Toasted Coconut Cupcakes

A guest post by Leah Bergman of Freutcake.

I was honored when asked by Please Note to be a guest blogger and share one of my recipes with you. I thought long and hard about what to bake and mentally scoured my archive. In the end I chose one of my favorite, and most classic recipes: Toasted Coconut Cupcakes! The combination of fragrant coconut cake, cream cheese frosting and crunchy coconut topping makes this dessert completely decadent. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Coconut Cupcakes - via Martha Stewart Cupcakes 

Makes 21

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed sweetened shredded coconut
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg whites
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups sweetened coconut for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

Reduce speed to low. Mix any remaining wet ingredients in a bowl if needed. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.

Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Meanwhile, toast the coconut and make the frosting.

Toasted Coconut 

In a 350 degree oven, toast 1 1/3 cups sweetened coconut on sheet pan for 8-10 minutes stirring regularly until lightly golden brown. Let cool completely on wire rack before using.

Cream Cheese Frosting - via Ina Garten

1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

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If you like this recipe, you'll love Leah's blog. Take a look!

For more recipes from Please Note, click the recipe card to your right or go here.

Thanks, Leah!