Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Frosting
A good friend of mine (you’ll recognize her from Peggy’s Salad) told me about her daughter’s recent exploits in the kitchen and had me drooling! Her daughter made her a cake with coconut icing, but I hear that she usually makes a lime buttercream frosting. It all sounded so delicious. And I love the combination of lime and coconut. Just check out my Lime in the Coconut Pie and Coconut Lime Shrimp Ceviche for proof:-) So I got to thinking… what if I made Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Frosting??? Yup! It’s delicious. And it is also gluten and dairy free and vegan. Whoo hoo!
Coconut Cupcake Magic
I really wanted the beautiful, natural flavor of coconut to come through in the cupcakes. To achieve this, I used virgin coconut oil which tastes like coconut, smells amazing and fills the “fat” requirement for a deliciously moist cupcake.
As much as I love sweetened shredded coconut, I didn’t want the extra sugar or the larger pieces so I opted for the unsweetened variety that is very finely shredded. This results in added texture and flavor without being stringy.
When it comes to coconut milk, I am all about Aroy-D brand. I buy it from Amazon because I haven’t found it in a store near me. It is packaged in a carton, so it tastes super fresh without any metallic after-taste like I find in the canned versions. It is super creamy too. By all means, use any brand you like, but if you give Aroy-D a try, let me know what you think in the comments below.
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- Virgin coconut oil, coconut milk, eggs & sugar
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- Wet ingredients combined
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- Shredded coconut, GF flour, salt & baking powder
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- Dry ingredients added to wet
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- the batter is very thin
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- the cupcakes bake up light
Creamy Fresh Lime Frosting
This frosting is creamy, but it is dairy free! In fact, the whole cupcake and frosting is vegan and dairy free as long as you choose a vegan cream cheese. The lime juice and zest compliments the tartness from the vegan cream cheese, so it is a perfect substitute for butter in a frosting like this. It is thick and holds its shape well too. Just make sure you are using a vegan cream cheese that you really like the taste of. They all taste a little different. I used Violife brand for this recipe. It tastes great and has a wonderful texture. Quite a few of Violife’s products have become my favorite subs for dairy. If you’d like to use regular dairy cream cheese, that will work too of course!
Making it couldn’t be easier. Just blend the cream cheese with the lime juice and powdered sugar, adding a little at a time. Keep the mixer on a low speed to prevent powdered sugar from flying all over. Once it is all combined, turn up the speed and whip until light and creamy. Add the zest in and mix just long enough to combine it evenly. That’s it!
More Cupcake Love
All of these cupcakes are gluten free and many have dairy and nut free options. Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Irish Coffee Cupcakes, Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes, Not So “Vanilla” Cupcakes, Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes, Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Crunch Frosting to name a few!
Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Frosting
Click Stars to Rate Recipe:Ingredients
For the Coconut Cupcake:
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup coconut oil (room temp)
- 1 ¼ cup full fat coconut milk (I use Aroy-D brand)
- 2 cups Gluten Free Flour Blend with xanthan gum (I use Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour)
- ½ cup finely shredded coconut (unsweetened)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
For the Lime Frosting:
- 3 7-8oz containers dairy free cream cheese (I use Violife brand)
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 limes, juice & zest
Instructions
For the Coconut Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place liners in cupcake tin(s).
- In a small bowl, combine flour, unsweetened shredded coconut, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, cream sugar and eggs. Add coconut oil, then coconut milk.
- On a slow speed, gradually add flour mixture until fully combined. The batter will be very loose, especially if your coconut oil was runny at room temp. That is okay though!
- Fill each cupcake liner with approximately ¼ cup of batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned and set. Remove from the oven and let cool.
For the Lime Frosting:
- In a medium bowl blend cream cheese with lime juice with a hand mixer. Gradually adding the powdered sugar on a low speed to prevent it from flying all over.
- Once the powdered sugar is incorporated, turn the speed up and whip until light and creamy. Add the lime zest in and mix just long enough to combine it evenly, but don’t over mix.
- Pipe frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and enjoy!
