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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow with these adorable and chocolatey delicious winter mint chip cupcakes. Each cupcake is a little winter wonderland!
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At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe – my goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
I want each reader to walk away with a solid knowledge of each recipe, with all of the tips I’ve gathered from extensive testing of each recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help everyone better understand the processes we use – and why!
Table of contents
Winter Wonderland Mint Chip Cupcakes
Peppermint and chocolate are a classic combination around the holidays and always bring to mind those cold winter nights by the fire with snow swirling outside.
It’s always fun to decorate with red and green, mini Santa Claus, and candy stripes. These beautiful winter wonderland mint chip cupcakes celebrate the beauty of the wintry season. My favorite part of these cupcakes is the chopped Andes mints. They have always been one of my favorite candies and I use them anytime I can.
How to make Winter Mint Chip Cupcakes:
- All-purpose flour – all purpose flour has a medium protein content which will give these cupcakes a solid structure. You can substitute cake flour for a softer cupcake.
- Granulated sugar – sugar is essential to sweet cupcakes. I use white granulated sugar.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – cocoa powder adds a bitter pure chocolate flavor as well as a dark rich color to the cupcakes.
- Baking soda and baking powder – these two ‘leaveners’ work together to make air bubbles in the cupcake batter as it bakes to make a nice soft light texture.
- Salt – salt is essential to draw the flavor out of all the other ingredients and enhance it, I use a fine grain sea salt.
- Water – I use water to thin the cupcake batter to the desired consistency for a light airy cupcake.
- Vegetable oil – oil is the fat that will bring all the wet ingredients together and give the cupcakes moisture.
- Vanilla extract – vanilla extract has a floral flavor that will define the cupcakes well.
- Peppermint extract – peppermint extract works to enhance the flavor of the Andes mints. It’s critical to add more peppermint flavor to keep that holiday mint flavor.
- Eggs – the protein in eggs give the cupcakes a great texture. Use high quality whole eggs.
- Andes mints – the mint chip in this recipe comes from the chopped Andes mints, yum!
- Vanilla extract – vanilla extract flavors the frosting for the trees here.
- Powdered sugar – powdered sugar has a very fine grain and is perfect for making frosting.
- Butter – butter at room temperature makes a perfect texture for the frosting. I use salted butter for the frosting here, if you use unsalted butter add a dash of salt to the frosting when mixing.
- Heavy whipping cream – cream creates a smooth frosting texture. You can substitute with half as much half and half if you don’t have heavy whipping cream. You don’t want to make the frosting runny.
- Decorations – I like to use green food coloring, granulated sugar or white sprinkles, and powdered sugar.
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, we will use the following method:
- Mix the cupcake batter – In a large mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Then add all the wet ingredients except the eggs and combine completely. Add the eggs and mix until just combined.
- Finish the mixture and bake- Fold the chopped andes mints into the batter with a spatula. Use an ice cream scoop to fill each lined muffin pan ? of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees on the center rack for 18 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Mix the frosting – In another large bowl mix the butter, and vanilla extract until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar using a mixer on medium speed. Add the heavy whipping cream as needed to get the desired consistency. You want it to be able to hold its shape when piped. Add more powdered sugar if you need to thicken it.
- Prep for Decorating – Add 1/2 of the frosting to a piping bag, add the green food coloring to the remaining frosting until you get the color you want for the trees. Add the green frosting to a piping bag with a small open star piping tip.
- Decorate – Pipe white frosting onto the cupcakes and then dip them into white sprinkles or granulated sugar to make it look snowy. Use the green frosting to make the trees and soft powdered sugar on the cupcakes to create a snowy landscape.
Tips and Tricks:
Check out my favorite tips and tricks to help you master this recipe.
Use a toothpick or pretzel rod to support your trees! If you are struggling to get your christmas trees to stand up insert a toothpick into the cupcake and pipe your trees over the toothpick using it as the trunk.
Mix up the decorations. Feel free to decorate these cupcakes in whatever way you please. You can also add sugar pearls to the trees as ornaments. Get as detailed or general as you like.
Get some sparkle in your snow. Use shimmer or luster powder to make your snow sparkle!
FAQ’s:
Can I freeze these? – Both the cupcakes and the frosting can be frozen. It’s best to freeze the cupcakes and frosting separately and decorate them after defrosting. Defrost the frosting in the fridge instead of the counter.
What’s the best way to keep leftovers? Leftovers will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Set them on the counter for about an hour before you want to eat them so they can come to room temperature.
If you love these winter mint chip cupcakes try these next!
Around Christmas I love to also make christmas tree brownies, white chocolate peanut butter truffles, frosted christmas brownies, wreath christmas cookies, candied pistachios, and chewy molasses cookies.
For more delicious Christmas treats click here or check out some of our favorites below:
Try these Christmas favorites:
Winter Mint Chip Cupcake Recipe
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Winter Mint Chip Cupcakes
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- ? cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup andes mints, chopped
Buttercream Frosting
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Decorations
- Green food coloring
- Granulated sugar or white sprinkles
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 12 cup muffin pan with liners. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Then add the oil, water, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract. Mix until completely combined. Add the eggs and mix just until combined.
- Fold in chopped andes mints to the batter with a spatula or spoon.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill each liner ? of the way. Bake for 18-20 minutes until fully cooked. Allow cupcakes to cool to room temperature before frosting.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar to the mixture on a medium speed until combined. Add heavy whipping cream as needed to thin the frosting to desired consistency. Transfer ? of frosting to a piping bag.
- Add green food coloring as needed to remaining frosting until the desired color has been reached.
- Transfer green frosting to a piping bag with a small open star piping tip.
- Pipe white frosting onto the cooled cupcake and then dip the cupcake into a bowl of granulated sugar or white sprinkles.
- Use the green frosting with the small open star piping tip to create 3 trees on top of the cupcake. To create the trees place 3 or more dollops on top of one another.
- Sift powdered sugar over the trees to create a snowy landscape.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
