Over-the-Top Andes Mint Cupcakes
These decadent, over-the-top Andes mint cupcakes are the ultimate mint/chocolate dessert and they are stunning in presentation.
So it came to my attention this week that there are actually, officially real, life human beings that find the combination of mint and chocolate revolting.
Um…what?
I don’t know if we can be friends. I’m sorry to sound shallow but I really don’t.
However, for those of you who recognize the pure, decadent, perfect relationship between mint and chocolate – behold, I give you the ultimate in mint/chocolate flavor.
A decadent, dense chocolate cupcake is piped full of glossy mint chocolate ganache and then dolloped with a swirl of perfectly creamy and minty buttercream. The beautiful morsel is then drizzled with silky mint chocolate ganache (again!) and garnished with an adorable Andes mint.
Seriously, what’s not to love?
Over-the-Top Andes Mint Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 2 cups (424 g) sugar
- 1-3/4 cups (249 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (64 g) HERSHEY’S Cocoa
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- 30 Andes mints for garnish
Chocolate Mint Filling:
- ½ cup (85 g) chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- ⅓ cup (38 g) powdered sugar
Mint Buttercream:
- 1 cup (227 g) butter, softened to room temperature
- 8 ounces (227 g) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 32 ounces (907 g) powdered sugar, (about 7 cups)
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- Green food coloring
Instructions
- For the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin cups with paper baking cups.
- In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; using a handheld electric mixer or an electric stand mixer, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. The batter will be on the thinner side.
- Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. This recipe makes about 30 cupcakes. So you may need to bake the cupcakes in installments if you only have 1 or 2 muffin tins. Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack, after removing them from the muffin tin.
- For the mint filling, while the cupcakes are baking, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute at 50% power. Stir. Repeat the process until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract and powdered sugar, whisking until smooth. Let the mixture cool to room temperature (but don’t let it get too stiff) and pour it into a squeeze bottle or a ziploc bag (it helps to place the ziploc bag, one point down, in a tall glass while filling).
- When the cupcakes are cool, insert the tip of the squeeze bottle into the center of the cupcake and press gently to fill the middle of the cupcake with the mint ganache.
- For the frosting, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add the heavy cream and peppermint and vanilla extracts. Beat until light and fluffy. Add green food coloring until the color you like is achieved.
- Frost the cooled, filled cupcakes with frosting (using a large star tip) or simply spread the frosting in a large dollop with a butter knife or flat spatula. Garnish with an unwrapped Andes mint and a drizzle of leftover ganache (make sure the ganache is completely cool or it will melt the frosting when you drizzle it on top of the cupcake). Refrigerate until serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: inspired by this recipe, cupcake recipe from the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa box
This sounds like MINT HEAVEN!!! I am so doing this
I made these last Sunday. They were a hit! The ganache had a strong mint flavor, so I toned down the amount of mint extract in the frosting. Delicious! 🙂 really easy to make, made the cupcakes a day in advance and were still fresh and soft the following afternoon.
Cake worked FAB!! Followed your ‘cake’ directions above- but just as I was pouring in filling over poked holes- realized it was thicker than I had thought (?) so ended up spreading it instead- and it made FAB filling for cake (hurrah!- but not sure what I did wrong to have it spreadable?- oops) Mint frosting fabulous and put Andes mints and scattered mini chocolate chips on top as well as had used all chocolate filling… for the filling! Family was vv.v. impressed and 5 year old says he now wants this as his bday cake every year- hurrah! The only change I would make again would be to half the icing as it was twice as much as needed for a cake- so had to keep wacking little hands away from the bowl of goodness. THANK YOU MEL!! 5 year old said..’I KNOW this cake is for ME and not for (sister) b/c I am the Minty-King’. Nice.
Sounds perfect! Am trying tomorrow .. fingers crossed.
ps. chicken enchaladas tonight another hit!
Rachel – I definitely wouldn’t use the chocolate mint filling for the cupcakes inbetween the cake layers – it is more like a thin ganache and I’m afraid your cake would slide around. If I were you, I’d just make extra mint frosting and use that for the middle of the cake. You could also poke both rounds of the cake with tines of a fork and drizzle the chocolate mint filling over that to create a type of saturation into the cake with the chocolate mint filling – just be careful, if you try it, not to put too much on so the cake doesn’t crumble. Good luck!
My 4 year old is turning 5 next week, and while I am attempting a pirate ship cake for the kid party (eeek)- am wanting to blow his socks off for his actual birthday day next week with a ‘tall’ chocolate-mint cake (his jaw was on the floor at X-mas when I made your ‘best’ chocolate cake and topped with crushed candy canes- so must repeat little boy eye popping face. .) Saw the post above about using the 2 round tins and the timing (fab!) – but my worry is whether the chocolate mint filling will stay in between the layers or is it too thin (just for filling cupcakes?) – is there a way to make it thicker to ‘stick’ in between a layer cake? THANKS!
Tiarna – the quantities are for regular cupcakes, not mini.
I was just wondering if these quantities were for normal sized cupcakes or mini ones as the ones in your picture look like mini ones haha
I made these for a co-workers birthday celebration today, and everyone went NUTS for them. They turned out soooo well, and were really pretty easy to make. Two notes, though. Make sure that you use PEPPERMINT extract and NOT MINT extract. Mint extract will make things taste like toothpaste (past experience). Also, make sure you use all 7 cups of powdered sugar in the frosting, otherwise it will not be stiff enough to stand up on the cupcakes. I started with less, thinking the texture was okay, but after a minute of two it started to slide off my cupcakes. I scraped off the soft stuff, added more sugar, and they turned out just fine. I now have a new recipe to add to my list of favorites!
He loved them! Everyone raved! I had another huge chocolate-mint lover at the party, and he was really excited about the mint ganache in the middle, which caught him by surprise. Thanks for helping him have a super birthday. 🙂
Hubby’s birthday is today so I made these for him! I will let you know how they go over, but after tasting everything separately, I already know they will be a hit! Thanks for sharing this super recipe.
Made these for a study group and they were a huge hit! No problem with overflowing, but I didn’t expect that in Texas anyways 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks for the recipe! I brought these to a baby shower and they were a hit!
Sorry I hit submit too soon. Thanks for such a great combo….I can’t wait to try these again!
Mel, we love these! However I had a similar problem as others, with an overflowing mess in my oven…they also dropped in the center and were a mess to get out of the muffin tins. Normally I read the comments first and I wish I had done that. The second batch I filled only half full and they worked much better. With all the comments from others who had the problem of the cake spilling over i think you should put a comment in the recipe itself so people who make these wont have that problem. I think next time I will do my jazzed up chocolate cake mix for the cake portion or try cup of cakes version. The chocolate mint filling and mint buttercream are to die for. Chocolate and mint is my very favorite and these are so yummy. I did have lots of frosting left over and I think I put a little too much on the cupcakes so I might 3/4 the frosting next time.
Megan – sorry for the overflowage. I’ve added a note to the recipe!
Thanks everyone for the information. I’ll play around with adding more flour and filling the cup up less and see what happens. Again, fabulous recipe!
I’ve already told you I don’t care for chocolate, but the only way I eat it is with mint. I love them together! My daughter will flip when I make these for her, mint and chocolate is her absolute favorite!
So posted about high altitude yesterday and I made these cupcakes today. I live at 7500 feet. I added 1/4 cup flour as I usually do with cake recipes and filled the muffin cups 2/3 full. They still overflowed. A lot. I could smell the batter burning on the bottom of the oven after about 5 minutes of cooking and thought, “NOOOOOO!” I was dying to know what kind of mess I was going to have to clean up but I didn’t want to make the cupcakes fall so I waited. When I took them out I had a big mess, but I salvaged them by cutting around the edges. They weren’t pretty, but frosting covers everything. They were still DELICIOUS! The next batch I filled less than 1/2 full, baked them for 11 minutes, and they turned out just right. Next time I will try adding a little more flour. Hope this helps all my fellow mountain dwellers. Thanks for the great recipe, Mel. These really are over the top, AND all over the bottom (of the oven), but that’s the altitude’s fault. (My husband accuses me of blaming all my baking catastrophes on the altitude, but I never had any baking catastrophes until I moved away from sea level!) They are wonderful cupcakes and I love, love, love the frosting. It even tastes good purple. My little girl was horrified when I pulled out the green food coloring so I caved in and made it purple for her. Can’t wait til my husband gets home. He’s going to love them!
How CAN anybody find chocolate and mint revolting? How? HOW?! 🙁
It’s HEAVEN and so are these cupcakes. And your son is awesome. 😉
Cheers,
Tobias
I know I love chocolate and mint. And now I think I love you.
Marie,
Your Cup of Cake is right. I live at 7500 ft and I have that problem too. Things rise faster and higher at a higher elevation. Adding some flour helps. And have you ever had your cookies turn out flat and crunchy instead of thick and chewy? Adding a little flour to your recipe will help with that, too. 1/4 cup is about right for most recipes but it depends on the size of the recipe. Experiment.
Oh my, those look fantastic! Thanks for sharing and can’t wait to make them!
Best chocolate cake ever! So moist and easy too! Thanks for the recipe.
Love this! I adore Andes mints. Growing up they were a special treat so I’ve always had a fondness for them. I can’t wait to make these.
i’ve never met a person who didn’t like that combination, but if i did, i would be forced to avoid him or her entirely. marvelous cupcakes, mel!
Oh! I just saw the elevation problem with overflowing cupcakes! I go to college at high elevation, and the trick I learned is yes, fill them a little less, but also, add 1/4 cup extra flour to the batter. it helps me a ton!
Beautiful! Thank you for linking back to me as well!
Oh these look beautiful. I personally love mint and chocolate together, but you’re right I know some human beans too that don’t like it. 🙂 Gorgeous cupcakes.
We made these today and they tasted amazing! However, I have to ask you what went wrong…We filled the muffin cups 2/3 full but they spilled over like crazy. The second batch we filled 1/2 way and they barley spilled over. Why did this happen? Any ideas. Is it due to high elevation? Did I make a mistake somewhere? Let me know if you have any ideas. Besides this, the chocolate center tasted amazing as well as the mint frosting. Thanks
Marie – ugh, I hate it when my cupcakes overflow! To be honest, I’m not sure if it is due to high elevation or not. I’d like to think it is…I don’t think you made a mistake along the way. Recipes turn out differently for every person based on where they live, variances in oven temperature, and a ton of other factors. It’s probably always safer, on cupcakes, to err on filling them 1/2 full instead of 2/3 but it is bemusing why I can fill mine 2/3 full in this recipe and they overflowed on you. Elevation may play a factor! I’ll have to do some research, courtesy of google, and figure out if anyone is smarter than me and knows the answer!
Made these to take to our church meal today. They were wonderful and gone in minutes. I used Jr. Mints instead of Andes though. YUM!!!!!!!! And so easy to make!!! One of my children yelled to a sibling to come and taste the frosting. Then later after I had added the green color the same child called another sibling in to taste it and said it is good but i haven’t tasted it green yet. Not realizing the color wouldn’t change the flavor! They really get into the sweets around here!!
Oh man do those look good. My husband would love that. I love chocolate. I love mint. I love them together. But nothing gives me heartburn faster than chocolate and mint together. Isn’t that the saddest thing? So I only consume with a chaser of Tums.
I remember being younger and being able to eat anything……those were the days.
These look good enough to brave it though. And I have Tums on hand…….
Just came by to let you know that I included you in my most recent blog post.. 🙂
http://www.livelaughlovecraft.com/2011/09/my-favorite-blogs.html
I love Andes.. this is the best looking choco-mint cupcake I’ve ever seen!
These look DELICIOUS!!! I adore mint and chocolate together. Mint chocolate ice cream, mint chocolate cookies, and now I must try these cupcakes!
What size tip did you use to decorate these and where did you get it? Can’t wait to make them. Love your blog!!
Jodi – I usually use the Wilton 1M tip and I have found it at Hobby Lobby or Michaels.
YUMMM! I heart mint & choc too 🙂 My only problem would be trying not to eat all those Andes mints before they made it to the top of the cupcakes …..haha!
P.S. I thought I was a human “bean” until the age of 7 and always wondered why were were considered beans. LOL!
My husband is a chocolate-mint fanatic and while I don’t dislike it and actually enjoy eating it, for some reason it’s just not my thing and I never reach for anything mint-chocolate. These look divine, however, and I’m totally making them for my hubby’s birthday this year! He’ll be thrilled!!
Okay..I think Chocolate and Mint is gross, but I don’t like chocolate anyways (yep I’m from this planet). Anyways, I bet my husband would LOVE these..so I can add them to a future take to work make list.
Mel, would it be possible to make this into a cake? I am assuming, either a a double 9 inch cake or a 13×9 would work, but the baking time would be different no?
As for those human beans who don’t love this combo, let them hate and more cupcakes for us!!
Tristan – yes, I think that would work great, especially since the recipe I used for the cupcakes is from the back of the Hershey’s cocoa box and is intended for a cake. If you bake it in two 9-inch rounds (grease and flour the pan), bake for 28-30 minutes. If you bake it in a greased/floured 9X13-inch pan, bake for about 30-35 minutes. Hope that helps!
Yum! i recently developed a new love for mint and chocolate and this looks like the perfect way to use that combo, and with andies mints, Even Better! They look beautiful and tantalizing!!
People who don’t like chocolate + mint should be force-fed it until they acknowledge how delicious it is! Only joking. I used to not be a fan, then I started having mint in savory dishes and loved it. My honey makes peanut butter + mint jelly sandwiches. I can’t get into that just yet, but maybe someday!
Could you tell me what peppermint extract you use? The one I bought at the store tastes like toothpaste…. 😛 Not so good when you are craving chocolate and mint and get chocolate mint toothpaste…
These look so yummy, I can’t wait to make them. My dad is one of the chocolate mint haters, funny thing- my mom always gets Jr Mints at the movie theater so she doesn’t have to share with him!
Those people actually exist? That’s just crazy!! 🙂
These look absolutely beautiful!!
I just wanted to say that the cupcake recipe is the same amazing one as off the back of the Hershey’s package. I’ve tried so many recipes which claim to be better than that one, but they’re not. Everyone I’ve ever given some calls it the best chocolate cake ever and it really is. I can’t wait to try it with your filling and buttercream combination! Something weird: I live in Germany and everyone here seems to hate the combination. I once made chocolate/mint fudge for a party and only 1 out of 12 people would even try it because it seems they’re a nation of chocolate/mint haters. 🙁
I also don’t understand how you can’t like chocolate and mint together… but hey, more of these cupcakes for you and me:-)
These look decadent and delicious!
I’m so glad we can still be friends…I LOVE the chocolate mint combination! Andes mints, Peppermint Patties-count me in! These look amazing, Mel! Your photo is stunning!
I am one of those human beans that loves chocolate and mint…..I am saving this one for sure.