mint-filled brownie cupcakes

Paul is a huge fan of chocolate-mint flavoured anything, so when I saw this recipe for mint-filled brownie cupcakes in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook,  I knew I had to give them a try.

 
The ingredients list is nice and short and the recipe is very easy to follow - perfect for a beginner baker. The hardest part was keeping Paul from eating all the mini peppermint patties!

I even tried piping for the first time ever! What do you think? I had planned on piping names and words on all of them using melted white chocolate but some of the cupcakes didn't turn out completely flat. So for the uneven ones, I covered the little mounds with vanilla frosting. I'm not so happy with the vanilla ones - definitely need more practice, but I'm really proud of the ones with writing on them!

Oh, the reason some of them didn't come out of the oven "completely even"? Apparently, if you don't really bury that peppemint patty - this happens! Haha!

My only recommendation? Make a few batches - these moist, fudgy cupcakes go pretty quickly!


mint-filled brownie cupcakes
source: adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes by Martha Stewart
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ingredients:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
12 small (1 1/2-inch) chocolate-covered peppermint patties, like mini York Peppermint Patties

directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.

Place chocolate and butter pieces in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan or pot of simmering water. Stir occasionally just until melted (about 4 to 5 minutes).

Remove the bowl from heat. Whisk in the sugar and salt until the entire mixture is smooth. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until combined.

Gently whisk in the flour and cocoa just until smooth (be careful not to overmix).

Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each cupcake liner. Place 1 peppermint patty on top and gently press into the batter (make sure the patty doesn't hit the bottom of the cupcake liner). Top with 2 tablespoons of batter, making sure to cover the patty completely.

Bake, rotating the muffin tin halfway through the baking time, until a cake tester inserted halfway in the centre (above peppermint patty) comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached (about 35 minutes).

Transfer the muffin tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing the cupcakes.

Cupcakes can be eaten plain or decorated with your favourite frosting once cooled.

Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

yields: 12 cupcakes