Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

These Chocolate Mint Cupcakes are going to be your new favorite dessert. A rich and decadent chocolate cupcake is topped with the fluffiest mint buttercream and the most beautiful chocolate drizzle. The cupcakes are soft and moist while the buttercream has just the right amount of minty-ness to compliment them. Plus, this recipe is small batch!

This recipe makes a total of 8 cupcakes, a great amount to make, but can also be doubled or tripled if you need a larger batch. They’re really easy to make, but are sure to impress anyone because of their beautifully piped frosting.

There are three basic elements for these cupcakes: the chocolate cupcake, the mint buttercream, and the chocolate drizzle. You’ll work on baking the chocolate cupcakes first and get started on that mint buttercream and chocolate drizzle while the cupcakes bake. Once the cupcakes have cooled you can decorate each with that beautiful swirl of buttercream and zig zag chocolate drizzle.

A FEW NOTES BEFORE WE GET STARTED.

• Room Temperature Ingredients:
  • Butter: It’s important that the butter for both the cakes and frosting is softened. In a pinch, you can put your butter in the microwave for about 5 seconds on each side, but watch closely to make sure it is just softening and not melting.
  • Egg: You also want to make sure that the egg is at room temperature to ensure that it is properly incorporated into your batter. If you forget to leave it out before you start baking, place it in a bowl of warm water for about 15 minutes until it becomes room temperature.

• Measuring Your Ingredients:
  • I strongly encourage that you use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients and ensure that you have the most accurate measurements possible.
  • However, if you don’t have a scale on hand and will be using cup measurements, make sure to use the “spoon and sweep” method when measuring to avoid packing in too much of any dry ingredient.

• Oven Temperature:
  • Make sure to preheat your oven for at least 15 minutes before you start baking.
  • I recommend purchasing an oven thermometer to get to know your oven so you can adjust your baking temperatures accordingly. Some ovens run slightly warmer or colder so its important to know yours to make sure your baked goods come out right.

• Check out My Favorite Baking Tools to see what I use when I bake.

Now let’s bake! Preheat oven to 350º F. Prep a cupcake pan by filling it with 8 cupcake liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl with your spatula as needed.

With the mixer on low, add the buttermilk. Beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternate between adding the flour mixture and the coffee to the batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Using a 2 tbsp cookie scoop, carefully scoop 2 tbsp of batter into each cupcake liner. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and split the remaining batter among the cupcakes until they look even. Bake for 17-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the pan cool on the cooling rack for 15 minutes before gently pulling the cupcakes out of the pan and letting them cool completely on the cooling rack.

As the cupcakes bake, you can get started on that mint buttercream by creaming together the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth. With the mixer on low, slowly add in spoonfuls of the powdered sugar and a drop of green food coloring.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Add in another drop of food coloring if needed and chill until needed.

Next you can make the chocolate drizzle. Place chopped chocolate in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 10 second intervals, stirring in between until the chocolate is melted. Add heavy cream and stir until combined.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, scoop the buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with an Ateco 869 or similar piping tip. Starting in the middle of the cupcake, begin to pipe the frosting in a clockwise motion, moving to the outer rim of the cupcake until you have covered the entire top in a beautiful swirl design. Repeat this with the remaining cupcakes.

Using a spoon or a squeeze bottle carefully drizzle the top of each cupcake with chocolate. Enjoy!