Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Girl scout cookies. Really... that's all I need to say to get your mouth salivating and your heart fluttering isn't it? Since finals have been over, I've been dying to make Baking Bites' thin mint and samoa copycats, but honestly after a week of no sleep and being on the verge of death, those were a little too much for me too handle. I thought I'd meet in the middle and make thin mint style cupcakes instead, but I've honestly seen 3 - 5 different versions and I couldn't decide which one to use, so I set up a little experiment:

Specimen #1: Chopped Andes Mints

These came out super, super moist, almost like a chocolate lava cake. It had sufficient mint flavor and was my favorite of the three.

Specimen #2: Chopped Thin Mints

Surprisingly moist, since I thought the crushed cookies might make the cake a little dry, but it didn't have enough mint flavor for me. The crushed cookies did add nice texture though.

Specimen #3: Mint Extract

Definitely minty but still not enough for me. It was kind of just 'blah' if you know what I mean, it was whatevers, I could live without it. 

Final Decision: The one with the chopped Andes mints was definitely the best, it was an out of this world moist but not minty enough for me. None of the cakes were minty enough for me actually. In the end, I decided that if I wanted the gold, I would definitely have to be gutsy, so I added mostly chopped Andes, some chopped thin mints AND mint extract to the final cupcake batter. A little overboard you say?!?! I say NOT! Delicious! The most moist cake you will ever meet and so full of fresh minty flavor. I used Simply Recipes' cream cheese mint frosting which perfectly balanced out these cupcakes with its bit of tang. It was just sweet enough but not overly so.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Yields: 24 Cupcakes

Printable Recipe

1 box of Chocolate Devil's food cake or 1 recipe of Devil's food cake

1 box of Andes mints

1/4 sleeve of Thin Mints or Keebler Fudge Shop Grasshopper Cookies (5 cookies)

 1/4 tsp mint extract

Make cake batter according to the directions. Chops the Andes mints and thin mints finely, add to the batter. Add the extract and mix well. Divide the batter among a cupcake pan lined with cupcakes liners. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely, then frost.

Mint Cream Cheese frosting

Original recipe can be found here. 

4 oz. or half a package of cream cheese, at room temperature

4 tbsn. butter, at room temperature

1/4 tsp. of mint extract

1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

1 - 2 drops of green food coloring

Using an electric mixer, whip the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Add the mint extract, then the powdered sugar, 1/2 a cup at a time until well combined. Add the food coloring to your color preference. Frost your cooled cupcakes and enjoy!