Coconut Bunny Cupcakes Recipes

COCONUT BUNNY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for cupcakes, using water, oil and egg. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, divide coconut among five small bowls, about 1/2 cup each. Add 1 drop of red food color to one bowl and mix with a spoon. Finish mixing using your fingers to lift and gently rub coconut. Repeat for each color to make a bowl of yellow, blue, pink, green and white coconut.
• Prepare ears by stacking two of the same color gum sticks on top of each other; trim into bunny ears using kitchen shears. For the center of each ear, cut a pink stick of gum in half lengthwise, trim about half an inch off of the end to trim into ear shape. Use a little frosting to "glue" the pink centers to the white gum ears.
• To ensure that the coconut sticks to your frosting, frost one cupcake then immediately turn upside down, dipping top of the frosted cupcake into coconut. Repeat frosting and dipping for all cupcakes.
• To add the bunny features, use a toothpick to create two slits in the top of the cupcake, then insert the ears into the slits. Cut a miniature marshmallow in half. Add a dot of frosting to the cut side of the marshmallows; press onto the front of the cupcake to create the paws. Gently press a pink candy on for nose; use black decorator gel to add the eyes.

COCONUT CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.
• Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.
• Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

CUTE BUNNY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.
• Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda together in a bowl. Beat buttermilk, vegetable shortening, vanilla extract, and salt into dry ingredients until thoroughly combined; beat egg whites into batter. Pour batter into prepared cupcake cups, filing them 2/3 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cupcakes are lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Let cool.
• Divide a container of frosting in half and tint half pink with red food coloring; set remaining vanilla frosting aside. Use second frosting container to frost cupcakes. Cover cupcakes with coconut.
• Break graham crackers into individual cookies and cut each cookie carefully into a leaf shape pointed at both ends to make 48 ears. Cover each ear with remaining white frosting and frost the inside of each ear shape with pink frosting. Stick 2 ears into each cupcake. Push 2 mini chocolate chips into tops of cupcakes below ears to make eyes; add a dot of pink frosting to each for a nose.