Oreo Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

These cupcakes are ridiculously delicious. I mean, they combine America’s favorite cookie, the Oreo, and mint — probably the best flavor combination to ever exist in the world of desserts! They’re super chocolatey, moist and fudgy. Their chocolate level is definitely in line with that of a brownie, the only difference being these are light and fluffy, rather than dense and crumbly.

They’re also perfect for St. Patrick’s Day with their airy, mint green icing. I even decked these out with a pretty little chocolate shamrockShamrock Stencil to make them more holiday-centric. But these cupcakes would also be great for Christmas with their minty flavor. Or who am I kidding, they’d also be amazing  on a random Wednesday ‘just because.’ Whatever your reason for making these, do it.

The secret to my super fudgy, chocolatey cupcakes is two fold

1. Coffee and
2. Hot Boiling Water

Coffee as an ingredient in chocolate cake is probably something you’ve heard of. Hot, boiling water though, may be new. They both serve the same purpose by helping bring out the depth of the chocolate flavor. The coffee is subtle in usage and definitely not something you’d taste within the cake itself. The hot water benefits the chocolate cake in a few ways. It helps dissolve the cocoa powder to create a smoother cake batter while also allowing the chocolate to ‘bloom’ and further enhancing the chocolate flavor.

Even if you don’t believe in the benefits of coffee and hot water in this chocolate cake, I dare you to make this recipe without it — I guarantee, it won’t be as delicious as the cupcake I enjoyed.

Since I’m really into texture in my food, these cupcakes contain roughly chopped Oreos, mixed in by hand to ensure they maintaining their chunky status. Adding in large chunks to the cupcake batter ensures that the Oreos are both seen and tasted after the cupcakes are baked, adding a bit of crunch and sweetness that melts into the fudgy chocolate cake and light mint frosting.

When it comes to the frosting, I prefer very light, fluffy frosting and recommend whipping this buttercream with your electric mixer for at least 5 minutes. This buttercream frosting also contains peppermint extract, which when over-used, can often add a medicinal taste. My advice here is to measure your extract away from the frosting.  A few time’s I’ve had a slip of had and ended up with a baked good or frosting that was so overly minty that it burned. Although a great way to clear our any nasal issues, this is not the flavor you want to represented in your mint frosting. Depending on your quality of extract, I would suggest at starting at 1/2 a teaspoon and then slowly adding in more in 1/4 teaspoon increments until you achieve your desired minty flavor. For me, that perfect flavor occurred at 3/4 teaspoons.

My advice here is to measure your extract away from the frosting.  A few time’s I’ve had a slip of hand and ended up with a baked good or frosting that was so overly minty that it burned going down. Although a great way to clear our any nasal issues, this is not the flavor you want to be represented in your mint frosting. Depending on your quality of extract, I would suggest at starting at 1/2 a teaspoon and then slowly adding in more in 1/4 teaspoon increments until you achieve your desired minty flavor. For me, that perfect flavor occurred at 3/4 teaspoons.

The chocolate shamrock decorations are optional and are super simple to make. I simply piped melted chocolate on parchment paper that was atop a printed shamrock stencil I created on the computer. Chocolate piped decorations are such a simple addition and they create a huge impact on your audience. It’s my favorite way to dress up cupcakes!

Whether you decide to make these for St. Patrick’s Day,  he Lunar Eclipse or ‘just because’ I’m sure you’ll find yourself enjoying these fudgy, mint chocolate cupcakes!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Oreo Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

 

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Fudgy, decadent moist chocolate Oreo cupcakes with light, fluffy mint frosting on top!

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¾ t baking powder
• ½ t baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 T hot water
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• ½ cup boiling water
• 18 Oreos, divided
• 5 cups confectioner's sugar
• ½ cup butter, softened at room temperature
• ½ cup shortening
• 3-4 T milk
• ½-3/4 t peppermint extract
• green food coloring
• ½ cup chocoalte chips (optional for chocolate shamrock)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325*
2. Line 2 cupcakes pans with liners and set aside
3. In a small bowl, dissolve the instant coffee into the 1 T of hot water, and set aside
4. Roughly chop 12 Oreos, ensuring they're in large chunks and set aside. Save the remaining 6 Oreos for decorating
5. In a large bowl sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
6. In a medium bowl mix together milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla
7. Gradually pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients stirring until fully incorporated
8. Once combined, slowly pour in the ½ cup of boil water and whisk until smooth
9. Fold in the 12 roughly chopped Oreos
10. Fill cupcake tins ⅔rds of the way full and place in the oven to bake for 12-15 minutes
11. Once baked, remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting
12. To make the frosting add the softened butter and shortening to an electric mixer and beat on high until light and fluffy
13. Slowly add in 1 cup of confectioner's sugar at combine with the mixer on low
14. After the 2nd cup of confectioner's sugar is combined, add in 2 tablespoons of milk and ½ a teaspoon of peppermint extract
15. Add in the remaining confectioner's sugar and an additional 1-2 tablespoons of milk until desired consistency is reached
16. Taste the frosting to determine if another ¼ teaspoon of extract is required, add if necessary
17. At this time, add in the green food coloring until the desired green color is reached
18. To ensure your frosting is light and fluffy continue mixing on medium to medium-high for another 1-2 minutes
19. Frost the cupcakes by placing the frosting in a piping bag with a 3M piping tip
20. Prior to serving, decorate with remaining Oreos or chocolate shamrocks
21. Placing the Oreos on top of the cupcakes too early before serving will cause the Oreos to go soft

Notes

To make the chocolate shamrocks, print off the shamrock stencil
Place the stencil on a flat sheet pan and place a sheet of parchment paper overtop, large enough to cover the stencil in its entirety
Melt the ½ cup of chocolate chips in the microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring in between each 20-second session (it should take about 1 minute)
Pour the melted chocolate into a piping bag and snip an extra small hole in the bag creating a thin stream of chocolate for piping
Pipe the chocolate around the outside of each of the shamrocks, filling in the shamrock stem on each stencil
Once all shamrocks have been piped, place the sheet pan and chocolate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to ensure the chocolate as fully set
Carefully remove the shamrocks from the parchment and delicately place them a top the frosted cupcakes

3.5.3208