Easy Coconut Sheet Cake

This Easy Coconut Sheet Cake with a coconut cream cheese frosting is nothing short of decadent.  It starts with a boxed mix and ends with a moist, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth coconut cake!

If you’ve ever wanted homemade coconut cake but with less hassle – THIS IS IT.  By doctoring up a boxed mix with sour cream, pudding mix and coconut extract,  you’ll have a moist and spongy coconut cake.  Slather it with my easy cream cheese frosting for the ultimate dessert for coconut lovers!

Every week for a month or so now, I’ve been getting a slice of coconut sheet cake from my local grocery store’s bakery while grocery shopping.  The other day they were sold out, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I went to my Cranberry Pineapple Upside-Down Cake recipe for inspiration because it also uses a boxed mix (and is incredibly delicious!).  I changed a few things up and was extremely happy with the outcome.

Your Simple Ingredients

As you can see, there’s nothing fancy here… most of the ingredients are basic that you probably already have on-hand!

Using Egg Whites vs. Whole Eggs

White cake mixes call for egg whites because using the yolks gives the cake a yellow color.  Since this recipe uses coconut cream pudding, the cake will still have a slight yellow color despite using egg whites.

I tested this recipe using three whole eggs in one cake and four egg whites in another.  The result was that the cake with whole eggs tasted the same but had a slightly darker yellow color.

I used egg whites on the cake in the photos shown in this post.  Basically, it really doesn’t matter if you decide to use whole eggs or egg whites – it’s delicious either way!

This bakes up beautifully in about 35 minutes in a 9×13 glass baking dish.  If you use a 9×13 metal pan, check it sooner because typically metal pans bake quicker (I haven’t tested this cake in a metal pan so I can’t say with 100% certainty).

Enjoy!

Easy Coconut Sheet Cake

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Amy @ The Blond Cook
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 12 slices

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Description

This easy dessert starts with a boxed mix and ends with a moist, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth coconut cake!

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Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 (15.25 ounce) box white cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant coconut cream pudding mix
• 4 large egg whites *
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons coconut extract

For the frosting:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

 

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Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease or liberally spray a 13×9 pan with cooking spray.
2. Beat together cake mix, pudding mix, egg whites, sour cream, vegetable oil and water with a hand mixer on medium speed (or with a stand mixer using the paddle attachment).  Beat until smooth (about 2 minutes).
3. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.
4. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (my cake was ready in 35 minutes using a glass pan), or until a toothpick inserted in the center is removed clean.
5. Allow cake to cool.  While cake is cooling, prepare the frosting by beating cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with a hand mixer (or a stand mixer) until smooth.  Slowly add powdered sugar, while continuing to beat until smooth.  Add extract and mix until combined.
6. Spread frosting over cooled cake and sprinkle evenly with coconut flakes.

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Notes

• *3 large eggs can be used in place of the 4 egg whites

• Category: Dessert
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: coconut sheet cake with cake mix