This Coconut Sheet Cake is easy to make and is loaded with delicious coconut flavor! This cake is the perfect potluck dish, it’s extra moist with a simple and delicious frosting.

Piece of Coconut Sheet Cake on a blue plate

I’m always on the lookout for a good sheet cake recipe. The simplicity of sheet cakes has always been attractive to me—just mixing the batter, spreading it, baking it, and topping it. What could be easier? And yet, many typical “potluck” sheet cakes just aren’t all that good. They’re either too dry and crumbly or too plain. (Or worse, both.) So, when I find a recipe like this one, I have to share it.Overhead shot of Coconut Sheet Cake in a baking sheet with forks on a blue plate This coconut sheet cake recipe is seriously one of my favorite cake recipes out there. It’s sweet, dense, and super moist. (Everything I love in a cake!) But it doesn’t lose that simplicity that makes sheet cakes so darn awesome.

Give it a try. You won’t be able to resist that second slice.

Coconut Sheet Cake on a blue plate with a forkRecipe Notes:

  • Use eggs at room temperature for this dish so they don’t cook when added to the saucepan.
  • Use full-fat sour cream. While that isn’t a typical ingredient for me, it is the exact right choice for this recipe as it adds a really nice (and necessary) richness to balance out this sweet cake.
  • The completed batter will seem pretty runny. Don’t worry, you didn’t make a mistake. It’s supposed to look like that, I promise.
  • A full 10 x 15 pan is necessary for baking. You might be tempted to try a 9 x 13 pan instead. Don’t. In a smaller pan, the cake just won’t cook right.
  • It is important to cook this cake all the way through. A cake with this moist of a texture won’t stay together—or taste very good—underbaked. Cook the coconut sheet cake until the top has a nice golden color. The old toothpick method will help here as well. Just insert a toothpick into the very center of the cake. If it comes out completely clean, then your cake is cooked through.

More Coconut Love?

Coconut Sheet Cake on a blue plate with a fork
5 from 6 votes↑ Click stars to rate now!
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Coconut Cake

Coconut Cake is easy to make and is loaded with delicious coconut flavor! Perfect as a potluck dish, it's extra moist with a simple and delicious frosting.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Servings 18 servings
Author Kathleen

Ingredients  

CAKE

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ cups sweetened flaked coconut
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon coconut extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

ICING

  • ½ cup butter
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 4 ½ cups confectioner's sugar
  • 1 teaspoon coconut extract
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 ½ cups sweetened flaked coconut

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 375 Degrees. Spray a 15X10X1 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Bring butter and water to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and mix in flour, sugar, flaked coconut, eggs, sour cream, coconut extract, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Stir until mixture is evenly combined.
  • Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake 18-22 minutes (until the top is nicely golden and a toothpick comes out clean).
  • Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, add milk and ½ cup of butter and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in confectioners sugar, coconut extract, and vanilla until smooth. Pour icing over warm cake then immediately sprinkle with flaked coconut. Cool completely before serving.
5 from 6 votes

Nutrition Information

Calories: 476 | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 316mg | Potassium: 89mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 57g | Vitamin A: 545IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American

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About the author

Holly is a wine and cheese lover, recipe creator, shopping enthusiast and self appointed foodie. Her greatest passion is creating in the kitchen and making deliciously comforting recipes for the everyday home cook!
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Comments

  1. I would love to try the sheet cake but I would love make a healthy version can you please give me advice on how to without losing the yummy.
    Maggie

  2. Hi
    I am writing to you from the UNITED KINGDOM.
    We do all our baking by measuring the ingredients, please tell me how many grams or ounces are in your 2 cups of flour?
    1 cup of flour her is about 5 ounces or 140 grams.
    Thanks

  3. This was good as I LOVE coconut, but WAY too sweet!!! I will try it again with half the sugar that recipe calls for next time and let you know.

  4. Coconut cake is my favorite. It was even our wedding cake! Sheet cakes are also my favorite because I’m kinda too lazy for layer cakes. I want to try your version!