This recipe is a paean to my love of all things coconut.

I use every form of it in my baking – milk, oil, butter, meat, yogurt, flakes, flour… even coconut vinegar. And I love the subtle sweetness and moist and tender crumb it gives these cupcakes.

The sweet yet acidic Meyer Lemon compliments the coconut perfectly and prevents the flavor from being cloying. As much as I love coconut, I’ve definitely had overly sweet coconut cakes I could only take a few bites of.

As decadent as coconut can seem, it is actually one of the healthiest ingredients to bake with. Coconut oil is arguably the oil with the most benefits: it is composed of Medium Chain Fatty Acids which are smaller, easier to digest and actually stimulate your metabolism as opposed to the larger Long Chain Fatty Acids found in most vegetable or seed oils which are much harder to break down and end up being stored as fat. So what I’m basically saying is that these cupcakes are essentially diet food and you should go ahead and have one or five…

Coconut and Meyer Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients for the cupcakes:

1 ½ cup Sorghum Flour

1 cup Potato Starch (or Tapioca)

¾ cup Almond Flour

¼ cup Coconut Flour

1 ½ cups organic Cane Sugar

2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

1-Tablespoon Baking Powder

½ teaspoon Baking Soda

½ teaspoon Sea Salt

½ cup Coconut Oil

3 Eggs or Ener G Egg Replacer

1 14oz can Coconut Milk

1 teaspoon Meyer Lemon Juice

Zest from one Meyer Lemon

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Method:

Whisk together flours and dry ingredients

Add in wet ingredients and beat until smooth.  Scoop the batter into lined cupcake pans, filling each cup around ¾ of the way full

Ingredients for the frosting:

1 cup Earth Balance or other Vegan Butter substitute

4 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

3-4 tablespoons Coconut Milk

Toasted Coconut Flakes

Method:

Cream the Earth Balance and Vanilla Extract with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of the Coconut Milk and beat until creamy frosting starts to form.  Add in the remaining coconut milk as necessary to achieve a spreadable texture.

Frost the cooled cupcake and decorate the tops with the toasted coconut flakes.

I’d love to see your cupcake pictures – tag me in on Instagram.