White Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

Let me start my apologizing for my absence lately. Between work and a few other things going on, I have been slammed! I was able to enjoy a relaxing weekend at home and got some serious baking done. White chocolate serious.

I am really excited about these white chocolate cupcakes with macadamia nuts and coconut. Only in the past couple years was I introduce to macadamia nut cookies, and I am totally hooked. I wanted to make a cupcake version of the cookie. These cupcakes are a white chocolate cupcake infused with a hint of coconut. For the frosting I made a white chocolate cream cheese rolled in toasted coconut and topped with macadamia nuts. I love the salty nuts contrasted against the creamy frosting.

You will love this cupcake, because you would never know it’s from a box! The cupcake has a very light crumb but actually has a lot of structure. What do I mean by structure? It doesn’t fall apart when you peel back the wrapper. From someone like me who likes the frosting piled high, you always appreciate a cupcake with good structure.

I know a lot of people don’t care of coconut, and I am one of them. That’s why this is the perfect recipe for someone like me. There is only a slight hint of coconut in the cupcake that blends well with white chocolate. The toasted coconut around the edge is totally optional, but I found that I prefer the toasted coconut over raw coconut.

The recipe below is an adaption from the Your Cup of Cake blog. I started out with some basic ingredients for the white cupcake and added a few additional elements to achieve what I was going for. I absolutely adore Lizzy’s cupcakes and have made several different recipes. I recently purchased her new cookbook as well. If you like to keep thing easy with boxed cake mixes, I highly recommend this cookbook! The recipes are super creative. Please note in both of the recipes below, I call for vanilla bean paste. If you don’t have this, you can absolutely substitute in vanilla extract.

White Chocolate Cupcake
Adapted from Your Cup of Cake
Make 24 cupcakes

3 Oz White chocolate, melted and cooled.

1 Box white cake mix

4 Large egg whites

1/3 C Oil

3/4 C Buttermilk

3/4 C Light sour cream

1  1/2 tsp Coconut extract

2 tsp Vanilla bean paste (or substitute vanilla extract)

• Melt white chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted and smooth. Use a spoon to stir after each increment to help melt the chocolate. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly; batter will be thick.
• Fill lined cupcake pan 2/3 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Check your cupcake for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cupcake. If your tooth pick comes out clean, your cupcake is done. Allow to cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

The white chocolate cream cheese frosting is from Paula Deen. If you like a lot of frosting, follow the recipe as instructed below. If you are going to be using only a knife to spread it across the top, than I suggest to cut this recipe in half unless you like leftover frosting. Seriously though, who doesn’t?

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe by Paula Deen

6 oz White chocolate chips

1/3 C Heavy whipping cream

1 Package cream cheese (8 oz) at room temperature

1 C Butter (2 sticks) at room temperature

5-6 C Powdered confectionary sugar

1 tsp Vanilla bean extract (or substitute vanilla extract)

• Combine white chocolate and heavy cream in a heatproof bowl. Melt on the stove over a pot with simmering water on medium high. Stir until melted. Remove from heat and cool for at least 30 minutes.
• Beat softened cream cheese and butter for several minutes on medium speed until smooth and well combined. Next, add the melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until well combined.
• Slowly add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and beating well after each addition.
• Lastly, add vanilla bean extract and beat until mixed.

I hope you love these cupcakes as much as I do! Next time I make these, I am adding rum and this will be my coconut colada cupcakes because if you are a follower of my blog you know I like boozy cupcakes!

If YOU like boozy cupcakes too, you can check out my Happy Hour Cupcakes: Rum Cake, Guinness Stout Maple Bacon Cupcakes or the Mocha Irish Cream Cupcake. You can also find this post over at the Back For Seconds Social.