Thin Mint Cupcakes

Here is a great treat to make for St. Paddy’s Day! I got the idea for these thin mint cupcakes from The Food Librarian. Now she used the Girl Scout’s Thin Mint cookies, I cheated and used Keebler Grasshopper cookies. Either one will do. I have even make these with a store brand version of the cook with success.

Now the Food Librarian made a cream cheese frosting for her thin mint cupcakes and left the frosting white. I opted for a good old buttercream recipe. I also used some green food coloring in the frosting to make these the perfect St. Patrick’s day treat.

Now, these cupcakes were made from scratch. Don’t let that scare you away. It’s a Martha Stewart recipe and it’s all made in one bowl. It should be ingredients that you have in the house with the exception of the buttermilk. You can use 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup sour cream as a substitute.

This recipe really is almost as easy as whipping up a boxed mix. If you want, you could easily make these with a boxed devil’s food cake mix if you must. If you do opt to keep with making the cupcakes from scratch, don’t worry when you see the batter. This batter is quite runny. The recipe says it makes 18 to 24 cupcakes, I usually get 20 out of it.

I also cut some cookies into fourths to put on top of the cupcakes.

Just beware that if you add the cookie on top, only add it to the ones you are gonna eat. We didn’t eat all of ours in one day, the next day the cookie on top was really soft from the moisture in the frosting. Those mint cookies aren’t as yummy when they are soft.

These cupcakes had a nice light mint flavor the complemented the chocolate cupcake well. I think it just the right amount for a nice hint of mint, just like the cookies. However, if you want a stronger mint flavor you could omit the vanilla extract from the frosting recipe and add 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. mint extract. Just start with the 1/8 tsp mint and taste it. Then add more if you want it to be stronger.

• COCOA POWDER
• FLOUR
• SUGAR
• BAKING SODA
• BAKING POWDER
• SALT
• EGGS
• WATER
• BUTTERMILK
• GIRL SCOUT THIN MINT COOKIES OR KEBBLER GRASSHOPPER COOKIES
• BUTTER
• POWDERED SUGAR
• VANILLA
• MILK
• GREEN FOOD COLORING

Thin Mint Cupcakes

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• Total Time: 40 Minutes
• Yield: 18 servings 1x

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Ingredients

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• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 sleeve of Girl Scout thin mint cookies or 1/2 a package Kebbler Grasshopper cookies, crushed plus additional 6 cookies for garnish

Buttercream:

• 1 cup (8 oz.) butter, softened
• 2 (16 oz) pkgs powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp milk, divided
• green food coloring

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
2. In a bowl, whisk cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Fold in crushed cookies.
3. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes.
4. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks, and let cool.
5. In a bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and 1 Tbsp of the milk until blended and smooth. If frosting is too thick, add remaining 1 tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until smooth. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add in desired amount of green food coloring to get that right shade of green.
6. Frost cupcakes and cut each of the 6 cookies into 4 and top each cupcake with a piece of the cook. Makes 18-24 cupcakes.

Equipment

hand mixer

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muffin pan

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measure

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• Prep Time: 20 Minutes
• cooling time:
• Cook Time: 20 Minutes
• Category: Cake
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

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These are the original photos from this post when it was first posted in March 2009.