These coconut chocolate Easter cupcakes feature the most moist and deeply chocolate cupcake ever, and a smooth tangy coconut cream cheese frosting. And like the fun of an Easter egg, you’ll find a surprise inside: a rich ganache filling that tastes like a chocolate truffle! Finish with a sprinkling of sweet coconut and candy-coated chocolate eggs.
Why You’ll Love These Easter Cupcakes
- Delicious coconut & chocolate flavor combo like these coconut macaroons
- Extra soft & moist cupcakes, not dense or dry at all
- Smooth, rich chocolate ganache hiding in the center tastes like the inside of a truffle
- Tangy coconut cream cheese frosting is extra soft and creamy, and covered in shredded coconut
- A texture lover’s dream cupcake!
- Finish with candy-coated chocolate eggs for an adorable springtime/Easter dessert
How to Make the Best Moist Chocolate Cupcakes
Spoon/pour the thin batter into a 12-count muffin pan lined with cupcake liners. You should have enough batter to make 15 cupcakes, so you will either need 2 muffin pans or you can divide and bake them in 2 batches. Fill the liners about 2/3 full. If you use the batter to make fewer than 15 cupcakes, you are overfilling the lined cups and your cupcakes will spill over the sides.
Optional (but recommended) step: When the cupcakes are completely—or nearly completely—cool, place them in the refrigerator for 20–30 minutes to make them a bit easier to carve into and fill.
Filling Your Easter Cupcakes With Ganache
While you could skip this step entirely and still end up with delicious coconut chocolate Easter cupcakes, I recommend taking things to the next level by hollowing out the cupcakes and filling them with chocolate ganache..
This chocolate ganache filling tastes just like the inside of a soft chocolate truffle. You know those Lindt Lindor truffle balls? A soft chocolate shell, filled with even softer, creamier chocolate filling? Yeah, it’s like that. 😉
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
When I set out to make a coconut frosting for these coconut chocolate Easter cupcakes, I first turned to this old recipe for piña colada cupcakes. (From 2014—practically vintage!) The coconut frosting on those cupcakes is basically my vanilla buttercream, with coconut extract added to it. Tasty, yes, but I worried it might be too sickeningly sweet when covered in sweetened shredded coconut.
But then it hit me. What frosting do I love on BOTH coconut and chocolate desserts, which isn’t overly sweet… why, tangy, velvety-smooth cream cheese frosting, of course! Replacing the vanilla extract with coconut extract was all it took to turn it into coconut cream cheese frosting. Easy breezy cream cheesy!
The extra soft and creamy texture of this frosting is a perfect contrast to the other textures you get from the shredded coconut above and the smooth chocolate truffle-like filling below.
Add Your Easter Cupcakes Decoration!
If you want to toast/brown some of the coconut for topping, like I do for this coconut Easter cake, just spread some out on a baking sheet and toast in a 300°F (150°C) oven for about 6–8 minutes. Make sure the toasted coconut is completely cooled before adding it to the frosted cupcakes.
Easter Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. This recipe yields about 15 cupcakes, so line a second muffin pan with 3 cupcake liners, or bake in batches.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk the oil, sugar, egg, vanilla, and buttermilk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the hot coffee/water, and whisk until the batter is completely combined. Batter is thin.
- Pour/spoon the batter into the liners, filling only 2/3 full to avoid spilling over the sides. You should have enough batter for 15 cupcakes.
- Bake for 20–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Place finely chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it begins to gently simmer. (Do not let it come to a rapid boil—that’s too hot!) Pour over chocolate, then let it sit for 2–3 minutes to gently soften the chocolate. With a metal spoon or small rubber spatula, very slowly stir until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Ganache is thin. The finer you chopped the chocolate, the quicker it will melt with the cream. If it’s not melting, do not microwave it. If needed, see Troubleshooting Chocolate Ganache. Once ganache is smooth, let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour to thicken before filling the cupcakes.
- Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cupcakes must be completely cooled—and even chilled for 20–30 minutes in the refrigerator if they’re particularly sticky on top—before filling and topping.
- Using a sharp knife, cut a circle into the center of the cooled cupcakes to create a little pocket about 1 inch deep. The piece you removed will be sort of cone-shaped. Spoon some of the chocolate ganache inside each carved-out cupcake—use however much will fit. (I use either a teaspoon measuring spoon or Wilton piping tip #12 to fill cupcakes. Usually you can fit between 1–2 teaspoons of filling in each.) Slice/tear off the pointy end of the “cone” piece of cupcake you removed, and gently press the round piece back on top of the filling. See my How to Fill Cupcakes post if you need extra visuals or help with this step.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar, coconut extract, and a pinch of salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Taste. Add another pinch of salt if it’s too sweet, or another 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar if you want it a little thicker.
- Frost cooled cupcakes. I used Wilton piping tip #12 to pipe it, but you can also just spread the frosting on with a knife or icing spatula. To finish, hold a frosted cupcake over a bowl or plate of the shredded coconut and sprinkle the coconut on top, gently pressing it so it sticks to the frosting. Top each cupcake with 2 or 3 candy-coated chocolate eggs.
- Serve immediately or store covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 day before serving. Cover and store leftover cupcakes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I recommend a cupcake carrier for storing and transporting decorated cupcakes.
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