Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
These coconut cupcakes are the perfect blend of fluffy, soft, and moist. They're topped off with a mouthwatering lime cream cheese frosting, and absolutely perfect for any summer celebrations!
Servings: 24 servings
Calories: 254kcal
Ingredients
Coconut cupcakes
- 16.25 oz box white cake mix not one with pudding added
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup canned full fat coconut milk
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 tsp coconut extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Lime cream cheese frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 2 Tbsp lime juice fresh is best (from about 1 lime)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Garnishes (optional)
- shredded coconut
- lime zest
- lime slices
- holiday sprinkles
Instructions
Prepare
- Preheat oven to 350°F, then line two 12 count muffin pans with cupcake liners. Set aside.
Mix cupcake batter
- In a large mixing bowl, add cake mix, eggs, water, coconut milk, shredded coconut, coconut extract, and vanilla extract. Whisk or beat with a hand mixer (on low or medium speed), until just combined.
- Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners (using a cookie scoop is super helpful), filling them about 2/3 of the way full. You'll want roughly 1/4 cup of batter in each cupcake liner.
Bake
- Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
Cool
- Remove from the oven and carefully transfer cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Make frosting
- Add cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a mixing bowl (and use a hand mixer), and beat on MED speed until smooth. This shouldn't take that long.
- Add lime juice, vanilla extract, and add salt. Beat again until combined.
- Add in powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing on a low speed to prevent the sugar from flying out of the mixer. Mix until combined.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium, and beat for another 2 - 3 minutes or until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.
Adjust frosting if needed
- If the texture is really stiff, add some more lime juice, beating together until combined. If the texture is too soft, feel free to add up to about 1/2 cup more sifted powdered sugar.
Frost the cupcakes and garnish
- Transfer frosting to piping bag fitted with desired decorating tip (or a resealable plastic bag with the corner snipped off - or just frost with a small rubber spatula or butter knife), and once the cupcakes are completely cooled, pipe swirls of frosting onto cupcakes.
- Garnish as desired and serve.
Notes
- This cupcake recipe makes 24 cupcakes, which you can divide into as many servings as you'd like.
- This frosting recipe makes approximately 2 cups of frosting.
- If you like a LOT of frosting on your cupcakes, or you'd like to fill them, I recommend doubling just the frosting recipe.
- Don't use white cake mix that has pudding added to the mix.
- Make sure you're using full fat coconut milk from a can, not a carton. Give the milk a stir once you open the can, as it may have separated during storage. It should be the thickness and consistency of yogurt.
Nutrition
Calories: 254kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 138mg | Potassium: 69mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 289IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 1mg