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    Home > Recipes > Vegan Desserts and Sweets

    Pina Colada Cupcakes

    Updated: Jan 24, 2025 | Published: Nov 17, 2022 | by Amanda | Leave a Comment

    Skip to Recipe

    Visit the tropics any time of the year with these Piña colada cupcakes brimming with crushed pineapple and textured coconut. Top each sweet cake with coconut buttercream for the perfect balance of sweetness and flavour.

    A pineapple cupcake with coconut frosting.
    Jump to:
    • Why This Recipe Works
    • Ingredients & Substitutions
    • How to Make Piña Colada Cupcakes
    • FAQs
    • Never Enough Vegan Cupcakes
    • Make This Recipe
    • Leave a Comment

    Why This Recipe Works

    These little cakes taste just like Summer.

    • I think you'll love how really easy they are to make.
    • They keep fresh for up to 5 days.
    • We love the balance of sweet pineapple and smooth coconut buttercream. It's not too sweet but sweet enough.
    • They're light and buttery like a traditional cupcake but vegan +
    • the kids will love them.

    More an Autumn or Winter person? Try my pumpkin cupcakes, black velvet cupcakes or the best vegan chocolate cupcakes ever.

    You know what, you should go ahead and make my vanilla cupcakes while you're at it.

    Ingredients & Substitutions

    Pineapple cupcake ingredients in a grid labelled.

    Pineapple is the hero of the story. I used canned crushed pineapple because it's available year round and so convenient. When in season, you can use fresh pineapple. Chop it well and then pulse it with an immersion blender to a textured puree

    Coconut. To balance the summery sweetness of the pineapple, desiccated coconut provides buttery flavour and a subtle texture. I recommend sticking with desiccated coconut, not flakes or shreds which will overpower the texture of the cake.

    Dairy-free milk. I am pretty faithful to a good soy milk in all my baking but you could use oat or almond. I would steer clear of coconut milk to avoid messing with the flavour balance.

    Sugar. White or raw caster sugar is great for baking or a fine granulated works here too.

    Sunflower oil. I love baking with sunflower oil but any neutral oil works. Oil rather than butter creates a moist cake that lasts for days.

    Salt. Always salt. Always. Salt in the cake brings out the pineapple flavours while a touch of salt in the buttercream brings out the coconut.

    How to Make Piña Colada Cupcakes

    You'll find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

    I love how simple it is to bring the taste of Summer to your kitchen any month of the year. Let's do it.

    Step 1.

    Preheat the oven to 175 ºC and line a 12-cup cupcake pan with silicon or regular cake liners. 

    Then, go ahead and transfer the pineapple to a mixing bowl and using an immersion blender, break down the larger chunks of fruit to smaller pieces (you can skip this, but you will come across pieces of fruit in your cupcakes). I loved it; my daughter didn't 🙁

    Add the milk, sugar, oil and vanilla to the pineapple and stir well to combine.

    Step 2.

    In a separate mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and coconut.

    Step 3.

    Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. Spoon the batter into the lined moulds two-thirds of the way up and pop in the oven to bake for 22-25 minutes or until cooked through. Remove to cool completely. 

    You're so nearly done.

    Step 4.

    To make the buttercream, add the vegan butter to a large mixing bowl and us an electric hand mixer to cream it until light and fluffy – about 1 minute. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.

    Add the icing sugar/confectioner's sugar in half-cup measurements and continue mixing until well combined and fluffy, scraping down sides as needed.  Add the coconut milk and salt and continue beating, adding more icing sugar if needed. 

    Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag and pipe onto the completely cooled pineapple cupcakes to serve. 

    Ta Da! You're done.

    Cupcakes with yellow cocktail umbrellas.

    FAQs

    Can you make these cupcakes gluten-free?

    Surely. Just swap all-purpose flour with a good baker's gluten free flour like Bob's Red Mill.

    Do these cake freeze well?

    Yup! Bake them, cool them (completely), wrap them in foil and freeze them in a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature for a few hours before frosting.

    How long with these cupcakes keep?

    Stored in a airtight container in a cool dry place, these cupcakes will stay moist and yum for up to 5 days.

    Never Enough Vegan Cupcakes

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      Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
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    Sign up to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Insta for all the latest news. If you like this recipe, please check out my cookbook "Great Vegan Meals for the Carnivorous Family" It's full of simple, carnivore-approved family recipes.

    Make This Recipe

    A cupcake with coconut buttercream on a white background.

    Piña Colada Cupcakes

    A taste of the tropics, these vegan Piña colada cupcakes with a coconut buttercream are light, dreamy and so much fun.
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Baking | Dessert
    Cuisine: Vegan
    Diet: Vegan
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Cooling time: 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 12
    Calories: 447kcal
    Author: Amanda Logan

    Ingredients 

    For the cupcakes

    • 227 g canned crushed pineapple
    • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoon baking powder
    • ¼ teaspoon fine salt
    • ½ cup desiccated coconut
    • ½ cup dairy-free milk
    • 1 cup sugar I use raw caster sugar but granulated is fine
    • ⅓ cup sunflower oil
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla

    For the coconut buttercream

    • ¾ cup vegan butter softened at room temperature
    • 2½ cups confectioner's sugar icing sugar (add more if needed)
    • 3 tablespoon coconut cream
    • pinch fine salt

    Instructions

    For the cupcakes

    • Preheat the oven to 175 ºC and line a 12-cup cupcake pan with silicon or regular cake liners
    • Transfer the pineapple to a mixing bowl and using an immersion blender, break down the larger chunks of fruit to smaller pieces (you can skip this, but you will come across pieces of fruit in your cupcakes). 
    • In a separate mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt and coconut. Add the milk, sugar, oil and vanilla to the pineapple and stir well to combine.
    • Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. Spoon the batter into the lined moulds two-thirds of the way up and pop in the oven to bake for 22-25 minutes or until cooked through. Remove to cool completely. 

    For the coconut buttercream

    • Add the butter to a large mixing bowl and us an electric hand mixer to cream it until light and fluffy – about 1 minute. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
    • Add the icing sugar in half-cup measurements and continue mixing until well combined and fluffy, scraping down sides as needed.  
    • Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag and pipe onto the completely cooled cupcakes to serve. 
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Notes

    You can use fresh pineapple. Chop it well and then pulse it with an immersion blender to a textured puree

    Nutrition

    Calories: 447kcal | Carbohydrates: 93g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 155mg | Potassium: 162mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 78g | Vitamin A: 620IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried It?I'd love to hear your feedback. Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below. Or you can tag @mygoodnesskitchen or hashtag #mygoodnesskitchen on Instagram.
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