Thin-Mint Cupcakes

Thin Mint Cupcakes. The idea came to me via an episode of "Unique Sweets." Now, that's a food show I love: no recipes given, just a bunch of foodies drooling over amazing desserts.

These guys are a little involved, but they're more than worth it. It starts with a cookie crust, followed by a moist chocolate cake, a mint buttercream filling, and it's all topped off with a smooth, creamy chocolate ganache. Thin Mint Cupcakes: Win.

Thin Mint Cupcakes
yield: 24 cupcakes

Chocolate Cookie Crust
Found originally at food.com

40 Nabisco Chocolate Wafer cookies (about 1 box)
6 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Crush the cookies by grinding in a food processor. Otherwise, use your hands and the bottom of a heavy, plastic cup of some kind. They don't have to be uniformly crushed; the butter will soften slightly larger crumbs.

Add the melted butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir until all of the crumbs are moist. Press into the bottoms of the cupcake liners. Bake for about 6 minutes. Watch them closely; you do not want them to burn. Let cool for about 20 minutes in pans on racks.



Chocolate Cake
I'm using a slightly modified Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake recipe

2 cups granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup hot coffee

Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir to combine thoroughly. Add in eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Mix for 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in coffee. Batter will be thin. Pour on top of cooled crusts in cupcake tins, filling about 2/3 full. This recipe makes enough batter for about 30 cupcakes, so there will be some left over.

Bake for 22 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on wire racks before removing from pans and allowing to cool completely.



Peppermint Buttercream
I'm using a modified version originally found on Pink Parsely's blog

12 tbsp (1 and a half sticks) of butter, softened
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
about 4 drops green food coloring
3 tbsp heavy cream

Cream the butter in a stand mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the confectioner's sugar gradually, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla, peppermint, cream, and food coloring, and beat until light and fluffy.

Fill pastry bag fitted with a wide or rosette tip with peppermint butter cream. Be bold. Plunge the tip into the center of the cupcake until it hits the crust and fill each cupcake with pastry cream. The cupcake will likely bulge and buckle. If some frosting comes out on top, simply spread it around or smooth it over. This makes the perfect amount of frosting to fill each cupcake, so don't go crazy.

Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla

Place chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream until bubbles form around the edges of the sauce pan. Pour over chopped chocolate. Add vanilla and let it sit for a couple minutes. Stir it slowly, allowing the chocolate and the cream to mix. Once the mixture is smooth and uniform, dip the cupcakes and place on a cooling rack.



This is one of those recipes of which I'm enormously proud. Other than the extra cupcakes that the batter makes, the only thing I would change is a slightly thicker layer of chocolate on top. Otherwise, these are Thin-Mint cookies in Cupcake form. Enjoy!