German Chocolate Cupcakes (Cake Mix)
Calling all German Chocolate Cake lovers! These delicious German Chocolate Cupcakes are so soft and light with a delicious coconut pecan filling- nobody would guess that this is a doctored cake mix recipe.
Table of Contents
Ingredients at a Glance
- German Chocolate Cake Mix (we used Duncan Hines)
- Flour & Sugar to extend the recipe
- Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix adds a chocolate boost and nice texture
- Sour Cream adds richness and enhances the texture and moisture of the cake
- Vanilla extract
- Vegetable Oil, Eggs, & Water for moisture and structure
For the Coconut Pecan filling
Butter, Sugar, Egg yolks, Evaporated Milk, and vanilla add richness, sweetness, and flavor. The Flaked Coconut (Sweetened) and chopped pecans create the signature balance of flavors that everyone loves!
*Chocolate Buttercream Frosting is optional, but it adds a great boost of chocolate flavor, and also makes for a pretty cupcake!
How to Make German Chocolate Cupcakes
This is a very straightforward doctored cake mix recipe for the cupcakes. Ignore the instructions on the box, and simply add the German Chocolate Cake mix along with the remaining ingredients in the recipe (sugar, all purpose flour, chocolate pudding mix, sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla.) Mix according to our instructions and bake!
For the Coconut Pecan Filling
- Whisk egg yolks, milk and vanilla in a saucepan until blended.
- Add sugar and butter and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened, stir constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir in the coconut and chopped pecans. Allow to cool before spreading on the cake.
- This is enough to fill & frost the cupcakes.
Filling and Decorating the Cupcakes
As you'll see in the recipe card below, we filled the cooled cupcakes with the Pecan Coconut Frosting, using a disposable piping bag with the tipped snipped away.
We then frosted the tops with the coconut pecan frosting as well, leaving just enough space for a chocolate buttercream border (optional).
Here we are, piping a small chocolate buttercream shell border around the edge of the cupcakes to complete our decoration (and to add a boost of chocolate flavor)!
*Another decorating option is to use the coconut pecan frosting only as a filling, and frost the cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. We love the coconut pecan frosting so much though that we wanted to use it on top as well!
Here is our pretty platter of cupcakes- SO good! We hope that you enjoy the recipe!
More Classic Cake Recipes
Thanks so much for stopping by today! In addition to our delicious German Chocolate Cupcakes, make sure to check out our German Chocolate Cake from scratch, as well as many more classic cake recipes, from carrot cake to Italian Cream Cake, Hummingbird Cake from cake mix and more!
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
German Chocolate Cupcakes (from cake mix)
Ingredients
For the German Chocolate Cake Layers
- 1 (15.25 oz) German Chocolate Cake Mix
- ½ cup (60g) All Purpose Flour
- ½ cup (100g) sugar
- 1 (3.9 oz) Box Chocolate Instant Chocolate Pudding- We use Jello Brand- Do not make the pudding, just add the powder.
- 1 cup (242g) Sour Cream
- ¼ cup (54g )Vegetable Oil (we use canola)
- 1 ¼ cup (302g) water
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
For the Coconut Pecan Filling and Topping
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (4g)
- 12 oz Evaporated Milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 1 stick Butter (113g)(We used unsalted)
- Pinch of salt (⅛-1/4 tsp.) if not using salted butter.
- 1½ cups pecans, chopped
- 2⅔ cup sweetened flaked coconut (198g) We use Baker's Sweetened Angel Flake.
Chocolate Buttercream (Optional. See Notes)
- 1 ½ sticks butter unsalted, softened (169g) -This is equal to ¾ cup butter.
- 3 cups confectioners sugar (Adjust slightly up or down to your liking) *See Notes (402g)
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa. Measure, then sift. (41g)
- ¼ cup milk -Add slowly stop when desired consistency is reached. (Add a bit more if needed).
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add paper cupcake liners to cupcake pan(s).
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the cake mix, flour, sugar, and pudding mix. Whisk to blend.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed and mix on medium speed for two minutes.
- The batter should look well blended. Fill the cupcake liners with batter (approximately ¼ cup batter per cupcake).
- Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. **Bake times can vary and so peek in as the end time approaches. These will dome.
- After removing the pan(s) from the oven, we like to remove them fairly quickly and place on a cooling rack.
Coconut Pecan Filling and Topping
- Whisk egg yolks, milk and vanilla in a saucepan until blended.
- Add sugar, butter and salt and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened, stir constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir in the coconut and nuts. Allow to cool before spreading on the cake.
- This is enough to fill and top the cupcakes. *See Notes
For the Chocolate Buttercream (Optional- see notes)
- Add butter and mix on low to medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and blend into the butter.
- Next, add powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Add most of the milk. Begin mixing at low speed (to control the cloud of powdered sugar), increasing to medium. Continue to mix, adding remaining milk as needed.
- It may take 3 to 4 minutes to reach the smoothness and consistency you like. As you mix, the frosting will become very smooth. You can add additional milk (1 Tablespoon at a time) if the frosting is too thick or additional powdered sugar if too soft.
Filling & Decorating the Cupcakes
- Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, it is time to decorate. *You can use the coconut pecan frosting just on top of the cupcakes if you'd like, but we used it as a filling inside of the cupcakes also.
- For filling: Load a disposable piping bag and snip the tip away. The filling should be fairly thick but still should flow easily from the piping bag. Insert the tip of the bag halfway into the top of the cupcake and squeeze for a few seconds to fill.
- Next, pipe/spread frosting on top of the cupcake **If using chocolate frosting as well, leave a space around the edge. We used a star tip (18 or 21 are good options) to pipe a border of chocolate frosting around the edge of each cupcake.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container or sealed bakery box. Because of the coconut pecan frosting, we like to refrigerate to be on the safe side. **Before serving, allow the cupcakes to warm to room temperature. It is best to remove from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving.