| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr |
| Prep: | 1 hr 5 min |
| Inactive: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 35 min |
| Yield: | 24 cupcakes |
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 3 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 11/4 cups buttermilk
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1-pound box confectioners’ sugar (about 4 cups)
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening or cocoa butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Make the cupcakes: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Put the butter, cocoa powder and 3/4 cup water in a medium microwave-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave until the butter melts, about 2 minutes. Whisk to combine, then whisk in the brown sugar.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in the warm cocoa mixture. In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla; stir into the batter until just combined but don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter among the prepared cups, filling each about three-quarters of the way. Bake until the cupcakes spring back when touched, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in the pans 10 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
- Make the topping: Beat the confectioners’ sugar, corn syrup, shortening and peppermint extract with a mixer until a tight paste forms. Gather into a ball, place between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4 inch thick (microwave 15 seconds to soften, if necessary). Use a 21/2-inch round cutter or juice glass to cut into disks; reroll the scraps. Place a peppermint disk on top of each cupcake.
- Make the glaze: Put the chocolate, corn syrup, butter and 1/4 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on 50 percent power until the chocolate melts, about 2 minutes. Whisk to combine, then cool slightly. Spread the glaze over the peppermint topping, leaving some peppermint exposed. Refrigerate until set, at least 20 minutes. Serve cold.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 24 servings |
| Calories | 478 |
| Total Fat | 19 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Carbohydrates | 79 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 63 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Cholesterol | 49 mg |
| Sodium | 192 mg |
Reviews
i dont like it it tased good yet bad but everyone elese liked it thanks
I have made these multiple times for co workers and friends and they are always a huge hit. However the number one complaint is a whole cupcake is to rich to eat all at once… I considered making mini cupcakes, which I normally love, but the peppermint layer takes way to long for the mini’s. I poured the batter into 2 cake pans, and watched them very carefully until baked through. I made the peppermint layer and just rolled out the entire ball into about a 1/4 inch flat circle for a middle layer. I cut away the extra and covered the top of the cake in the chocolate frosting layer. This way everyone can have just the right size of piece for them, and it was way easier for me! I will always make this in a cake form now.
Loved the basics of the recipe. Here’s how I tweaked: Added 1/3 more cocoa powder for more chocolate taste to batter and added 1 tablespoon of peppermint extract to batter. Filled cupcake liners halfway, then added a mini peppermint patty. Then filled cupakes almost to the top and baked. Frosting was Vanilla Frosting from a can (gasp!) mixed with 1 tablespoon of peppermint extract slathered on top. No extra work on the discs or frosting. They were loved by all!!
We made 250 of these in the mini cupcake size for a dessert reception at a wedding – they were fabulous and a total hit!
No one enjoyed the layer of peppermint that was basically just sugar compressed with sugar, I altered it for a few of the cupcakes with milk and dunked the tops in it this was much better and less sweet.
I had so much fun making these and they turned out great!!!! I think this would work well for a cake too!!! The Cupcakes were so moist and surprisingly they werent overly sweet!! Only thing is i used standard cupcake pans so i wound up with 36 cupcakes not that any of them went to waste but next time i will definatley cut the recipe in half since i use the standard cupcake pan to make them!! Cant wait to have my friends try these!!!
These came out pretty good – cake part was excellent. The peppermint layer and topping were a fun deviation from the norm…but I think just a mint chocolate icing would have been better.
I sent half the batch to work with my husband so we wouldn’t eat them all ourselves:-) For all of the fattening ingredients (3 sticks of butter and enough sugar to amp up an entire kindergarten class), not to mention messing around with three different components, I thought the cupcakes would be super-great, but they were just average. The recipe isn’t hard , but you’ll dirty a lot of dishes in the process. The cupcakes look cute, but the flavor isn’t anything that you couldn’t achieve with a store-bought mix and a mint chocolate frosting. I don’t know that I’ll bother with these again, but I’m going to try the Snickers cupcakes from the same Food NEtwork magazine issue next. (Note: this makes 24 jumbo size cupcakes…you’ll get more if you use standard size cupcake pans.)
I thought the mint discs would be difficult, but the recipe was very easy, the cupcakes looked professional and were absolutely delicious.
We loved these. The cupcakes were quite moist and would stand well alone. The mint layer makes more than needed but is very easy to work with. I used a chocolate sourcream icing and green mint chips. It had all the best features of a peppermint patty. It would probably work well as a layer cake with two mint layers and chocolate frosting in between and on top.