Tropical cupcakes

I was given the priviledge of making a cake and cupcakes for my niece-to-be's Bridal Shower.  We love her dearly and I was so jazzed about doing it.  So, my soon-to-be niece also happens to be Lactose Intolerant.  So, I put on my Baker's hat and wanted to make a really tasty and really unexpected.  So after scouring recipes, and websites and doing some research on Lactose free substitutions, I went to bed.  I had a very interesting dream that night about making cupcakes and the next day, I made the cupcakes!  They were really good so I decided to make them again for every-woman friendly.  I tend to bake from scratch, but not everyone does so simple and cheap is what I'm going for. 

First I started with a very simple cheap white cake mix from my local discount superstore! Then I got a can of pineapple, some vanilla extract, coconut and my splurge fancy brand eggs.  That's all I used in the making of these cupcakes. 

So, instead of 4 egg whites per the box instructions, I used 2 whole eggs.  I added the can of pineapple with juice, and about 1/2 -2/3 cup coconut.  I added 1 tsp of vanilla extract and mixed well, scraping once with a rubber spatula since the coconut and pineapple like to stick to the paddle on the mixer.  I did not have to add water or oil or any of the other stuff that you usually add to cake mix.

It made about 20 cupcakes. 

So, I baked them for about 30 minutes at 350.  I made a simple buttercream without butter...

They were so good!  I took a batch to Bible Study and everyone raved.  (If I do say so myself!)
So moist, and yummy and low in fat (except the frosting, because why make low fat frosting!)
I am going to try them again without the egg to see if I can make them totally vegan!  Then will try them again without gluten.  I used almond milk in the frosting and it was good and creamy and was still nice and white for when you need "White" frosting.  If you try these, then let me know what you do differently and how you liked it.  I'd love to hear back from you.