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Last week, my boss said he had cheated on me. Say what?
Apparently said boss ate a Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcake from a local bakery and thought it was amazing. I shrugged my shoulders because I didn’t really know that an exclusivity clause came with consuming my cupcakes. Then came the words, We were wondering if you can make a better batch? Seriously, did he just propose a challenge? Game on.
My game face lasted about 2 minutes because I realized that I had no more than 1/4 cup of cocoa powder in the house. I have no idea how this happened because I’m kind of a cocoa powder hoarder – it’s a bit of a problem.
However, after a quick fridge scan, I realized that I did have all the ingredients for my favorite boxed mix recipe. Game back on.
I figured if anything, I could play around with mint-chocolate buttercream to get the recipe just right and then test out a scratch recipe later.
Since I wanted the mint flavor to really shine through in both the cupcakes and the frosting, I took advantage of the bag of Andes Crème de Menthe baking chips that I have been taking up space in my pantry for months.
A quick swirl of two-tone, mint-chocolate frosting and a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips created Mint-Chocolate Chip cupcake perfection.
All this mint chocolate cupcake perfection ended up completely for naught! A huge storm blew through that resulted in downed trees, power lines, no electricity, and work being closed for a day and a half. Sorry, Bossman! Better luck next time.
You’ll have to let me know what you think!
Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
- 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
- 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 cups Andes Crème de Menthe baking chips
For the Frosting
- 4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1.5 pounds (28 ounces) confectioners' sugar, sifted
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- green gel dye
- 1/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
- 2 ounces semi sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- mini chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, add the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and water. Mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes until all ingredients are well combined and the batter is smooth. Stir in the Andes Crème de Menthe baking chips.
- Using a large scoop distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.
- Bake in preheated oven for 18-23 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.
- Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.
For the Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes.
- Turn the mixture down to low speed and gradually add in the confectioners' sugar until it is completely incorporated. Add in vanilla and heavy cream. Turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and beat the mixture for about 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Remove half of the frosting from the mixer bowl and set aside. Add a tiny amount of green gel dye to the remaining frosting (I used Wilton Leaf Green). Turn the mixer on and fully incorporate the dye. Slowly add more dye until you achieve a nice minty green color. Stir in peppermint extract.
- Remove the mint frosting from the mixing bowl and set aside. Add the other half of the frosting back into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add in the cooled, melted chocolate and cocoa powder. Mix until fully incorporated.
- For the two-toned effect, I used this method from GoodLife Eats. You can also carefully layer the two colors into the piping bag, but I find Katie's method to be much easier and cleaner.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and garnish with mini chocolate chips.
Notes:
- Mint Chocolate Cupcakes are best served the day they are made. However, they will keep in an airtight container within the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Remove to room temperature one hour before serving.
- If you want a mintier kick, gradually add more peppermint extract to the green frosting. Just use a light hand, peppermint extract can be pretty potent.
- Dark brown liners were purchased from TomKat Studio. A large star tip was used to pipe the frosting.
- DISCLOSURE: My Baking Addiction is an Amazon.com affiliate and will receive a small commission on the linked cookie scoop if purchased through the Amazon link within this post.
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I just finished making these and they taste amazing! Everyone in my family is a peppermint lover so this is the best cupcake for us!
I’m so glad to hear that, Itzel!
I’m in the UK and have got all the ingredients to make these delicious looking cupcakes except the andes creme de menthe baking chips what else could I use?? I’m not sure if they are similar to the mint chocolates called after eights
Hi, Sam! Andes Mints baking chips and After Eights are a little different. You could probably substitute any type of chocolate mint candy for the chips. After Eights have a creamy mint center that I don’t believe would work in the cupcakes. Let me know what you can find! I’m always here to answer more questions if you have them.
Could you use this as a cake recipe as well? I’m thinking of making for my daughters bday and she wants a cake.
Hi, Ashley! You could absolutely use this as a regular cake. Just follow the directions on the box for the kind of cake you want. I hope you enjoy it!
Do you have to refrigerate these? I’ve always made my cupcakes the day before and have never refrigerated them. or maybe they are better cold?
Hi, Danielle! Refrigerating them will keep them fresher longer. Bring them to room temperature before eating. Let me know if I can answer any other questions!
In response to the comment about using box cake for this recipe or any others. Every good baker has a recipe with at least one of these used. The trick is to tweak the recipe to make it your own…that is what talented bakers do! This is not cheating, it is thinking “outside the box”! Being the passionate baker I am …. I love all your recipes!
Annie-
Thanks so much! I appreciate you stopping by!
-Jamie
I don’t often leave comments (ironic coming from another blogger), but I just had to leave one this time. You’re a genius! Seriously. You’ve doctored a basic box devil’s food cake so perfectly. I made these last night to bring into work for a NYE potluck (along with your Nutella buttercream frosting for a different cake mix I doctored), and these flew off my cupcake stand. Even using generic pudding mix and sour cream, the cupcakes were moist and delicious. The frosting is amazing (although I didn’t make quite enough chocolate to get my swirl as even as I wanted). I was able to bring in a pretty fancy looking treat without having to stay up until the wee hours of morning to get it done. Thank you!
Pop Culture Mom-
I’m so glad the recipe was such a success for you. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
if you wanted to do a peppermint version of this would you use the andes peppermint baking chips or just omit them from the recipe?
I love the peppermint Andes – I think they would work just fine! Thanks for stopping by!
-Jamie
Wow, delicious, fudgey chocolate filled cupcakes. I use the whole bag of Andes mint since i wasn’t planning to use any frosting and they still came out perfect. They were bigger than I expected but what’s wrong with more cake!
Mike-
I’m so glad the recipe worked for you. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
Jamie, did you add the entire 10oz bag of mint chips? I didn’t read the recipe thoroughly enough and added the entire bag (my bad, if people still say that these days). I used my own doctored mix recipe and ended up with 42 cupcakes, though, but I wonder if I maybe overdid it with the mint chips. I’m not a sweets person, so I’m not a good judge. Thanks…Christy
I used 1 1/2 cups of the Andes baking chips. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Sorry…I know the recipe said 1 1/2 cups, just wondered if that ended up being the whole bag or not.
The whole package is 2 cups, so not quite the whole package. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Thanks! I over-added then, but my husband’s coworkers raved over them (and the frosting), so it seems no one minded a bit!
I bet they were delicious!
-Jamie