Thin Mint Cupcakes | Bake Your Day

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Thin Mint Cupcakes with Mint Buttercream

Posted by Cassie / 74 comments » / Cakes/Cupcakes, Dessert

Thin Mint Cupcakes with Mint Buttercream

Those sweet Girl Scouts are out and about again this year and I’ll be darned if I can’t walk by their table at the grocery store and pass up buying a box (or four. Just kidding.) Last year I bought some thin mints and ate (without shame) too many to be able to create a recipe. So I made some cookies with Tagalongs. This year, though, I tore into the box when I got home but instead of digging right in, I crushed them up and threw them into a rich and moist chocolate cake recipe!

I’m not the world’s biggest fan of chocolate. Most of you know I’d rather have some Twizzlers, butterscotch or sprinkles. That is all true until you are talking about chocolate and mint. Nothing stops me when a box of thin mints are around and these Thin Mint Cupcakes are the perfect way to enjoy my favorite Girl Scout Cookies. Just look at how rich the batter looks: (don’t worry, it tasted amazing too!)

Thin Mint Cupcakes

The second day we lived in our new house, we were up to our ears in paint when our doorbell rang. It was our new neighbors bringing us some treats. So the following weekend I made these Thin Mint cupcakes to share back with them. The cake is so moist and decadent without being too sweet. It was the perfect match for the Thin Mints and the mint buttercream.

Thin Mint Cupcakes with Mint Buttercream

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Thin Mint Cupcakes with Mint Buttercream

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Total Time: 40 min

Rich chocolate cupcake recipe with crushed Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies and topped with a homemade mint buttercream frosting.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey Special Dark – but use what you prefer)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 large egg
1/2 cup low-fat plain (or vanilla) yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 sleeve Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies (16 cookies), crushed slightly

for the mint buttercream:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. mint extract
2 Tbs. milk, more if needed

Directions:

Heat to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cavity cupcake pan with paper liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and baking soda. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter, cocoa powder, salt and water together. Stir and cook until melted. Remove from heat.

Add about half of the butter/cocoa mixture to the dry ingredients. Add the remaining butter/cocoa mixture and stir until fully combined. Whisk in the egg and stir well. Add the yogurt and the vanilla and stir well. Stir in the crushed cookies.

Portion the batter evenly into the lined cupcake pan, filling each liner about 3/4-full.
Bake in the preheated oven for 17-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely

while the cupcakes cool, prepare the buttercream:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the butter with a paddle attachment until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and slowly incorporate until smooth and fluffy. Add the mint extract and salt and whip just to combine. Stream in the milk.

For a thicker frosting, skip the milk, or just add more powdered sugar. If the frosting needs thinned out, add a little more milk.

Frost the cupcakes any way you like.

Cassie’s Notes:
If you don’t have any Thin Mints on hand, try adding crushed Oreo cookies or any of your favorite snack cookies.

Cake recipe adapted from Bi Rite Market's Eat Good Food cookbook via Two Peas and Their Pod.