Christmas, Desserts, Recipes

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

I saw this on Pinterest and thought they were really cute for Christmas.

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Glorious Treats
Cook Time 22 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 24

Ingredients
  

Cupcakes

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa (best quality available)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract (best quality available)
  • 1 cup boiling water

Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick, 8 Tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
  • 6 oz cream cheese, at room temperature (about 3/4 of a regular block of cream cheese)
  • 4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
  • 1 tsp pure peppermint extract
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1-3 tsp heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (or milk- although I do like the richness that cream adds)

Instructions
 

Cupcakes

  • Line muffin tin with paper liners. Heat oven to 350*F.
  • In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  • Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for one minute.
  • Stir in boiling water (the batter will be thin, don’t worry, this is right).
  • Fill liners 2/3 full with batter. (I usually put the batter into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, and then pour the batter into the liners.)
  • Bake cupcakes for approximately 22-24 minutes.
  • Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.
  • Add powdered sugar (a little at a time) and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
  • Add vanilla and peppermint extracts
  • Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don’t add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)
  • Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
  • Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)

Notes

To achieve the red stripe in the frosting:  Before filling a large piping bag with frosting, add some red gel food coloring to a toothpick, and draw two (vertical) lines with the red dye on the inside of the piping bag. Then carefully fill the piping bag with frosting.  Squeeze some frosting into a bowl until you begin to see the red stripe, then frost the cupcakes.
Top cupcakes with some crushed candy canes (they will ”melt” after a bit, so they need to be served right away) or a small piece of peppermint bark (I used a little peppermint Andes candy).

About admin

I am a single mom of a very active and busy twenty year old young man. I work full time at the New York State Funeral Directors Association. I love doing crafts and saving money. So I will be posting my ideas or ideas that I have found from one of my favorite sites Pinterest. I also am very savvy with a computer so I will be posting printables as well. I hope you enjoy my blog.
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