Mint chocolate chip is a popular dessert flavor combination! These show stopping Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes are easy to make and have maximum mint chocolate flavor.
Earlier this month I rambled on about how much I love the fresh start of a new year. I’ve shared my obsession with my new planner, my plans to add exercise back into my daily routine, and other goals I have for 2017.
Many goals for this year include goals for this blog. But, I have been hesitant to post these online because I feel like every year that I do, I don’t end up making these goals an ongoing success. I’ll keep up with them for a while and then life gets busy and blogging things and other goals like daily exercise get set aside. Then I pick it up again and so on and so on.
This year was no exception. I got organized. Made a plan. Bought supplies. But then got swamped with work, blogging and other jobs, including volunteer work for an organization I am involved in. Oh, and then there is the fact that I have been out of town every week so far this month, both for work and fun. So, even with my best intentions, plans and organization tools, I haven’t been able to start my new features and work on my new year’s goals.
In addition to sharing consistently each week (the same time and day each week) I wanted to share more cooking tips, travel and cookbook reviews. These are all things I have wanted to share on Kitchen Concoctions since the beginning (2009!!) and like I said, these are topics and features I’ll blog about for a while and then get busy and only focus on regular recipes.
I’ve also tried hard to share regularly on social media and send out regular newsletters (be sure and sign up, the next newsletter goes out tomorrow!), but while I pride myself on being able to juggle a lot, sometimes you gotta just let some things go.
But it is only January! There is still an entire year to make things happen, both with my blogging and personal goals! So even though I am still trying to figure out my daily routine, which includes facing the fact that with all my jobs and responsibilities there is usually nothing routine about my day at all! 🙂
While I continue figuring things out on my end, I’ll share the recipe for Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes for you all to enjoy! I actually made these cupcakes several times last fall since they are rich and chocolaty and a big hit among friends! Even though these cupcakes look fancy, they are actually pretty easy to make.
I also found that the mint chocolate chip swirled frosting is perfect for football parties, and with the addition of a simple paper football cupcake topper (as seen from a tailgate I shared last fall) makes these the perfect cupcakes for the upcoming big game!
- Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes:
- 1 (15.25-ounce) box devil’s food cake mix
- 1 (5.85-ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
- 1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- ¾ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ½ cup milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups mint chocolate chips or chopped mint chocolate bars
- --
- Mint Chocolate Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 4-5 tablespoons milk
- green food dye gel, if desired
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- For cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Line two muffin tins with approximately 24 paper cupcake liners or spray pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Stir in yogurt, eggs, oil, milk and vanilla, stirring just until combined and there are no lumps. Stir in mint chocolate chips. Using an ice cream scoop or large cookie scoop, divide batter evenly among cupcake liners.
- Bake cupcakes in preheated oven for 18-23 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow cupcakes to cool inside the muffin tins for about 10 minutes, before transferring cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cupcakes are completely cool, prepare frosting.
- For frosting: In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together butter, vanilla and peppermint extract, beating until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with 3-4 tablespoons milk; repeating until all the sugar is used. Continue mixing until frosting is creamy and smooth and desired consistency is reached. Add additional milk or powdered sugar if needed to reach a thicker frosting.
- Divide frosting in half placing half the frosting in a separate bowl. To one bowl of frosting, stir in a small amount of green food gel, if desired, and set aside.
- Meanwhile, place 1/3 cup chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons milk in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds; remove and stir. Place chocolate mixture back in microwave and microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Remove and stir. Repeat this process until all chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
- To the remaining bowl of buttercream frosting, beat in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder, beating until smooth and creamy. Add additional milk if needed to help mix the frosting.
To decorate cupcakes, fill one piping bag (no piping tip in the bottom) about half full of green frosting. Fill a separate piping bag (no piping tip in the bottom) about half full of chocolate frosting. Twist the tops of the bags and cut about a half inch off the ends of each filled piping bag. Take a third piping bag and cut the end off and fill with a large piping tip. Place the two frosting filled piping bags side by side in the third piping bag with the tip. Twist off the top of the piping bag. Squeezing the piping bag at the top, pipe frosting onto cupcakes in a circular motion. Top the frosted cupcakes with the remaining mini chocolate chips.
*Note: Increase peppermint extract to ¾-1 teaspoon for stronger peppermint flavor
Cupcake recipe adapted from my Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe
Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting inspired by and adapted from My Baking Addiction
If you like these Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes, then you’ll love these other cupcake recipes:
