Fab Food Friday: Coconut Lime cupcakes & more

Hello! Happy Friday to all! This is by far my favorite day of the week simply because it means we get the hubbs home with us allllll weekend! Today we couldn't wait to see him though, so the kids and I went to visit him for lunch. It's a special treat for our oldest to get to see his dad at work.

I have a tendency to send baked goods with the hubbs to work and some were requested today so Caden and I made these Lemon brownies to take. They turned out different than I thought, but the glaze really made the brownie(except as my oldest pointed out, "They aren't brown, Mom."). I like that I can appreciate something other than chocolate :) and everyone loved them, so they are worth a try!

Along with the "dessert appreciation that isn't chocolate" theme, I wanted to share these recipes with you...

The first is what I created really quick before our church small group one night. We were hosting small group and my son wanted jello for dessert (he likes it in individual cups) so we made it. A couple hours before small group I realized that Jello may not be as welcomed by the adults as they would all our pre-schoolers. After looking in our cupboard I came up with an EASY recipe for Mini Coconut cupcakes with lime glaze....

Coconut Cupcakes

--Makes 48 mini cupcakes--

1 box yellow cake mix (made according to package)

1 1/2 Tbs. Coconut Extract

1) Mix yellow cake mix according to package (I always substitute part of the oil for applesauce) and mix in the Coconut extract

2) Grease mini muffin tin and fill with cake batter

3) Bake 12-14 minutes

4) Let cool 3 minutes then add the lime glaze (below)

Lime Glaze

2 Tb Key Lime Juice

2 Tb Milk

1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

(This is my favorite Key Lime Juice to use)

1) Whisk together ingredients till smooth

2) Drizzle over hot cupcakes (Still in pan) till they are covered (the glaze will soak in)

3) Let the cupcakes cool then pop them out of the pan

The verdict? These were gone...quickly. Also, in my opinion, they must be mini cupcakes to get the lime glaze/coconut cake ratio just right :) I think they are a perfect summer treat that isn't too "heavy" on the hot days.

Easy, right? Normally I would try to make the cake from scratch, but this ended up being just right and quick to boot!

Next, is the recipe for Coconut Buttercream icing I made to top these Pineapple Coconut cupcakes (Again, the pineapple cupcakes are from a box) for the baby shower I hosted last week.

Ingredients

1 Cup unsalted butter at room temperature

3 cups sifted powder sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbs COCONUT extract

2 Tbs milk

(Yellow food coloring is optional)

1) Beat Butter for a few minutes on medium speed

2) Turn mixer on low and add the powdered sugar

3) With beater on medium add the salt, extract, milk, and yellow food coloring if you choose and beat for a few minutes

To top cupcakes with icing I use a decorating press (I will never go back to using a knife to top cupcakes!)

Another thing I will never go back to is icing from a can...buttercream is easy and SOOOO good! I discovered this after my sweet friend, Jessi, brought us Buttercream cupcakes to reveal the gender of their baby. One taste and I was done with the store bought icing!

Both of these recipes scream warm weather and summer to me. I hope you are able to make some soon so you can welcome Summer as well!

Happy Weekend to all!