Lately I’ve been craving the chocolate-mint flavor combination. Those flavors just seem to belong to each other. And although I’d take a baked treat over candy any day, I love Andes chocolate mints. I remember as a kid my family took a cruise vacation. Every night when we were done with our activities on the ship, we’d come back to our room and discover our towels were folded in the shape of various animals and there were Andes chocolate mints left on our beds. That was one of my favorite parts of that vacation. I guess I was easily impressed as a kid! Maybe I still am easily impressed because I loved how flavorful and fun these cupcakes were. I was so caught up in the chocolate-mint theme that I actually added green food coloring to the frosting of these cupcakes and I don’t like food coloring. It creeps me out. But look how beautiful it made them!
Recipe Rundown
Taste: Mint + chocolate = heaven.
Texture: The cupcake is super duper moist while the frosting is lusciously smooth. Then you get a little bite of the Andes mint to top it all off!
Ease: The cupcake batter is very simple to whip up, as is the frosting. I think the hardest part was waiting for the cupcakes to cool so I could frost!
Appearance: Like I said above, the green food coloring really makes these cupcakes shine. I also love the little Andes mint sticking out.
Pros: Fabulous dessert for any occasion. Would be especially great for St. Patty’s Day.
Cons: Indulgent.
Would I make this again? Yes.
Yield: about 18 cupcakes
For the chocolate cupcakes:
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
For the mint frosting:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
Green food coloring, if desired
9 Andes chocolate mints, halved
For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 standard muffin pans with 18 paper cupcake liners.
Combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a large bowl. In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, mix together the egg, milk, oil, peppermint, and vanilla. Add the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and beat on medium speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Add boiling water and stir to combine.
Fill each cupcake liner three-quarters full with batter. Bake until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer muffin pans to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
Beat the confectioners’ sugar and butter until the mixture is crumbly, about 1 minute. Add the heavy cream, vanilla, mint extract salt, and food coloring (if using) and beat on high until sooth, about 3 minutes. Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip and pipe onto each cupcake. Top each cupcake with half of an Andes mint.
Cupcake recipe from this recipe and frosting from Whoopie Pies
