Enjoy the flavors of pineapple, coconut, and sweet maraschino cherries with these delicious Pina Colada Cupcakes. These decorative baked treats are perfect for serving at summer gatherings.

Pina Colada cupcakes are soft, fluffy, and filled with classic tropical flavors. These tropical-flavored cupcakes are a must-try dessert recipe.

This post may contain affiliate links. We may receive a small commission if you click and purchase something. Please see our disclosure policy for more details.

Easy Pina Colada Cupcakes

Do you love the flavor of pina colada? If it’s one of your favorites, why not try this easy cupcake recipe.? Pina Colada Cupcakes are slightly sweet, moist, and full of delicious tropical coconut flavor – making every bite even better than the last. With ingredients like pineapple cake mix, maraschino cherries, toasted coconut, coconut or pineapple rum, and powdered sugar, you can make a tropical baked treat with ease.

Pina Colada Cupcakes Ingredients

Pineapple Cake Mix – Grab a box of pineapple cake mix for your cupcakes to enjoy cake with notes of sweet, refreshing pineapple.
Maraschino Cherries – Chop a cup of maraschino cherries into bits and pieces for this recipe.
Unsalted Butter – Use unsalted sweet cream butter to prepare your frosting. Allow the butter to sit and soften before you combine it with your other frosting ingredients.
Powdered Sugar – The addition of powdered sugar will give your frosting a much sweeter taste.
Heavy Whipping Cream – Combine your powdered sugar and butter with heavy whipping cream to achieve the perfect taste and consistency with your frosting.

You will need a few other ingredients, such as canola oil, large eggs, and whole milk, along with additional ingredients to prepare the pineapple rum frosting and coconut frosting. These ingredients include Malibu coconut rum, Malibu pineapple rum, and lemon gel food coloring. Want to make these without rum? No problem, see my recipe tips below.

Equipment Needed to Make Pina Colada Cupcakes

When preparing your cupcakes, it helps to have the following equipment to get the job done:

Medium Piping Bag – Use the piping bag with a star tip to easily pipe your frosting on top of each cupcake.
Tropical Umbrella Picks – Adding these picks to your cupcakes will make them look even more festive.
Stand Mixer – Rather than mixing the cake and frosting by hand, use a stand mixer to get the job done faster and more efficiently.
Cupcake Pan – You will also need a cupcake pan as well as cupcake liners to make these cupcakes

You won’t need much equipment to assemble these delicious cupcakes.

Pina Colada Cupcake Recipe Notes

When combining your ingredients to prepare the frosting, ensure you’re beating until everything becomes smooth and your frosting can hold a peak. Take your time when mixing to avoid overdoing it.
If you have shredded coconut, but you don’t have toasted coconut, you can place the shredded coconut on a baking tray and toast it in the oven at 250 degrees F for a few minutes.
The yellow gel food coloring enhances the appearance of the frosting and makes it easy to identify the pineapple frosting. However, if you don’t have food color, you can still make these Pina Colada Cupcakes with no problem.

Pina Colada Cupcake FAQs

Do I have to use rum when preparing the frosting?

No, you don’t have to use rum and can swap it out for rum, pineapple or coconut extract, depending on what you prefer. The rum is great to use when preparing these Pina Colada Cupcakes for adults who want a sweet, boozy treat.

What brand of cake mix should I use?

Any pineapple-flavored cake mix will work, such as the Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Pineapple Supreme or the Pillsbury Moist Supreme Pineapple.

Can I prepare this recipe as a cake?

You can prepare this recipe as a cake, but making cupcakes is easier simply because you won’t have to worry about cutting your cake into pieces and can hand out the cupcakes to everyone who wants one.

Try These Easy Cupcake Recipes

Pina Colada Cupcakes

Pina Colada cupcakes are soft, fluffy, and filled with classic tropical flavors. These tropical-flavored cupcakes are a must-try dessert recipe.

Ingredients

1 Pineapple cake mix
1 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
1⁄3 cup canola oil
1 cup maraschino cherries, chopped
1/4 cup coconut rum (optional)
Coconut Frosting
1 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons Malibu Coconut Rum
2 cup toasted coconut
1 medium ice cream scoop
Pineapple Rum Frosting
1 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
3 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp Malibu Pineapple Rum
Lemon yellow gel food coloring
1 small bowl
1 medium piping bag with star tip
14 pipettes filled with Tequila
Maraschino Cherries
14 Pina Colada candy sticks broken in half
Tropical umbrella picks

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
Using a standing mixer, beat the cake mix, whole milk, eggs, and oil.
Once combined and smooth, fold in the maraschino cherries.
Fill the cupcake liners, 3⁄4 way full and bake in the oven for 21 minutes
Allow to cool completely.
Using a standing mixer for the frosting, beat the butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and coconut rum until combined, smooth and holds a peak.
Using the ice cream scoop, scoop a mound of frosting on top of the cupcake.
Using an angled spatula, spread the frosting slightly to create a flat top
Pour the toasted coconut into a bowl, coat the entire frosting in the toasted coconut.
Using the mixer again, beat the butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream and pineapple coconut rum until combined, and smooth, and hold peak.
Scoop half of it into the small bowl and mix in a few drops of the yellow gel food coloring.
Scoop the yellow frosting onto 1 side of the piping bag and scoop the remaining white frosting onto the other side.
Pipe a dollop of frosting in the center of the cupcake.
Stick the pina colada candy stick into 1 side of the cupcake, the tequila pipette into the other side.
Top with a maraschino cherry and umbrella pick.
Enjoy!