Coconut Cupcakes with Toasted Coconut Frosting

Our warmer Spring like weather here in the Northeast has everything blooming so much earlier..which is so nice! And it puts me in the mood for something baked with coconut, so I made these cupcakes into jumbo sizes rather than the standard size, which I tend to do a lot.  Definitely a taste of Spring in every bite!

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart and the only change I made was to add a bit of coconut extract to the batter to up the coconut flavor. I also decided that the frosting recipe probably was going to make too much so I not just halved it this time, but I made one fourth of the amount and it was perfect. But keep in mind that we don't like lots of frosting on our cupcakes so you may want to make the full amount.

Coconut Cupcakes with Toasted Coconut Frosting ( adapted from Martha Stewart)
Makes 12-14 standard size cupcakes or 6-7 jumbo cupcakes

1 3/4 cup (8.0 ozs.) AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup packed sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup ( 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter-room temp.
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. coconut extract ( my addition)
2 large eggs plus 2 egg whites- room temp.
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
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Preheat oven to 350. Fill muffin pans with paper liners.
1. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Place the shredded coconut into a food processor and pulse til finely ground, then whisk into the dry ingredients.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar til pale and fluffy on medium high speed.
4. Gradually beat in whole eggs, egg whites, vanilla and coconut extracts, scraping bowl occasionally.
5. On low speed, add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with coconut milk, beating after each addition, til well combined.
6. Scoop batter into muffin liners, filling about 3/4 full.
7. Bake approx. 20 minutes, or til tester comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
Note: I thought this amount of frosting makes a lot so I actually made one fourth but I think if you halve the amounts you'd have enough, but giving you the full recipe and let you decide.
 2 sticks unsalted butter-room temp.
1-2 tsp. coconut extract
approx. 32 ozs. confectioners' sugar
3-4 tbsp. cream or milk or coconut milk
1. Cream butter, then beat in sugar and extract.
2. Add milk til the frosting reaches desired consistency. If too thin, add more milk, if too thick add more sugar.
Sprinkle the tops with toasted coconut flakes or chips. Enjoy!