Coconut Cupcakes

Go vote!

If you do, I will share with you the recipe for these amazing, intensely coconut-y, delicious little cupcakes. And trust me, that is a very nice thing I'm doing for you.

What's that? Election day is tomorrow? You can't vote today? Oh, ok. Well, on to the recipe, then, I guess.

I made these for my little sister's birthday, because she *loves* coconut. As much as Chad loves cinnamon, or I love caramel (and chocolate, and ice cream, and vanilla buttercream frosting)... well, let's just say she loves coconut.

So I made the most overwhelmingly coconut-y cupcakes I could imagine. They're made from coconut cake, they have a coconut cream cheese icing, and they're topped with toasted coconut flakes. If you love coconut, these are the cupcakes for you.

In addition, they earned one of my dogs a new nickname, because her name is Coco, and she is a total nut. This beats her old name of Coco Puffs, which was also pretty cute. So it's a good nickname, and an even better cupcake.

Now go vote (tomorrow)!

Coconut Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For the cupcakes:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

For the icing:

8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese

1 stick plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp coconut milk

3 cups confectioners sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, vanilla and salt and mix well. Add the buttermilk to the batter and mix again.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the bowl, a little at a time. Mix until incorporated evenly. Add the coconut and mix briefly.

Line a muffin pan with cupcake wrappers, and fill each to just below the top with batter. Bake for 30 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Set the cupcakes aside until the pan cools, then remove them to a baking rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are baking and cooling, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and coconut milk. Sift the confectioners sugar into the mixture and mix until smooth.

On a stovetop, toast 1/3 cup of coconut in a nonstick skillet for about 90 seconds on medium heat, or until the coconut starts to brown. Remove from heat and set aside until the cupcakes are ready to be frosted.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, frost the cupcakes and sprinkle them with the toasted coconut.

Makes 14-16 cupcakes.