Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

December 19, 2012 by The Squishy Monster

Maya Angelou says she knows why the caged bird sings.  Does she know why The Squishy Monster stores away food like she’s a bear about to go into hibernation?  If Valentines is a sadomasochistic holiday fabricated by companies to sell more hallmark and heart shaped boxes, then the stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas must have been the evil mastermind of sugar cane farmers.  I can’t I won’t get into just how much I’ve consumed even up until this point.  Dare I say it’s worse than a fat kid on Halloween?

*Shrugs* I figure, if you’re going to indulge, it might as well be amongst the sparkling strands of multi-colored lights with the heavy scent of pine and cardamom hanging thick in the air to encourage you onward with this gorge-fest.

Enjoy, my friends (because apparently, the world is ending in 2 days).

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes
 
Prep time

Cook time

Total time

 

Author:

Ingredients
  • 1¾ cups of Flour
  • 1½ ts Baking Powder
  • 1½ ts Baking Soda
  • 1 ts Salt
  • 1 cup of hot Coffee + 2 cups of Sugar + ¾ cups of unsweetened baking Cocoa
  • 1 cup of whole room temperature Buttermilk
  • ½ cup of Canola Oil (or Veggie)
  • 2 ts of good Vanilla
  • 2 Eggs
Buttercream
  • 2 c soft unsalted Butter
  • 6-8 c *sifted* Powdered Sugar
  • 1 ts pure Vanilla Extract
  • 3-4 ts pure Peppermint Extract
  • ½ ts Fine Salt
  • 2-4 tb Cream
Optional
  • Crushed Candy Canes

Instructions
  1. In your first bowl, sift together your flour, powder, soda, and salt.
  2. In your second bowl, blend together your coffee and sugar.
  3. In your third bowl, whisk together your buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Drop in one egg at a time.
  4. Combine your second and third bowl.
  5. In three separate additions, sprinkle in your first (dry) bowl into your wet bowl. Do not over mix.
  6. Scoop into cupcake liners and bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes.
  7. Take out of the pan and cool completely.
  8. For the buttercream, blend together your butter and powdered sugar (adding in your sugar a bit at a time). Tip in your extracts. salt, and cream. Cream until well blended and fluffy.
  9. Frost and decorate.

Love & Candy Canes galore,

Your Squishy Monster ^.~


52 Comments »

  1. Another beautiful looking cupcake recipe :) And I love the peppermint swirls in the frosting, so cute!

  2. Amelia says:

    Hi Angie, gorgeous cuppies. Save 2 pieces for me and a nice cup of hot coffee too. :)

    I love anything peppermint and this look really good and yummlicious.

    See you, I’m gonna busy in the kitchen after this and update my blog. Have a lovely week.

  3. These are gorgeous! I can never get my frosting to look so perfect. Seriously, if the world is ending today, I want a dozen of these…

  4. Wore Out says:

    Ooh these look delicious. I’m always looking for new holiday recipes and this one looks like it will be a crowd pleaser for sure.

  5. marie says:

    I love anything peppermint, and I also happen to love anything mocha, so these cupcakes sound like a dream. I am a fellow food hoarder as well. I have 3 kids so in my garage are so many staples, and of course sugar is one of them.

  6. Angie, the cupcakes look absolutely stunning and so festive with candy canes too.

  7. Hahaha…..I will always have a love-hate relationship with sugar but love surely always wins with me! These cupcakes are look so pretty & yummy!

    REBECCA
    http://www.redtagchiclosangeles.com

  8. Joanne says:

    I’ve been going all-out insane with sugar consumption also…I figure I’ll just not worry about it until after the holidays are over. These cupcakes look awesome! Love the cute peppermint swirl of frosting!

    • The Squishy Monster says:

      I just figure it’s ok if it’s not as bad as some of those sugar-addicted freaky eaters on t.v. Going without it makes watching it on rare occasions shoooocking!

  9. hui says:

    lol, you’re funny ^^! and i could do with some of these yummies for breakfast.. love how you did the frosting! ^^

  10. So it’s not just me? I’m glad to keep such fine company as I indulge in so many sweet desserts before Christmas.. during Christmas.. after Christmas. This is a pretty cupcake recipe!!

  11. I plan to eat as much as I can before the world ends
    @ 11:11am 12/21/12 ,
    I hope it ends on the other side of the world first cause I want to sleep in and have a late breakfast

  12. That’s funny.. I don’t feel bad at all about the candy cane I just ate! Haha love these cupcakes. I sincerely hope that the world doesn’t end tomorrow. That would suck. I’de never get my new perfume.

  13. grace says:

    yum! these are all kinds of great, but i really love that swirl of colors in the frosting!

  14. Um I totally agree…I am embarrassed to admit how much sugary treats I consume between Thanksgiving till New Years!

    I love the swirled frosting on top of your cupcakes! They look so yummy!

  15. This is the perfect time of year to indulge! These cupcakes look and sound so yummy!

    xo, Yi-chia
    Always Maylee

  16. erika says:

    Why are your cupcakes SO CUTE? Peppermint mocha sounds like a fab combination!

  17. The cupcakes are so pretty. And there is a reason why we have ‘resolutions’ for the new year after eating so much lol.

  18. Daniela says:

    These cupcakes look amazing and so festive! Love the way you decorated them.
    http://ambassadorstable.blogspot.co.at/

  19. How very cute and festive!

  20. Wendy Irene says:

    I love the flavors of coffee and chocolate in cake! The peppermint frosting is such a great idea for the holidays. They look stunning in the picture. Thank you so much for your kind words today :)

  21. Lester says:

    OOOOOO!! I just happen to be eating some peppermint candy right now Angie! Let me turn on my world wide camera.Lol Really I am it is delicious!!That is a wonderful MUST TRY cup cake recipe !

    I feel GREAT NEWS according to the book of revelation in the bible this world will NEVER end!! Hopefully Friday will be another day another better way.

    Have a wonderful day Angie!

    Love.

    Les.

  22. Simply Life says:

    oh these are so pretty!

  23. These are so festive! Peppermint is a true Christmas flavor! :)

  24. so gorgeous and festive!!

  25. That is a good looking cupcake! I would love to bite into one of those with some coffee!

Leave a Reply

Connect with:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Rate this recipe:  

  • 1

    Welcome to The Squishy Monster!

    Here, I'll share the stories of my on going love affair with food as well as step-by-step tutorials/cooking videos featuring original recipes. I'm a firm believer that despite our differences, our one commonality as humans? Food.
    I'm 100% Southern & 100% Korean. My name is Angela and my friends call me The Squishy Monster.

  • Recent Posts
  • Support "Pack Away Hunger"