Pina Colada Cupcakes

This past weekend one of my grandma's had her 85th birthday. We celebrated all together as a family up in her favorite place a house we have all been going to for years in the Pocono's. When we were younger my grandma always used to have my grandpa make us virgin pina colada's. We would sip them while we were at the Poconos in between boat rides and tubing to feel like we were on a tropical vacation. I thought it was very appropriate to celebrate this big birthday with her favorite drink made into a cupcake. These were a big hit with everyone they were moist and sweet with the island flavors of pineapple and coconut.

Ingredients:
1 2/3 Cup Sugar
2 1/4 Cup Flour
1 Can Lite Coconut Milk
5 Egg Whites
1 Cup Fresh Pineapple - Drained & Finely Diced
2/3 Cup I can't believe it's not butter - Softened
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp Salt
3 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

Decorated with:
Whipped Vanilla Frosting
Sweetened Shredded Coconut
Pineapple Pieces
Maraschino Cherries

Makes 24 cupcakes

Adapted from: http://everydayfoodstorage.net

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line your baking trays with paper liners. In a stand mixer bowl, cream your butter and sugar until soft, add the coconut milk, vanilla and all of your dry ingredients. Beat on high for about 2 minutes. Add the egg whites and beat on high for another 2 minutes. Lastly add in the pineapple and stir it all together using a spatula. 

Using a ladle fill the cupcake liners until they are almost full. Make sure there is at least a little bit of pineapple in each cupcake. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let them cool completely on a baking rack before decorating. Since these needed to travel to Pennsylvania and I knew there wouldn't be any extra fridge space I opted for a ready made can of frosting but you can obviously make homemade icing if you'd like. After I frosted them I sprinkled coconut on top and then topped each one with a piece of pineapple and a cherry. If only I had a few of those cute little drink umbrellas, but oh well.

 Enjoy!!

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