Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Patty Frosting and A Giveaway!
Now that December is here and Thanksgiving has passed, it’s time to start thinking about holiday goodies. My favorite winter flavor combo is chocolate and peppermint. They just go so well together.
I decided to make some chocolate cupcakes with these fun red tulip cupcake liners and some Peppermint Crunch (both were sent to me curtosy of King Arthur Flour). I love how bright the red color on the cupcake liners is! So festive.
I have to admit that this frosting recipe is quite tasty, but kind of a pain to work with. Amanda over at Fake Ginger used it in her peppermint brownies during the holiday bakeoff I attended. It was just sticky and messy to top the cupcakes. And if you were using regular cupcake liners, it might spill over the edges because it oozes as it sets. If I were using regular liners, I think I’d fill the cupcakes with this frosting and then dip them in ganache and sprinkle the pepperminte crunch on top of the ganache.
One of the most fun things about these cupcake liners is unwrapping your cupcake. It’s like opening a little holiday gift!
The best part of this all is that the awesome people at King Arthur Flour are offering up the same goodies they sent me to one lucky reader (to be chosen by Random.org)
Some Rules:
– Enter giveaway by midnight EST Thursday December 9
– US mailing addresses only
– Be sure to leave your email address or that your profile links to an email address
– To enter, leave a comment with your favorite holiday flavor (sweet or savory)
– For an extra entry, Tweet about this giveaway and come back here and leave another comment
One Year Ago: M&M Surprise Cookies
Two Years Ago: Lumberjack Cookies and Cinnamon Pork with Sweet Potatoes
Three Years Ago: Frito Candy
Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Patty Frosting
Yield: 24
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
1 cup butter
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1 cup hot water
2 cups Flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp espresso powder, optional
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt, or 1/3 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
For the Peppermint Patty Frosting
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp peppermint extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
For the Cupcakes
Line two muffin or cupcake pans with papers, and lightly grease the papers. If you only have one pan, you'll need to bake in shifts. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Melt the butter; stir in the cocoa and hot water.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt.
Blend the buttermilk or yogurt, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the cocoa mixture and the yogurt mixture over the dry ingredients, beating till smooth.
Pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter into each cup; a level muffin scoop works well here. Bake the cupcakes for 23 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of one of the middle cupcakes comes out clean. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack.
For the Peppermint Patty Frosting
Use a mixer to combine sweetened condensed milk and extract.
Mix in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until combined.
Scoop 1 Tbsp of frosting onto each cupcake. Using the back of a spoon, spread the frosting but not all the way to the edge of the cupcake. Place in fridge for frosting to set up.
Cupcake Recipe from King Arthur Flour
Frosting Recipe from Fake Ginger
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I love this simple recipe, and it will be a great idea for my sister-in-law’s bridal shower (both she and her fiance have M names). You mention in your other posts about using a squeeze bottle – is this any particular type of squeeze bottle? I’m not sure how to find one that would work for this purpose. What do you use? Thanks!
Awww, totally cute! It came up in my google reader and my stomach growled!!! YUM!
Yum! I’m making these this weekend for birthday treats. Can’t believe you can’t find almond bark. There are stacks of it at our small-town grocery store in Iowa.
Sarah – I use squeeze bottles from Michaels. They look like this.
Teresa – yes, it’s crazy that they don’t have almond bark out East. In the Midwest you can get it anywhere!
Thanks Jen! These are awesome. I have so many new pages bookmarked since finding your blog. P.S. I was in TJ Maxx tonight and found a jar of polka dot sprinkles, like true big polka dots, and I thought of you!
Do you have any Super WalMarts near you? I get them there all the time in Massachusetts. They are carried year round in the baking aisle. I’m not sure if regular WalMarts have them too.
These look yummy and I think that my college-age nephews would love them…how whould they travel? Have you got suggestions for things that will travel well in the mail? Thank you
mrs. c – these would travel really well. I like them straight from the fridge or freezer. I would freeze them for a few days prior to mailing. That’s what I do with anything I ship. I have great luck with cookies and brownies going in the mail.
have you tried coloring almond bark before? I tried a couple months ago and it was a disaster, so just curious
KV – I have not tried to color almond bark. The Wilton’s candy melts do come in a variety of colors though, so you could use those. They are sold at Michaels or Hobby Lobby.
Just wanted to clarify that I meant I find almond bark at Super WalMart here in MA. I went back to see if you had responded, and I realized my comment didn’t really make much sense!
Thanks. I don’t shop much at Walmart… It’s probably better that I can’t find this stuff anywhere, otherwise I’d be making these all the time!
Retirer en discernement en visitant cette d?mes plaisanteries tel cette contradictoire localité.
OBAT LUKA BAKAR