Sunday, July 10, 2011

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.