Thin Mint Cupcakes

My mom's birthday just happens to be on St. Patrick's Day so tonight I am preparing her a very St. Patrick's Day meal! For dessert I am making her my version of thin mint cupcakes. I'm so excited over these because it is the first time I've attempted Ritz Cracker thin mints and a mint chocolate filling that I made all on my own. The idea for the Ritz thin mints I actually have to give credit to my grandmother-in-law, whom was an excellent cook. I used the recipe from the back of the Hershey's Cocoa powder (best chocolate cake ever) made one minor adjustment and filled it with a mint chocolate filling and put a thin mint on the bottom. I then topped it off with a recipe for Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting I got from the website skinnytaste.com, also with one minor adjustment to cut costs.

Ritz Cracker Thin Mints

Here is what you need. A box of Ritz Crackers, a bag of chocolate chips, and peppermint flavor.

1) You melt 1 C chocolate chips according to package.

2) Mix in 1/2 tsp peppermint flavor into your melted chocolate.

3) Dip Ritz Crackers in chocolate; 1 C only made about 12 thin mints.

4) Place on baking sheet and put into freezer for about 8 minutes until hardens.

5) For cupcakes place into bottom of each baking cup and pour prepared batter over top.

Hershey's Chocolate Cupcakes

This is my mom's favorite chocolate cake recipe. It truly is perfect and so moist. The only thing I added was some coffee into the mix. The ingredients include:

2 C sugar

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour

3/4 C Hershey's Cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 C milk

1/2 C vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 C Coffee

3/4 C boiling water 

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Mix all dry ingredients.

3) Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

4) Mix boiling water with coffee and stir into batter, the batter will be thin.

5) Pour into cupcake pan.

6) Bake 22-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Mint Chocolate Filling

Today yay for me I got creative and tried to create my own filling. I would call it a success! The ingredients I used included:

1 C chocolate chips

1/2 tsp peppermint flavor

3 C powdered sugar

1 TBS Heavy Cream

2 TBS Coconut Milk (or any milk)

1) Melt chocolate according to package.

2) Stir in peppermint flavor.

4) One cup at a time beat powdered sugar into chocolate alternating with cream and milk; 1 TBS after each cup.

5) If the filling is too runny add more powdered sugar by the TBS, if the filling is too thick add more milk.

6) Cut small hole into top of cupcakes and pipe filling into center.

Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting

I got this recipe from skinnytaste.com and it was paired with a really yummy looking cupcake made with stout beer but since my children will be consuming this treat I paired it with just a chocolate cupcake. Also since my husband and I do not drink Bailey's Irish Cream I substituted the real thing for the Bailey's Coffee creamer, much cheaper and non-alcoholic. I also doubled the recipe.

1 C powdered Sugar

8 tsp Bailey's Irish Cream Creamer

11 ounces cream cheese

1) Simple: Put everything in a bowl and beat until creamy, I added just a little more powdered sugar to make mine thicker.