Thin Mint Cupcakes

Mum is currently helping me make these for my mother in law's birthday. They're from the 'Tasty Kitchen' site, which is a place where lots of food bloggers post recipes. Anyway, they are good! They are supposed to be made with thin mints, but I'm making them tomorrow with after 8's. Also, I'm changing it a bit--the recipe calls for bought hot fudge sauce--I usually just make up a quick ganache instead. I'm putting the ganache in here, but you could always do it the other way.

Also, these are really, really yummy.


FOR THE CUPCAKES:

• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Brown Sugar, Not Packed
• 1-¾ cup Flour
• ¾ cups Cocoa Powder
• 1-½ teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Milk
• ½ cups Oil
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla
• 1 cup Boiling Water

FOR THE TOPPING:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 9 oz dark chocolate (or semi-sweet--you can use chocolate chips)

FOR THE FROSTING:

• 2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• ¼ cups Powdered Sugar
• 4 drops Peppermint Extract
• 4 drops Green Food Color

AND FINALLY:

• 24 whole Thin Mint Cookies

For the cupcakes:

Sift the dry ingredients. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix well. Add the boiling water. The batter will be very runny. Pour the batter into a measuring cup to make filling the cupcake liners easier.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting.

For the topping:

Warm the cream, and melt the chocolate in over a low-medium heat, stirring frequently. Cool to lukewarm.

For the frosting:

Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks forms, add about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, 4-6 drops of food color and 4-6 drops of extract, depending on how strong of mint flavor you want and what color you want it. Place whipped cream in a decorator bag, I used the Wilton plastic bag with a 1M tip.

For assembly:
Spread ganache onto the cupcake. Pipe on the frosting and top with a Thin Mint Cookie (if desired). These are really cute on a cupcake stand!