Though I’m not usually much of a “mint” fan, sometimes you just get a craving. On a random Saturday, apropos of nothing, I thought, “I want to make mint chocolate chip cupcakes.”
This “recipe” is just total cheating on my part, I’ll admit that now. I had a box of devil’s food cake mix hanging out in the pantry and thought, What would happen if I just added some mint extract to this?
So I did. I prepared the cupcakes according to the package directions (vegetable oil, eggs, water — all the usual stuff) and then added a teaspoon of mint extract to the batter before baking.
That’s it.
I’m sort of embarrassed to even be posting about this, it’s so simple.
The frosting was where I got a little more creative, using my go-to recipe for the homemade sweet stuff — the same one from my famed key lime cupcakes, as a matter of fact! But key lime and mint aren’t exactly a winning combination, so I replaced the juice with mint extract again.
The result? Pure goodness — but not overwhelmingly so. And the sweet, cream cheese-based frosting was a wonderful kicker to balance out the dense, heavy chocolate of the cake. Here’s the frosting recipe, because that makes me feel slightly better sharing my “recipe” with you! And you can add as little or as much green food coloring as you like, of course. I’m a green fan and don’t mind eating strangely-hued foods, but you might feel differently about that. And it’s quite all right.
We’re all cupcake lovers — and friends — here.
Homemade mint frosting
Ingredients:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon mint extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Green food coloring, if desired
Instructions:
In large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in mint extract, three drops of green food coloring and 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar until mixed; beat on medium speed until fluffy. Frost cupcakes as desired. Store frosted cupcakes and any leftover frosting in refrigerator.
write meg! 
yum! those cuppies look delish. i do like the mint/chocolate combo and am a big fan of (green) mint chocolate chip ice cream. you’re quite the creative one. i recently tried a new ‘and chocolate’ combo–BASIL and chocolate, and hello? it was GREAT. it was a chocolate basil truffle and i was in heaven. have a great weekend, meg!
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Oh, I MUST try these soon. Thank you! 🙂
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Mmm mint.
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Brilliant! My coworkers will soon be eating these.
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Oh yum! I found this recipe http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2011/06/my-entry.html that you might want to try too. A little more ingredients than just your average box cake, but it sure sounds yummy! I was going to try it this weekend, but I realized I packed my cake pans already. Let me know if you try it!
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Very pretty cupcakes Meg. Lovely to find your blog too.
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They look so good! I love chocolate and mint!
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chocolate…mint…cream cheese frosting…what’s not to like??
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wow what a simple recipe for something so delicious! i’m not a huge fan of mint either, but i do love andes so i’m going to have to give this one a try since it’s so easy to make.
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Excellent idea. Who says we can’t brag about an easy recipe? I love the combination of the cupcake with the cream cheese frosting. I’ll bet this was delicious. Good for you.
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Hi!
Oh this sounds so good. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Have a great day!
Sherrie
Just Books
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My sweet tooth has been activated, ha!
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Another mint + chocolate fan here. These look fun and sound yummy!
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Chocolate and mint are such a great, classic combination. Your cupcakes sound heavenly — and let’s face it: Sometimes we wouldn’t bake at all if we didn’t have a little boxed help. Yummmmm!!!!!
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What a great little cupcake you’ve created! Sometimes using the simple box mix is the way to go…especially if you have a craving and want to take the fastest route to satisfying it. Looks delicious.
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These look good-I am a huge chocolate mint fan.
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Have a friend who loves to cook and I’ve sent her this link. she promised to bake them for a party we’re going this Friday. I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂
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I bake almost everything from scratch. No, I’m not a freak about it, I just love taking basic ingredients and making something really tasty for my family.
My almost 17 year old daughter brought home a brownie mix a few weeks ago to bake for herself. You know the female craving of chocolate needs to be met pronto. She was making it and said “I know mom, I could be making it from scratch but either way I’m still baking so it is still homemade” and yes she was right. I don’t shun the cake mixes, frosting mixes,etc. She knows either way they taste better than just buying a brownie from the store full of who-knows-what because it has to sit on the shelve for months to no end. lol
So don’t worry about cheating and making from a box! How fun that you created something new. Your photos of them are beautiful! I’d love to feature you as guest chef on my blog! Maybe it could be this recipe or another one, either way it is fun to do.
Susie at http://cafescrapper-scrapsoflife.blogspot.com
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Told you I’m hanging out on your page today. I’m back to tell you that I posted this recipes: http://pinterest.com/pin/47277069/ on Pinterest. Have you ever used it? It is addicting. I pinned this and your Friendship Bread review. So if you see that you are getting visits from Pinterest you’ll know why. SusieQTpies
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Leftover frosting, I’ve not heard of that. I just keep piling it on till the bowl is empty. My family never complains tellng me there is too much frosting.
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I LOVE anything mint! Especially mint gelato, which we have at work every so often. These look amazing!
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