Coconut Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
These soft and sweet Coconut Cupcakes have a coconut truffle stuffed in the middle, and are topped with an tangy, creamy white chocolate cream cheese frosting! This irresistible treat with be a favorite of any coconut lover.
Whew, this post has been a long time coming. I posted a picture of these cupcakes on my Instagram what feels like forever ago, and I’ve had people asking me to post the recipe since!
However, I am a college student, and around here, it’s finals season. Unfortunately for both me and all of you, that means baking has been pushed to the back burner to make room for business law, international management, spanish, and economics.
Yeah, I prefer baking too.
These cupcakes have been an idea that’s been brewing ever since I made my Ferrero-Rocher Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream. I knew I could totally recreate them in different versions, and coconut was the first idea that came to my mind.
Probably because I’m obsessed with these Raffaello Candies and knew they would be incredible stuffed inside a cupcake. Well, not to toot my own horn…but I was totally right.
The cupcakes are on the denser side, filled with coconut, with the most delicious flavor and delightful texture. The truffle in the middle is a wonderful surprise, and the white chocolate cream cheese frosting is super creamy, with the perfect mix of tangy and sweet.
I do love my coconut, but I know there are a lot of haters out there. Unfortunately, this isn’t the cupcake for you – but you should definitely make whatever your favorite cupcakes are and throw some of this frosting on top. It’s pretty darn amazing.
Coconut lovers, my main people, my soul mates, well, these are for you. Love them as I did. Enjoy every last bite! Send me some.
PrintCoconut Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Yield: 15 cupcakes 1x
Ingredients
For the Coconut Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 4 ounces sweetened (shredded coconut)
- 15 white truffles (see notes)
For the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz. good quality white chocolate (melted and cooled to room temperature)
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 oz. cream cheese (slightly colder than room temperature)
- 2 1/2 cups 300g powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- Extra coconut (if desired, for sprinkling)
Instructions
For the Coconut Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 4 ounces of coconut.
- Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner 1/3 of the way with batter. Press in one truffle. Fill the liner up 3/4 of the way full, covering the truffle. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.
For the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter for 3-5 minutes, until completely smooth and lightened in color.
- Add in the cream cheese and mix for about 30 seconds, until there are no more lumps. Don’t overmix here or you icing will be too soft to pipe. Add in the white chocolate and mix until it is just incorporated.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream, and mix for about 1 minute or until the icing is creamy and smooth. Add more heavy cream if necessary.
- Frost the cupcakes however you desire, and sprinkle with coconut. Enjoy!
Notes
For the truffles, I used Raffaello truffles and it worked amazingly. You could also use any kind of white chocolate or coconut truffle here, such as Lindt White Chocolate or Lindt Coconut truffles.
Cupcake recipe adapted from Ina Garten’s Coconut Cupcakes
And here’s another picture, because look at that inside…omg.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting – omg where’s the spoons!
And then the cupcake batter itself, lovely. And truffle filled. Wow…you spared no details on these babies and they’re lovely.
Great images and decorating skills too! Pinned!
Absolutely gorgeous cupcakes!!! That frosting sounds AMAZE.
Good luck with finals! You’ll rock ’em!
Way to make amazing cupcakes AND do finals! That’s serious talent, girl. :)
these look so good love coconut and fun to add nut to center
Wow! I can see why people have been asking for the recipe! These are spectacular! But I love all things coconut!
Your cupcakes look beautiful. I really love the sound of the white chocolate cream cheese frosting, especially on coconut cupcakes – yum!!
going to make these as coconut is my life.
These look so delicious!
Wow! What a great recipe! This cuopcakes look heavenly!
These look amazing, Rachel! I love the interesting flavor combination and the white truffle filling… so yummy! I’ll definitely be baking a batch sometime this summer!!
I’m not so much a coconut fan (I don’t hate them though!), but the white chocolate cream cheese frosting sounds sooooo good! I think they’ll be great on pretty much any cupcakes! Thanks for the idea! Oh, and best of luck for your finals too!
I don’t know if I am more excited about the coconut cupcake or the white chocolate cream cheese…oh I guess the combo of the two is pretty great!!!
These look like the cupcakes of my dreams! Coconut and white truffles, amazing!!
Wow,, i love pastries with coconut
I can’t get enough of coconut lately and these look SO fabulously fluffy and delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Rachel these coconut cupcakes looks amazingly delicious. Especially on the inside with that nice sweet truffle. Its my kind of treat :) Thanks for sharing this post!
Oh damn! I have a chocolate pudding recipe which has white chocolate Lindt truffles in it, but I love this idea, too. And that icing sounds amazing. Baking > finals any day, but good luck for them!
These sound absolutely amazing. I’m a huge huge fan of coconut but with a cream cheese frosting? I wouldn’t mind one of these for dessert right now : )
These look absolutely perfect !
Oh! I love me some coconut too – and white chocolate. You pretty much just made a dream dessert for me! I just posted Coconut Lime Bars last week, you might like those :) – unless you’re not into lime! Good luck with your classes – I don’t envy that at this point in my life. Sometimes I think about what it might be like to enter the world of school again, and my brain starts to smoke. . . . ;)
Noooo, you’re killing me! It should be illegal to put white truffles in cupcakes. This looks insanely good!
These are a coconut lovers dream! Almost a cross between a macaroon and a cupcake! Good luck on finals. :)
Oh, heck yes. I am on a bit of a coconut kick after my tropical vacation. I see these in my future!
These were DELICIOUS!! So so so scrumptious!!
These are GORGEOUS. I love coconut cupcakes, that frosting sounds to die for! Good luck with finals!
Absolutely gorgeous! I have a major weakness for coconut cake and cupcakes.
Oh my gawsh, lady!!!! These are TOO pretty… I think I would stare at them for a good hour, then eat them ALL!
I’m weird and don’t like coconut, but these cupcakes are so gorgeous I’d probably eat several. Beautiful! :)
These look SO good! And I love the surprise truffle centers. White chocolate + coconut is such a wonderful combo!
Love the truffle centers and that white chocolate frosting!
*Raises hand…I am a coconut lover! And that tender crumb of the cupcakes is making me drool.
I dont even know if these would make it into the oven!
Love this! And that frosting – swoon! How did you know that white chocolate and cream cheese frosting are my ultimate weaknesses?!
Wait, what?! White truffles inside? Oh my goodness. I’ll take two. :)
These are so perfect (and delicious) looking. Yum!
I am definitely on Team Coconut too! You’re absolutely killing me with the coconut truffles inside. Must. Make. These. Now.
Good luck on your finals!
Hi,
I am loving your cupcakes – keep up the delicious work!
Im a novice baker and have so far baked cupcakes only 7 times – once was your lemon meringue recipe for the baking comp at work – which I won of course!! YAY Bakerita (and yay me!!)
Only itsy bitsy teeny weeny gripe is your onswipe website that does not let you see the recipe info – its a bit easier to carry my ipad to the kitchen than my imac! Is there any way that this can be changed?
ps – did try to click the desktop site but then the whole thing crashed :-(
coconut cupcakes -yum!!
Hi Rachelle,
So glad that you like my recipes (and that we won the competition!) and I hope you continue to try them! I know about the tablet problem, and I’ve actually just emailed my site designer the other day about getting the site optimized for mobile and tablets, so it’s in the works and a definite priority because I know so many people use their tablets in the kitchen! Thanks for letting me know, and hopefully it will be done soon.
I made these and they were absolutely fantastic, just too good, they were too soft, I used coconut milk instead of buttermilk, and used around 3/4th cup of coconut milk and used freshly grated coconut, which adds to the taste, as I am giving the frosting a miss, i used 1 and 3/4th cups of sugar (finely powdered).
if using unsalted butter which is made at home, keep checking your butter as you may suddenly over whisk it, separating the fats and leading to a disaster.Thank you for sharing this.
These coconut cupcakes with whitechocolate cream cheese frosting looked soooo good, I had to try and make them. I used your suggestion and used 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract. Thanks for sharing Rachel!
So glad you’re enjoying them Jill!