Who needs some cupcakes? I do! I do!

OK... so before my world went crazy, I was beginning my weekend the standard way... with cupcakes. I had a request for Chocolate Mint Cupcakes so I decided to give it a shot. And this:

is the result.

They are basically standard chocolate cupcakes with a Peppermint Patty in the middle and frosted with chocolate mint frosting, with a Junior Mint on top.

And now for the recipes...

For the cupcakes, I used the One-Bowl Chocolate Cake recipe from allrecipes.com. So here it is, with the changes I made.

One Bowl Chocolate Cake III

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups white sugar 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup boiling water Some mini Peppermint Patties

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour cupcake pans.
2.	In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans and stick 1/2 to a whole Peppermint Patty in each cupcake.
3.	Bake 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing, I modified my favorite chocolate frosting, again from allrecipes.com.

Chocolate Frosting II

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 2 tablespoons milk 1/2 tablespoon mint extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in cocoa, mint extract, and vanilla. Place confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Pour in cocoa mixture. Beat well (mixture will be extremely thick). Beat in milk, a teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.

Anyway, they were a big hit!