Holy Holidays! Peppermint Bark Cupcakes

It's official. I am in the holiday spirit. Hide the eggnog. Lock up your sleds. The Holiday Hurricane has arrived. Oh yeah. It's gonna get festive up in here.

And my first act as holiday lunatic was to create some Peppermint Bark Cupcakes. Yeah, I said it. Peppermint Bark in cupcake form. I know what you're thinking - 'Aaaaah! No, Julie. Stop we can't take it it's too much aaaah!' Well tough tinsel.

This. Just. Happened.


Peppermint Bark Cupcakes
makes 24

Cupcakes
6 Tbs cocoa powder
1/2 c hot water
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of 1/2 an orange
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 c buttermilk
1/2 cup butter - melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 c of dark chocolate chips

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
6 oz white chocolate
1/4 c heavy cream
1 stick of room temperature butter
4 oz of cream cheese (softened of course)
1 small bag of confectioners sugar

Crushed candy canes for garnish

Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl - mix the cocoa powder with the hot water and set aside.

Like So.

In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the orange zest.

In yet another bowl (large), (yes my washing machine got a work out tonight), whisk together the eggs and sugar until well combined. Next whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, peppermint and cocoa mixture. After that whisk in the cooled butter (if it's not at room temperature the hot butter will cook the eggs and you'll have chocolate scrambled eggs...ew.).

Finally you may gradually whisk in the dry mixture. Then fold in the chocolate chips.See? It eventually all goes into one bowl.

Pour the batter about halfway up in lined muffin tins and place in a preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Don't fill them all the way up. They'll overflow and become big, messy cupcake masses.

Let them [get] cool. Like...way cool.

Speaking of cool...look who stopped by! My friend April helped me take care of all that pesky excess batter. Thaaanks, Ape!

Frosting:
In a double boiler* melt the white chocolate with the cream. Remove from heat and let cool a bit.

Mmm...melty chocolate

Once it's at about room temperature, you can whisk in the cream cheese and butter. Once that gets all incorporated and whatnot, mix in the confectioners sugar until you reach the desired consistency.


Pipe in little snowy peaks onto your cupcakes and sprinkle some crushed up candy canes et voila! Christmas in a cupcake!!








...or you could just buy this...


*If you don't have a double boiler, you can always just MacGyver one like I always do. Just place a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Just make sure that the water in the pot never touches the bottom of the bowl or else your melting thing will scorch and you will be sad.