Mint Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes
I’ve got more birthday treats for you guys!
My older son is turning 6(!). I can hardly believe it! I can remember so clearly what it was like to be 6, and I really hope that he enjoys this year of his childhood as much as I did mine.
My boys are 23 months apart, so in the YinMom YangMom Allie household, the Spring is all about birthday baking!
Chooch’s number one favorite ice cream flavor is Mint Chocolate Cookie, so we decided to bake him up a cupcake version to share with his kindergarten classmates.
You may remember this cake recipe from Shmoo’s birthday cake, last month. I’ve been making it forever, and I’ve tried other chocolate cake recipes, but I keep coming back to this one. (Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake.) The results are always consistent: light, moist, and chocolatey, and it’s easily adaptable to cupcakes as well as layer cakes.
Also, it comes together quickly and easily, with only one bowl and one big measuring cup to clean. Most of the time, I don’t even bother to break out my mixer; I just whisk it up by hand. Super simple and super delish.
I baked Chooch’s favorite Cool Mint Oreos into each cupcake, and topped them with this fabulous American-style buttercream I found on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen: Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting. It really does taste just like the ice cream!
I just subbed in chocolate cookies for the chopped chocolate. It has a great texture, but don’t waste your time trying to pipe it pretty on the cupcakes. The cookie bits just clog up the tip. Your best bet is just to swirl it on with a little spatula, and top it off with a Junior Mint for garnish.
Author: Adapted from Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake and Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 55 mins
Serves: 32 cupcakes
Ingredients
- Cake:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- 32 Cool Mint Oreos
- Frosting:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- a few drops of green gel color paste (optional)
- 10 dark chocolate cookies (such as Famous Wafers or Oreos)
- 32 Junior Mints (for garnish)
Instructions
- Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a Cool Mint Oreo in each well of a lined cupcake tin. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine all the wet ingredients in a large glass measuring cup. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir until well combined. Stir in the hot water. Fill each cupcake well with batter, about ⅔ full. Bake for 22 minutes.
- Frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and heavy cream together until smooth and fluffy. Stir in the extracts. Add the powdered sugar and beat until completely incorporated. Mix in the gel color paste, if using. Add in the cookies, and stir until they are broken up. When the cupcakes are completely cooled, frost and garnish with a Junior Mint candy.
3.2.1230
So moist and chocolatey, with that cool, creamy hit of mint, and a little deep, dark, cookie crunch!
