Chocolate Mint Cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day

Top O’ The Mornin’ To You!  In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I came up with these quick and easy cupcakes using a chocolate cake mix, some homemade frosting because I try to avoid canned frosting whenever possible, and a box of Junior Mints.

“They’re very refreshing!”   ~ Cosmo Kramer

Mix up a batch of chocolate flavored cupcakes from your favorite mix and add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of Peppermint Extract.  Bake as directed.  

While your cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting.  As I said I like to make my own frosting mostly because it tastes better and because I would rather know that I am eating butter in my frosting than shortening or lard or some of those other things they add that are hard to pronounce.

Here is the icing recipe I used.  It is a simple vanilla frosting recipe and I liked it because the flavor didn’t overshadow the mint cupcake.  You can really taste the mint in these cupcakes but the mint is not overpowering.  They have a delicate mint flavor and the vanilla icing on top finishes them off  nicely. 

Vanilla Frosting

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

3 cups of Confectioner’s Sugar

2 Tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Paste Food Coloring  (I used green of course for St. Pat’s Day.)

Whip the butter till smooth and creamy.  Add the Confectioner’s Sugar one cup at a time.  Add the vanilla and the milk.  Add the paste food coloring.

Dip a tooth pick in the coloring paste and mix it in little by little until you have the color icing you looking for.  You can find paste food coloring at any cake supplies store or any craft store like Michael’s in the cake decorating section.  (Be careful with it…it stain’s everything it touches!)

And don’t forget to put one Junior Mint candy on the top of each of cupcake.  Very Cute and delicious!

And while I have your attention.  Which cupcake would you rather eat???

I just love the new Reynold’s  Stay Bright Baking Cups that you can now find in the baking aisle in the grocery store.    The insides of these cups are made of foil and because of that the outsides of the cups stay nice and bright.   I think the cupcakes bake up nice and even  with them too.    And it makes them even cuter!  They cost a little bit more but sometimes cuteness costs money!  They are well worth the investment.  :)