Samoa Cupcakes
Servings: 24
Calories: 330kcal
Chocolate cupcakes paired with an amazing salted caramel buttercream frosting and topped with toasted coconut! Your favorite Samoa cookies in cupcake form!
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Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa best quality
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract best quality available
- 1 cup boiling water
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks
- 4 ounces cream cheese 1/2 block
- ½ cup salted caramel sauce recipe below or use high quality store bought
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Garnish
- 1½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
- ¼ cup salted caramel sauce recipe below or use high quality store bought
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Line muffin tin with paper liners. Heat oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for one minute.
- Stir in boiling water (the batter will be thin, don’t worry, this is right).
- Fill liners 2/3 full with batter. (I usually put the batter into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, and then pour the batter into the liners.)
- Bake cupcakes for approximately 18-22 minutes.
- Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- Allow butter to set out at room temperature about 15 minutes (you can gather your other ingredients in the mean time).
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth.
- Add cream cheese and continue to beat until fully smooth and well incorporated.
- While slowly mixing, pour in caramel sauce (should not be warm). Add vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Continue slowly mixing and add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, allowing the sugar to blend a bit before adding each additional cup.
- Scrap down the sides of the bowl and then blend the frosting an additional 30 seconds or so. The frosting should be fluffy, and all ingredients fully incorporated.
- Frost cupcakes.
Garnish
- Drizzle cupcakes with salted caramel sauce and then prepare the toasted coconut.
- Spread about 1 and 1/2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut onto a baking sheet and bake in a 350°F oven for 3-8 minutes. Check after 3 minutes and stir, then check (and stir if needed) about every minute after. The coconut can burn very quickly, watch it closely! Sprinkle toasted coconut on top of the cupcakes. Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
I used Trader Joe's Salted Caramel sauce, feel free to use homemade salted caramel sauce, or a good quality brand of your choice.
In warm weather, you may need to put the frosting in the fridge for 15 minutes or more to firm up a bit before piping onto cupcakes.
Salted Caramel Sauce
- Warm the heavy cream in a bowl in the microwave and then set aside.
- In a large saucepan, add the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir gently to incorporate the ingredients.
- Cook over medium to medium-high heat, stirring gently, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling.
- Stop stirring and allow the mixture to boil undisturbed until it begins to darken in color. You want the mixture to reach a honey color, but no darker. The syrup will change from light in color to dark very quickly, so it's important to watch closely and remove the pan from the heat as soon as it's light-medium honey color.
- Once removed from heat, carefully and slowly pour in the warm heavy cream (the mixture will hiss and bubble). Stir to full incorporate the cream.
- Add butter and salt and stir to combine. Add vanilla.
- Allow sauce to cool a bit, then pour into a jar. Cool at room temperature, then cover jar and store in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Calories: 330kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 236mg | Potassium: 82mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 340IU | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1mg