Milk Chocolate Cupcakes with Fresh Mint Frosting.
You know things are really getting bad if I make frosting with… technically… a vegetable in it. Don’t even try to fight me on this. Mint is green, and it grows in dirt. It is a freaking vegetable.
Hmmpf. Now that we got that out of the away.
I had really high hopes for this weirdo frosting. I love chocolate and mint together – I can easy down a bag of bite-sized peppermint patties – and I knew I could make a mint chocolate cupcake with some crazy extracts I’ve seen at the store. I’m just soooo incredibly fond of fresh mint that I was dying to make it into something sweet. And I was also playing single lady, which really just means that I eat a. wine, b. ice cream, c. peanut butter out of the jar, d. hummus and e. all of the above for dinner while my husband travels. Time was on my side.
Except fresh mint sort of tastes like toothpaste. And dirt. Really, really good dirt.
Don’t even look at me like that. You know it does! Sure, it’s delicious in things like boozy salsa and watermelon salads and tall icy drinks, but… it also tastes like toothpaste. I cannot tell a lie. And yes, I will eat it by itself (which I guess means I will eat raw vegetables but whatever) and while I find it chewy and crazy, I also sort of love it. Like, a lot.
So I present to you chocolate toothpaste and dirt cupcakes. Preferably served after an extra garlicky dish of shrimp scampi swimming in butter. Kiss away! Can I make a date night meal or what?
Really, the milk chocolate cupcakes were the bees knees. Those were fab. So was the milk chocolate frosting which I may gladly finish off for dinner tonight, albeit this time I may go a bit buck wild and dip some pretzel sticks in it. I actually really enjoyed the fresh mint frosting, but in a super small amount, like plopped on top of that sprinkle-covered icing blob. Which I know you’re thinking probably means I should now slather it on every single dessert I make for the rest of my life in order to exhibit portion control, but STOP YELLING AT ME. Man, you are really on my case today.
If you were here, I’d totally wish that you’d faceplant into this.
Milk Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes
1 1/8 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoon vanillas extract
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 ounces of high-quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add milk, butter and vanilla, and mix until combined. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Mix until batter is smooth. Fold in milk chocolate. Line a muffin tin with liners and using a heaping 1/4 cup measure, add batter to each cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
Milk Chocolate Buttercream
2 sticks of butter (1 cup), softened to room temperature
3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
3 ounces milk chocolate, melted and cooled for about 5-10 minutes (still in liquid form)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons milk, if needed
Beat butter in the bowl of your electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time) with the mixer on low speed, slowly increasing the speed and it combines. Add in milk chocolate and vanilla and continue to mix. I scrape down the sides and bottom of my bowl about 4-5 times, and mix for about 4-5 minutes on medium-high speed. Add in milk one tablespoons at a time if you need it or find that the frosting is not creamy enough.
Fresh Mint Buttercream
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped very fine
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons milk, if needed
Beat butter in the bowl of your electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time) with the mixer on low speed, slowly increasing the speed and it combines. Add in fresh mint and vanilla and continue to mix. I scrape down the sides and bottom of my bowl about 4-5 times, and mix for about 4-5 minutes on medium-high speed. Add in milk one tablespoons at a time if you need it or find that the frosting is not creamy enough.
Note: this can easily be multiplied, and you can also add some green food coloring if you wish. I’m thinking a possibility may be to process the mint leaves with vanilla extract in a food processor to make a “liquid” of sorts, then add it to the frosting.
Oh P.S.: I love your guts.
185 Comments on “Milk Chocolate Cupcakes with Fresh Mint Frosting.”
These look yummy yummy yummy. I am a huge fan of the choc-mint combo. Definitely going to give these a try too. Wonderful inspiration, thanks!
Wow those look seriously yummy. Your photos are all so beautiful!
I love reading your blog for cooking inspiration :-)
Ok, I definitely NEVER thought to add fresh mint instead of extract to a frosting…but, um, genius! Gorgeous photos as always.
why oh why oh why do i have to be in a wedding soon/need to fit in my dress!
i want one of these. right now. in my belly.
absolutely delicious. genius? i think so.
That frosting is INSANE. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
this looks amazing… i love the frosting! so good.
These cupcakes look very yummy. Can’t wait to make them.
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Thhese look georgeous!!! absolutely amazing!! gloria
ok…i seriously hope that someone reads this, because last summer i grew CHOCOLATE MINT….i swear to god….it even smelled like after 8 mints….a-ma-zing…..BUT…i never did a single thing with it other than eat leaves, or pick leaves and shove them in everyone’s face as they walked by my plants and yelled “SMELL THIS OR LEAVE!!!”…..it was devine…but i was SO sad that i didn’t use it….i will grow it again and i promise to make these cupcakes….and anything else that someone tells me to make with it because the only thing i could think of were chocolate mojitos…and my work forms upon drinking during the day….jerks…
my work doesn’t form….it frowns….oops
i’m growing chocolate mint too! sometimes i’ll make mint water but that’s about it. :)
So totally gorgeous. And delicious, obvi
I love that the icing to cupcake ratio is 1.5:1 :)
You are seriously KILLING me. I cannot wait to make these!
Your cupcake posts make me want to bake with you!! Thank you for more inspiration!
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Shut the front door!!!!!! These are amazing. Just made them for a party and my friend and I had the frosting for lunch…on everything. It is absolutely delectable. Thanks for such a stroke of genius!
-t
That’s a lot of frosting! As it should be.
just made these for my bday party tonight. they. were. awesome.
made it twice—and i just had to tell people, “No i did NOT have to go back to the store to buy more butter. Just enjoy it!!” And we did. Thanks for sharing this!!!
my goodness girl, these look incredible!!
I completely agree on the toothpaste! I can’t eat mint flavored marshmallows (even homemade ones) because the flavor and texture is exactly like brushing your teeth. The mint and chocolate combo is definitely a winner though.
I would hide in the closet (from my husband and kids) and eat a dozen of these.
Hugs and Mocha,
Stesha
P.S. I sent you an email regarding a post:)
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Wow! These sure are amazing. I tweaked them a little in my own way and turned out fabulous!!! One of my friends wants me to make mini cupcakes for her wedding! Are they delicious or what!!! I love your site and i am so inspired by you, i only wish that i could be thiner on the waist and still cook this amazing treats. Lol.
These look and sound delicious! And no, fresh mint does not taste like toothpaste. Because if it did, I would never eat. Ever. Anything that tastes like something your not supposed to swallow pretty much freaks me out. And anything that freaks me out most certainly does not make it down my throat. But anyway, I wrote to let you know this is my first day visiting your site and I love it. I love your humor and personality. So fun to read. So thanks :)
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I am very intrigued by the use of fresh mint (and a little more intrigued by the idea of growing chocolate mint!) I love mint and chocolate combinations and have been known to come up with some crazy concoctions around christmas time. This year I plan to tone it down and just do a simple choclotate mint cake. I was wondering if you think the icing could be thinned down and used as a glaze? I wouldn’t want to ruin anything about this heaven sent recipe!
I love chocolate and mint! I would be interesting having real mint in them I might have to try these too :)
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I share an affinity for mint . . . okay, and chocolate, but I grow mint by the bucket . . . literally – my in-laws gave me a medium sized bucket planted with mint several years ago and it has come back every year since. It’s spearmint, which is my fav. In the summer. I keep it where it gets sun until about noon and give it plenty of water, then after it dies back in winter, i move it under a bench until it starts coming back in the spring.
Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thx for posting.
Can I just say that that is the best buttercream I’ve had, ever? You’re killing me with these recipes…
My sister and I tried this out for a father’s day treat and they are absolutely amazing! They tasted yummy and were a hit! GREAT RECIPE!
I just posted this link on my FBpage, I can’t wait to try it. They look so rich and yummy.
Thank you for the recipe.
These look incredible! I have a huge amount of mint in my garden. I hate to see it go to waste, but I can only drink so much mint tea!
I have a question about the mint frosting. Does it need to be used right away, or can you keep it in the fridge for a week or so? I doubt that you could frost the cupcakes and keep them covered, on the counter, until they are all gone, like you can with many butter creams.
I can’t wait to try it! I think I’ll try pureeing the mint leaves, so my kids can’t see that there are leaves in it. Thanks for sharing! The recipe for the cupcakes and chocolate butter cream look wonderful, too!
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These were great! Just made a batch. I used dark instead of milk chocolate because I prefer a more intense chocolate flavor. Next time I would add more milk to the chocolate frosting… it came out OK but when I tried to frost them, it was really thick. But that’s a first-time user error, not your recipe. :)
I have a rather prolific chocolate mint plant that I grew this year, and I used that mint in the frosting. Chocolate mint seems to have a lighter flavor than, say, peppermint, so if using that, you may find you have to use closer to 3/4c to get the mint flavor you want.
Everything was great! Thanks so much!
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always you provide special topics and ideas, thanks ..
These are my go-to recipe for choc cupcakes. I make different frostings sometimes, but the cake, oooomigod. Best choc cupcake recipe I have come across. Thanks!!
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graet
this is very nice
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Hi! Do u not melt the chocolate before folding it into the batter?Do u just leave it coursely chopped?
I was looking for a fresh mint buttercream and stumbled across this. So glad I did! Will try it later!
Has anybody tried this with just the cupcake and the mint buttercream, as opposed to the chocolate frosting and the mint buttercream on top? Just wondering if the cupcake and the mint buttercream would suffice…
These look so amazing and I cannot wait to try them!
I have been trying to find out the same exact thing through different sources, I’m scared to try it for myself in a test run and it come out tasting like minty dirt.Â
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