A delicious spin on our favorite drink of the winter: Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes! These cupcakes are infused with a slight coffee flavor that enhances the chocolatey cupcake topped off with a chocolate mint frosting, a drizzle of chocolate syrup, and some crushed peppermint candies! It's a two-in-one dessert that I can't get enough of!
Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes
These Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes are the cupcake version of one of my favorite winter drinks!
The cupcake base starts off with a rich chocolate cupcake batter that gets infused with coffee. The coffee helps deepen the chocolate flavor. When you add warm coffee to the chocolate cake batter, the warmth of the coffee helps the cocoa powder bloom. This adds more depth of flavor to the cupcake creating the most chocolate-y cupcake with a subtle hint of coffee.
Then, the cupcake gets topped with a beautiful chocolate mint buttercream that is absolutely addicting! It's a light and airy, whipped buttercream that has cocoa powder and a few drops of peppermint extract to create the perfect balance of minty chocolate goodness!
Mint Chocolate versus Peppermint Chocolate
Mint and chocolate is one of my favorite pairings! In fact, mint chocolate chip ice cream is my go-to flavor year-round!
But there are actually a few differences to mint versus peppermint. Mint extract can be a combination of peppermint and spearmint, whereas peppermint extract is just peppermint.
Peppermint can sometimes have a stronger flavor profile, so you won't have to use as much. It will have a brighter note to it, while mint will be still be strong, but just a little lighter in flavor.
Around the holidays, the better choice will be to use peppermint, however, if you can't find it, mint will work just fine too!
Chocolate Mint Cupcakes Tips and Tricks
- When it comes to filling your cupcakes, I like to fill them ⅔'s of the way full. When they rise, the tops will be slightly over the cupcake liner, giving them the perfect height for frosting!
- To create less of a mess, I like to use a medium cookie scoop to fill up the cupcake liners! This is optional, of course; you could also use a third of a cup measuring cup or even just a large spoon!
- I use the large star tip whenever I'm piping frosting on cupcakes! It's the easiest one to work with and the most common tip to find! In fact, I think most grocery stores will set a kit including some piping bags and the star tip. I start piping in the middle of the cupcake and then spiral the frosting around the edge of the cupcake before looping the frosting upwards, creating a mountain shape.
- I love adding a topping to cupcakes especially with the flavors you'll find in the cupcake! So these get topped with some chocolate syrup and peppermint candies!
Other Cupcake Recipes to Love
Chai Cupcakes - These Chai Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream are a warm and spicy cupcake dream! With all the spicy flavors of chai combined in a soft cupcake with smooth and creamy buttercream, these cupcakes are the new flavor of fall!
Browned Butter Peach Cupcakes - These Browned Butter Peach Cupcakes are the perfect balance of sweet peaches, caramel-y browned butter and a soft vanilla cupcake to top it all off! Browned butter buttercream creates the ultimate bed for these perfectly soft peaches flavored with a little bit of cinnamon and whole lotta deliciousness! It almost makes me sad summer is ending! I did say *almost*!
Cookies and Cream Cupcakes - Why keep cookies and cupcakes separate when you can combine them into these delicious Cookies and Cream Cupcakes! A soft, airy chocolate cupcake topped with cloud-like cookies and cream whipped frosting creates the ultimate cookies and cream dream!
Ingredient List
- Flour
- Cornstarch
- Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Cocoa Powder
- Oil
- Eggs
- Mayo
- Milk
- Vinegar
- Coffee
- Vanilla Extract
- Butter
- Heavy Cream
- Powdered Sugar
- Peppermint Extract
- Chocolate Syrup
- Peppermint Candies
These Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes might just be my new favorite cupcake! I love the peppermint flavor with the creamy chocolate frosting and the subtle coffee flavor!
It's the perfect combination of chocolate, peppermint, and coffee!
Cheers!
-Holly Michelle
Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Flour
- 2 tablespoons Cornstarch
- ½ cup Sugar
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder
- ¼ cup Oil
- 2 Eggs
- ¼ cup Mayo
- ½ cup Milk
- 2 tablespoons Vinegar
- ½ cup Coffee
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Frosting:
- 2 sticks Butter softened
- 2 tablespoons Heavy Cream
- 1 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
- ⅔ cup Cocoa Powder
- ½ teaspoon Peppermint Extract
Garnish:
- Chocolate Syrup
- Peppermint Candies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Pour milk in a measuring cup. Remove two tablespoons of milk and add in two tablespoons of vinegar. Mix together and let set for three minutes.½ cup Milk, 2 tablespoons Vinegar
- In a bowl, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt, and cornstarch. Stir everything together.1 ½ cups Flour, 1 teaspoon Baking Soda, ½ teaspoon Baking Powder, ¼ teaspoon Salt, ½ cup Cocoa Powder, 2 tablespoons Cornstarch
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, brown sugar, mayo, oil, and vanilla extract.½ cup Sugar, ½ cup Brown Sugar, ¼ cup Oil, 2 Eggs, 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract, ¼ cup Mayo
- Once everything is mixed together, add the milk mixture to the wet ingredients.
- Then, add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
- When the mixture is halfway mixed, add in the warm coffee.½ cup Coffee
- Once everything is fully mixed, use a medium sized cookie scoop to scoop the batter into cupcake liners, about ⅔'s of the way full.
- Bake for about 18-22 minutes, then let cool.
- While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting.
Making the Frosting:
- Add room temperature butter to the bowl of a mixer, and whip for about a minute on medium speed.2 sticks Butter
- Add in peppermint, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder, mix together.1 ½ cups Powdered Sugar, ⅔ cup Cocoa Powder, ½ teaspoon Peppermint Extract
- Add in heavy cream, then whip on medium speed for 5-6 minutes until light and fluffy.2 tablespoons Heavy Cream
- Add frosting to a large piping bag and pipe a large dollop on top of the cupcakes.
To Garnish:
- Add a little drizzle of chocolate syrup, and top with a few crushed peppermintes!Chocolate Syrup, Peppermint Candies
- Serve and enjoy!
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