pretzel palm trees.
Make the frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract then sift in the powdered sugar and beat just until combined. Set the frosting aside.
- Line two baking sheets with wax paper. Melt the candy melts according to the package directions then transfer them to a piping bag.
- Break the pretzel rods in half then arrange six of them on each baking sheet, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Snip off the tip of the piping bag then pipe the candy melts onto the pretzel rods in the shape of palm tree leaves, ensuring you cover the tip of the pretzel rods so the leaves stay attached to the pretzel. Immediately top the candy melts with the sprinkles. Refrigerate the palm trees for 5 minutes until the candy melts are fully set.
- When ready to serve, spread a portion of the cream cheese frosting on the cooled cupcakes. Top the frosting with the crushed graham cracker sand. Use an offset spatula to carefully release the palm trees from the baking sheet. Push the bottom of the pretzel rod palm trees into the frosting. Serve immediately.
Kelly’s Notes:
- The cupcakes, frosting and palm trees can be made a day in advance then assembled right before serving.
- Candy melts can be found at baking supply stores as well as craft stores such as Michael’s.
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Cupcake recipe adapted from Food.com. Cupcake toppers created by Kelly Senyei of Just a Taste. Please do not reprint this recipe without my permission. If you'd like to feature this recipe on your site, please rewrite the method of preparation and link to this post as the original source.
I made these for a beach-themed party. They were a huge hit! And delicious :)
Hi, instead of candy melts, cld i use white chocolate for the deco?
Hi there! The chocolate likely won’t hold up as well as the candy melts.
We had to bake something with a Charleston theme for an event for my son – this was perfect! And really delicious…
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Diane!
These are so cute!! The kids in my family will love them! Thanks for sharing this one!
Danielle
Thanks, Danielle! I hope you all enjoy the recipe!
I mean, could these be ANY cuter?! Love the coconut!
Can I use self raising flour? How much should I use for making a dozen cupcakes? I’ll have to eliminate the baking powder then right?
Hi there! I’ve never tried used self-rising flour so I can’t say with certainty how this recipe would turn out.
What a perfect dessert for a beach bbq. Love these!