Thin Mint Cupcakes

It comes around once a year and creates a shopping frenzy...and no, I'm not talking about Christmas. I'm talking about Girl Scout cookie time!! Ever since I was little, I can remember my mom buying those green boxes of Thin Mint cookies and storing them in the freezer to last until they were sold again the next year. Of course, the cookies were always completely devoured well in advance of the next Girl Scout cookie sale, but we savored every one!!

This year, though, when I saw the Girl Scouts out selling, I wanted to try something different. Since I (obviously) love baking, I thought I'd try to incorporate them into some sort of recipe. After a bit of searching, I stumbled upon this recipe at Food Librarian and decided to give it a whirl. The result was a delicious chocolate cupcake with a subtle but not overwhelming mint flavor...and then I decided to whip up some mint buttercream frosting to give it a bit more punch!

Girl Scout Thin Mint Cupcakes (adapted from Martha Stewart)
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 sleeve crushed Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

Combine crushed Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the eggs, warm water, milk, canola oil, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth (about 3 minutes). Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes. Yield: 24 cupcakes


Mint Buttercream Frosting
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup butter or shortening
5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. green liquid food coloring

Mix butter in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in peppermint extract, food coloring, and half of the powdered sugar. Mix until well-blended, then add milk and remaining powdered sugar. Mix until well-blended. Add more powdered sugar or milk to achieve desired consistency.





There you have it! I chose to decorate my cupcakes with a simple dark chocolate ganache made with Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and heavy cream...feel free to get in touch with your creative side and decorate as you want!

Happy baking!


Riley