Pina Colada Cupcakes
These Pina Colada Cupcakes are a tropical twist on the classic dessert. Made with pineapple and coconut flavors, these cupcakes will transport you to an island vacation with every bite.
They are perfect for summer parties, BBQs, or just a sweet treat on any day of the week. If you are looking for a dessert that will add some joy to your life this is the recipe for you.
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s a fun and creative twist on the classic cupcake, perfect for summer parties or as a tropical treat.
- Made with pineapple and coconut flavors, these cupcakes will transport you to an island vacation with every bite.
- Easy to make and customizable with different toppings and decorations.
🛒Ingredients
You only need a few basic kitchen staples to help you make this delicious recipe. Gather these ingredients on your next trip to the grocery store so you can enjoy this tasty recipe.
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- egg whites
- vegetable oil
- baking powder
- salt
- rum flavoring
- coconut milk
- all purpose flour
Frosting
- unsalted butter
- salt
- powdered sugar
- coconut milk
- sweetened flake coconut
- maraschino cherries
- Fresh pineapple wedges
See the recipe card below for quantities.
🔪 How to Make Pina Colada Cupcakes
You only need a few basic kitchen staples to help you make this delicious recipe. Gather these ingredients on your next trip to the grocery store so you can enjoy this tasty recipe.
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- egg whites
- vegetable oil
- baking powder
- salt
- rum flavoring
- coconut milk
- all purpose flour
Frosting
- unsalted butter
- salt
- powdered sugar
- coconut milk
- sweetened flake coconut
- maraschino cherries
- Fresh pineapple wedges
See the recipe card below for quantities.
🔪 How to Make Pina Colada Cupcakes
Making these cupcakes is so easy, follow the steps below and you will have these delicious cupcakes in no time! You can find the full recipe in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step 1: Preheat the oven and add liners to the cupcake pan
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a few cupcake pans by placing the liners for approximately 24-30 cupcakes.
Step 2: Combine the wet ingredients
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugar. Add in the egg whites, oil, baking powder, salt, rum flavoring, and coconut milk. Combine well.
Step 3: Add the dry ingredients and fill the cupcake liners
Add the flour and mix thoroughly. Stop the mixer, scrape the sides, and mix again. Fill each cupcake liner with enough batter to fill approximately ⅔ full.
Step 4: Bake the cupcakes
Bake in preheated oven for 14-16 minutes or until slightly browned. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
Step 5: Make the frosting
To make the frosting, combine the softened butter and powdered sugar until mostly combined in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the salt and coconut milk. Beat until smooth – scraping the sides frequently and adding additional milk only if needed to bring the frosting together.
Step 6: Add the frosting to the piping bag
Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
Step 7: Toast the coconut
To toast the coconut, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut on a parchment lined baking sheet (for easy cleanup) and bake for about 5-10 minutes or just until browned. Watch closely as they can go from toasty to burned very quickly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before stirring and sprinkling on cupcakes.
Step 8: Frost and decorate the cupcakes
To decorate the cupcakes, gently pipe a spiral cone shape of frosting on each cupcake. Sprinkle with some toasted coconut, insert a wedge of fresh pineapple, and top with a cherry. Enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Replace the rum flavoring with real rum for a stronger flavor.
- Swap out the fresh pineapple for canned pineapple that has been drained if needed.
- You can also add nuts, such as macadamia or cashews, for added texture and flavor.
If you love pina colada desserts you may also enjoy this Pina Colada Cheesecake Bars recipe.
🥄 Equipment
Here is a quick overview of the kitchen tools that you need to make this recipe.
- cupcake pan
- paper liners
- stand mixer
- piping bag
- baking sheet lined with parchment paper
🥫 Storage
Store the cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
💭 Tips
Here are a few tips that you can use to help you make this recipe.
- Coconut milk is used in this recipe, which tends to separate. Shake well and/or stir before measuring. Coconut milk could be substituted with regular milk if desired.
- We used maracchino cherries, but fresh could be used if desired.
- We used sweetened flake coconut but any other varieties would work as well.
- The excess juice from the cherry and pineapple will begin to drip down the cupcakes – they are best served freshly decorated.
- For longer storage, you may frost the cupcakes and then complete the decoration with the cherry and pineapple just prior to serving.
- We used rum flavoring (available at most grocery stores in the baking aisle), but you could use regular rum.
- Also, feel free to add a splash of rum to the frosting if you want an extra boozy kick!
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Rum extract can be found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores. If you cannot find it, you can also use real rum as a substitute.
Yes, you can substitute coconut milk with regular milk if desired. However, using coconut milk will give these cupcakes a richer and more tropical flavor.
To prevent the cupcakes from getting soggy make sure to only add the fruit to the top when you are ready to serve them.
🍽 More Pina Colada Recipes
Do you enjoy pina coladas? If so, try these delicious recipes:
📌 PIN IT!!
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Pina Colada Cupcakes
Equipment
- cupcake pan
- paper liners
- Stand mixer
- Piping bag
- baking sheet lined with parchment paper
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ⅔ cups sugar
- 6 egg whites
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon rum flavoring or regular rum
- 1 ¼ cups coconut milk
- 2 cups flour
Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons coconut milk
- ½ cup sweetened flake coconut to garnish
- 24-30 maracchino cherries to garnish
- Fresh pineapple wedges to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a few cupcakes pans by placing the liners for approximately 24-30 cupcakes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugar.
- Add in the egg whites, oil, baking powder, salt, rum flavoring and coconut milk. Combine well.
- Add the flour and mix thoroughly. Stop the mixer, scrape the sides and mix again.
- Fill each cupcake liner with enough batter to fill approximately ⅔ full.
- Bake in preheated oven for 14-16 minutes or until slightly browned. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
- To make the frosting, combine the softened butter and powdered sugar until mostly combined in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the salt and coconut milk.
- Beat until smooth – scraping the sides frequently and adding additional milk only if needed to bring the frosting together.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
- To toast the coconut, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut on a parchment lined baking sheet (for easy cleanup) and bake for about 5-10 minutes or just until browned. Watch closely as they can go from toasty to burned very quickly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before stirring and sprinkling on cupcakes.
- To decorate the cupcakes, gently pipe a spiral cone shape of frosting on each cupcake. Sprinkle with some toasted coconut, insert a wedge of fresh pineapple and top with a cherry.
- Enjoy!
