a coconut-infused white cake recipe. This is what I came up with because I needed to use some coconut that was in my refrigerator. Add a teaspoon or two of coconut extract for a stronger coconut flavor. If you want a cupcake with a smoother texture, try placing your coconut in a food processor or blender. Any advice would be very appreciated since this is my first original recipe.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 dozen cupcakes |
Ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk
- 1 ¼ cups unsweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.
- Mix sugar, applesauce, and butter together in a bowl.
- Beat egg whites in a glass or metal bowl until medium peaks form. Lift your beater or whisk straight up: the tip of the peak formed by the egg whites should curl over slightly.
- Stir egg yolks and vanilla extract into applesauce mixture; fold in egg whites. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt until just combined. Beat coconut milk into batter until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in shredded coconut for about 30 seconds. Pour batter into the prepared muffin cups.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 271 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 33 g |
| Cholesterol | 41 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 213 mg |
| Sugars | 19 g |
| Fat | 15 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Flavor spot on! I doubled the butter and halved the oil for taste purposeds and I did minus the coconut. I did double because this recipe states ‘makes 12.’ Doubled made 36 cupcakes. I was hoping with the amount of baking powder, they would dome. Nope. Plateaus that held the yummy coconut icing. Everyone at the wedding loved them!
I make a lot of Allrecipes and rarely ever rate them, but these are really good! Like many reviewers, I used coconut oil in place of the applesauce. Many other cupcakes I’ve made are so-so, but these are a keeper. I love the texture that the coconut adds.
These cupcakes turned out delicious. I realized afterwards that I misread the coconut milk measurement and used 1/2 cup rather than 1/2 can but still plenty of great flavor. Splashed some coconut milk in the buttercream frosting while I was mixing and topped with toasted coconut flakes. A 5 star recipe, thank you for posting this!
I iced them with coconut buttercream and topped that with toasted coconut for a triple coconut delight. They were a huge hit!
I really like these. I didn’t have applesauce, so I substituted it with coconut cream. I also didn’t add shredded coconut to the batter because I don’t like that texture. I was kind of in a hurry, so I didn’t take the time to separate eggs either. I simply added one egg at a time, and beat the mixture really well to add air to it. These still rose nice, but I’m sure they would be even lighter had I taken the time to separate the eggs and whip them. The coconut flavor isn’t overwhelming, but it’s there; and these are very moist cupcakes too. I iced them with a coconut buttercream and added toasted coconut to the top. I will definitely make these again.
I looove coconut, and I was craving for something healthy too, and voila, here it was! (didn’t make the frosting). These muffins came out nicely, didn’t change a thing and I’ll be making more for sure.
Ewwwwwwww
I subbed just the apple sauce for canola oil and the batter tasted phenomenal, though once baked it lost the flavor. I was pleased how moist it was, and the baking time was just right! Will make again by adding more flavor.
This was an excellent cupcake BUT I did make a couple changes. Firstly, at the advice of another reviewer, I substituted coconut oil for the butter and applesauce. I didn’t have applesauce, and besides, the coconut oil enhances the coconut flavour of the product, which I think most people want. Secondly, I halved the amount of sugar in the recipe, and the cupcake was just right…and still quite sweet.
Tasty! I will definitely make these again. They were simple, and positively excellent.
I used 1 cup of applesauce instead of 1/2 cup. I love coconut and this is a very tasty cupcake. Thank you for the recipe.
Really light, moist, and yummy. I made a few changes based on my tastes and what I had on hand. I used cinnamon applesauce. There was a mere hint of the cinnamon in the cupcake. I thought I had coconut milk on hand. I didn’t so I used whole milk and added coconut flavoring. It worked out just great. The other change was using sweetened coconut. I frosted them with Wilton’s Caramel Macaroon buttercream frosting recipe. It was an amazing combination. Despite not being a big coconut fan, I thought these were marvelous.
It was delicious! I really liked it and I will definitely make it again! The best!
The only thing I did differently was using oil instead of applesauce (didn’t have any) and instead of using the mixer to combine the coconut milk and coconut…I folded it into the egg mixture. This cupcake is so moist and light. The bake time was 20 minutes even…no longer. This is a keeper. I even doubted myself for making it lol.
I read the review that stated that the cooking time was way off and they had to cook theirs for over 45 minutes! That is insane! They must have made it into a cake or their oven temperature is way off. I left mine in for 25 minutes instead of 20 just to be safe, and they turned out great! I think next time I will take the suggestion of putting my coconut in a food processor first. The texture is unexpected and a little strange to me, but otherwise very tasty. One weird thing that I did was, because I didn’t have any coconut milk, I used a can of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk and 1 tsp of almond extract with 3 oz of flavored coffee creamer. Sometimes you have to make due with what you have. lol Lucky for me, they turned out very nice. Thanks
So delicious and moist! Flavor is fun, and far as homemade cakes go, relatively simple. People always ask for the recipe. It’s fun to tell everyone that the cupcakes are made with applesauce instead of oil – moms love that.Thanks for the yummy cupcakes!
These were delicious! Moist with good flavor, but needed a little something more. First time I made exactly as instructed. Second time, I didn’t whip the egg whites first, it seemed like a waste of time, and it was! I just folded in whole eggs, and they turned out exactly the same! Third time I made same as second time, but added chocolate chips in some and sprinkles in others for my sons birthday party. By far the best version! And a hit with all the kids and parents at the party.
This recipe tasted amazing!
I followed the recipe as written. I thought it was awesome.
they didnt rise.
My nine-year-old daughter and I made these. We used a little less sugar because I think most recipes call for too much. We over-beat the eggs whites but the cupcakes still turned out fine. We also substituted 1/3 of the flour with whole wheat. Wasn’t sure how much coconut milk to use so just “eyeballed” the 1/2 can measurement. Made 15 cupcakes which baked for 22 minutes. Good cupcakes now. Probably perfect tomorrow after we lightly frost them!