I awake excited every morning this time of year. I find myself daydreaming of sugar, butter and chocolate…. is it healthy no, but c’mon give a lady a break…
I realize this train of thought is not derriere friendly, but people ..my buttocks and I desire to make that sacrifice for the good of others… it’s all about holiday spirit!
At precisely this time every year, I bake my booty off (or pad it, slightly) to gift our fellow friends. This is the season for giving, so I plan to give, give, give …and along the way share some great recipes.
Peppermint I believe is the perfect flavor to begin with, really doesn’t peppermint come out in full force every December? I say embrace this flavor and add a great spin to your trusty cream cheese frosting.
Normally we add vanilla extract, do a swap out with peppermint extract, for a delicious minty dimension. A quick word of advice, please use quality peppermint extract…the holiday season is not the time to go cheap.
Invest a little for a great return in flavor, we do make the extra effort to purchase or even go the length to make our own vanilla, why not splurge a bit on great peppermint extract?
I have shared a chocolate cupcake recipe, but please feel free to use your own favorite chocolate cupcake recipe. We choose to make mini’s for the purpose of ease. They were gifted to my hubby’s co workers, so I felt a one bit option would be best.
If you do go this route, be sure to check on your minis as they do bake quickly. I think the frosting would top a regular size cupcake or even a vanilla version perfectly. A quick mallet job on peppermints give these cuties the final holiday touch.
Sprinkle with chips of peppermint of dust with pulverized peppermint for a minty crunch. My hubby’s co workers quickly gobbled these babies up, I don’t blame them I had at least five myself or was it six? Enjoy! Sweet Life
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One bowl chocolate Cupcakes
by Martha Stewart
from Martha Stewart Kids
3/4 cup unsweetned cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp safflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper
liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking
soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm
water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3
minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure
batter is well mixed.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until
tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if
needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely
I followed the recipe exactly, but made my into mini cupcakes. Reduce the baking time to 15 minutes, keeping on eye on them, as oven temp are different on every oven. I did not use baking cups, I simply sprayed the pan, no sticking.
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Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting
by Sweet Life
by Vianney Rodriguez
8 ounces cream cheese
2 – 4 cups of powdered sugar, sifted please
2 tsp peppermint extract
peppermint candies
Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature and blend with powdered sugar. Blend one cup at a time, mixing to your desired consistency. Add extract and mix until smooth.
In a plastic bag, place candies and whack with mallet or rolling pin, until your heart’s deisred…or until you feel happy.
Top you cupcakes with the frosting and sprinkle with candy pieces.
Devour immediately
To make the candy cane crushing less labour intensive, you can use a blender or a Magic Bullet – it’s easier and most certainly less frustrating!
I made this for work. And man I should have made more. By the time i left it on lunch room and got back it was gone.
looks/sounds great! how many minis did you get from this recipe?
@ Nicfitzgerald sorry for the late response, I used a mini muffin tray that makes 24 muffins, we baked three batches so about 70..it also depends on the size you want , I filled my only half way, I wanted a one bite cupcake
thanks for stopping by
sweetlife
Baking is constantly on my mind this time of year too! Too bad my pants get a little harder to squeeze on as a result…
Thanks so much for adding these to Merry Mondays…they are so cute and festive!
thanks so much for contributing! they look AMAZING!
There is something about mint and chocolate that gets me every time. Sigh
I’m a sucker for the combination of mint and chocolate, plus you made them so irresistibly cute – bite-sized, and the crushed candy. My hubby’s work pot luck is coming up next week too… Thanks for the great recipe Bonnie 🙂
When I eat too much, it’s my waistline, hips and thighs that get the padding. Not my bootie. I’d eat more of this stuff if the padding went to my chest area!
I also give baked goods as presents. Not only does it make the people on my Xmas list special but it also saves me from having to go to the crowded malls.
there’s more frosting than cupcake, which means i like these more than a little. very tasty work! 🙂
I’m with you. I”ve decided to sacrifice losing weight for the sake of Christmas spirit. It seems like the right thing to do.
These cupcakes sound delicious! Chocolate and peppermint are an obsession of mine.
I love chocolate and peppermint together~Lovely cupcakes
I’m sure that these treats taste great (how can you go wrong with chocolate and peppermint?) But what I love is the contrast of colors. This would be such a beautiful dessert to serve at a holiday party. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope the rest of your week is full of joy!
these are the cutest things i have ever seen! i am in love/craving one as we speak!
i would love it if you would submit it to our merry mondays!
http://clearlyclaireblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/anyone-care-to-join-merry-mondays.html
next theme is mint!
this is very cute and love the invention with candy cane 🙂
have a lovely day!
jen @ http://www.passion4food.ca
Those are so precious!
I believe that when they are minis the calories do not count… Yum.
I am a cupcake lover – so much nicer than a slice of cake and to have them mini – even better. Great idea and recipe.
🙂 Mandy
Lovely frosting fro these cute little gorgeous beauties.
These cupcakes look scrumptious!
These are just adorable minis and I love the peppermint frosting with the extract and the candies, very nice!
Adorable—that pretty much sums it up! So cute and just the right size. Yum
These look incredible. I am addicted to peppermint this season and will just make the icing and eat it out of the bowl. HO HO HO!
:)_
Valerie
These are such festive cupcakes! I’ve always enjoyed the flavors of mint and chocolate together.
this time of year, I love peppermint – a piece of it just goes great with my bourbon… yep, something about December that brings out that taste, like these wonderful frosted cupcakes, a winning combination with your frosting
Oh so clever and beautiful Bonnie! What a treat for the holidays!
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
Hey Bonnie! These sound so good. I love peppermint too-it’s so refreshing and wonderful. In fact, I was just researching as to weather or not I can grow it here in South Florida. My basil does so well here and it’s a mint, so….?
Anyway, I’m now thinking about making these for my Cauldron Boy’s holiday office party. Yeah!
Glad to read how happy these pre-festive moments make you…otherwise, I’d hate to find out what else you would do with that mallet. LOL
I was just wondering if your daughters were part of the baking or eating of some of these adorable minis before Hubby’s co-workers got their sticky fingers on them? Just wondering ;o)
Thanks for putting me in a good mood…the color red also does that for me 😉
Flavourful wishes and fun baking times ahead,
Claudia
These mini cupcakes are delightful and so festive. Good idea to swap out vanilla for peppermint.
These are soooo cute! I think I could eat 50 of ’em 🙂
These cupcakes look wonderful, I am a huge fan of peppermint. I love the simplicity of your photo!
About the cupcake submission…of COURSE! 🙂
I am not sure about sugar and butter but I dream abt chocolate all the time! Pretty cupcakes!
It must be the holidays when we see peppermint! This would keep me up too!
this cupcake looks so pretty and festive.. i just love the mini size:)
Oh Bonnie~ Peppermint and chocolate…what could be better? Plus, they are so PRETTY!