Coconut oil is all the rage now. People are using organic coconut
oil to condition hair, to moisturize skin and even to clean teeth (oil
pulling). Coconut oil has numerous health benefits.
For cooking, I personally like coconut oil for sauteing vegetables and
making scrambled eggs, but I had not used coconut oil in baking until
now. With that said, coconut oil used in baking is not new. To capture
both the health benefits of coconut oil and increase the coconut flavor
in cupcakes, you can substitute coconut oil in place of butter. Luckily
it is a straight one-to-one ratio.
Coconut cupcakes remind me of
my late grandmother. She used to bake coconut cakes for special
occasions. When I was a kid, I used to steal a finger full of the
coconut frosting from the back of the cake and hoped no one would
notice.
For the Easter and other spring holidays, coconut cupcakes are great because they be easily decorated to look bird's nest with either jelly beans or chocolate eggs on top.
Note:
For this recipe, it is good to measure out all the ingredients
especially you will be adding some of the ingredients gradually into the
mixing bowl.
Ingredients
- Coconut Cupcakes
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour (Swan's Down or White Lily)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup of virgin coconut oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- Coconut Frosting (recipe adapted from Instructables)
- 1/4 cup of virgin coconut oil
- 2 cups of confectioner's sugar
- 4 tablespoons of almond or coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Put cupcake liners in a standard cupcake muffing pan.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt. If you don't have a sifter, then place the three ingredients in either a collander or strainer over the mixing bowl. Shake over the bowl to sift.
- Cream the coconut oil and sugar on medium for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one.
- Pour the vanilla extract
- Add one cup of coconut.
- Add half of the pre-measured flour and the buttermilk.
- Add the rest of the flour and mix well.
- Use an ice cream scoop to pour the batter in cupcake liners.
- Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool on a baking rack.
Coconut Oil Frosting
- "Cream" the coconut oil for 2 minutes. Unlike butter, coconut oil melts quickly, so don't microwave or set it out early to get soft.
- Add in 1/4 of the powdered sugar, the vanilla and 2 tablespoons of almond or coconut milk
- Mix well together until nice and smooth
- Keep adding powdered sugar slowly
- Alternate with tablespoons of almond or coconut milk as needed until everything is combined.
- Toasted one cup of shredded coconut by spreading an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 325F for five to 10 minutes until lightly golden.
By Nichelle Stephens
Cupcakes Expert, about.com
