Yummm.... these coconut cupcakes, made with yogurt and plenty of coconut, are adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Kids Baking (Abigail Johnson Dodge) but we think they're delicious at any age!We decided to do a coconut-cream cheese frosting, which goes great with the smooth, sweet cake. Having coconut in the frosting makes it a little difficult to spread, but if you sprinkle more coconut on top no one will know!
Cococonut Cupcakes
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
16 Tb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
Preheat Oven to 375ยบ and line 24 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.
In a medium-size bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.
Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low just until blended. Add the yogurt and beat until smooth. Add the rest of the flour mixture and the coconut and beat until blended. The batter should be thick and uniform.
Using two spoons, fill the muffin cups about halfway, or until you've used up all the batter.
Bake 22-25 minutes, until edges are slightly toasty.
Coconut Cream-Cheese Frosting
This recipe makes enough frosting to cover the tops of all the cupcakes lightly. If you like a lot of frosting, double it.
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tb butter
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar to combine. With a spatula, fold in coconut.Frost the cooled cupcakes, then sprinkle with more coconut!
