Easy Chocolate Mint Filled Cupcakes

It's 10 p.m. A tweet comes across your computer with photos of cupcakes your friend just made. A massive craving sets in. What do you do?

You make cupcakes, of course!

But since it's 10 p.m., you need to allow yourself some shortcuts. Or maybe you're just naturally a shortcut kind of gal (or guy). That's cool. Nothing wrong with that at all.

But maybe you also want something that tastes homemade, and maybe kind of non-standard and interesting. Maybe you need these Chocolate Mint Cupcakes.

Oh yes, you do.

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Easy Chocolate Mint Filled Cupcakes

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge)
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup Andes mint chips + extras for garnish
• 1 tsp mint extract
• any additional ingredients required to make the cake mix as instructed on the box

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), or to the temperature recommended on the cake mix package.

2. Prepare chocolate cake mix according to package directions, but do not bake.

3. In separate bowl cream together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and mint extract until well blended, then stir in Andes chips.

4. Line cupcake tins with cupcake papers. Fill 1/4 full with chocolate cake batter. Add 1 Tbsp cream cheese mixture to the center, then top with more cake batter, filling to about 2/3 full.

5. Bake according to package directions for cupcakes. Cool and frost with mint buttercream frosting (recipe below) and sprinkle with Andes bits.

Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes.

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Mint buttercream frosting*

*(you'll need at least double this recipe if you want to pipe the frosting as opposed to spreading it with a knife)

• 1/2 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
• 2+ cups confectioners' sugar (the recipe I used called for 4 cups; I used just over two and I thought it tasted great)
• 1 teaspoon mint extract
• 1/4 cup milk

In a mixing bowl, cream butter. Beat in sugar and mint. Add milk until frosting reaches desired consistency (I only ended up using about 1/8 cup of milk in mine).



Not too sweet, and delightfully refreshing out of the refrigerator on a hot summer day.

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