Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

There is nothing like refreshing mint in the summer heat, so it inspired me to make these cupcakes.
Growing up, mint chocolate was my father and I's favorite. Again, I think it was because of the cooling factor providing a slight relief to the scorching  Florida heat.I started this recipe off with a chocolate based cupcake with a tsp of peppermint extract because I could not find pure mint extract anywhere along with some semi sweet chocolate morsels.. I then made my basic buttercream frosting also adding in a tsp of peppermint extract and 1 drop of green food coloring.I then topped them with some chocolate chip morsels.. The end result.. Pure minty amazingness...I hope you enjoy them!
Cupcake Recipe:
1.5 cups of Self Rising Flour
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup superfine sugar
1 cup ( 2 sticks ) sweet butter, softened
4 eggs
1 tsp peppermint extract
.5 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Frosting:
1/3 cup ( 2/3 stick ) sweet butter softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar sifted
1 tsp mint extract
1 drop green food coloring
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp of milk

Preheat oven to 325F. Place 18 paper baking cups into muffin pans. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Set aside. Beat the sugar & butter together in a large bowl until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture gradually, stirring until well combined. Stir in the mint extract & chocolate chips. Spoon 1/4 cup of mixture into the cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven & cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack. To make frosting, beat the butter and confectioners sugar in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Stir in the mint extract, food coloring and milk. Frost the cupcakes and decorate with chocolate chips.

New Year's Resolution

So for my New Years resolution I want to go back to what I love doing.. Cooking and especially BAKING! I adore baking. My mom had me in the kitchen at age 2 beating eggs, making cookies, frosting ect! Yesterday it started snowing a bit and it made me feel like baking so I decided to make some peanut brittle. My grandmother and mom always used to make it. It really reminds me of my parents since my mom used to make it for my dad on special occasions especially their anniversary
For my first time I was pretty proud of how it came out. It is so extremely easy to make, it will now be a tradition for me!
















I adored the color and the glossyness of the peanut brittle the way it came out. Some people say that spreading the brittle/sugar mix is difficult but I had absolutely no problem.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup peanuts
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.
2. In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in peanuts. Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
3. Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet. With 2 forks, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches; cool. Snap candy into pieces.