White Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please see my full disclosure policy for details

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.