It’s the greatest time of the year! Are you going to be bored out of your mind over winter break? Is there a birthday in your family coming up? Are you stuck contemplating what to make for your family’s holiday party? Do you want to put more effort in this holiday instead of serving store bought desserts?
Make cupcakes! But don’t go with the average vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. Instead, try something more exotic. Maybe something like brownie cupcakes? It’s a mixture of the two desserts laced with peppermint flavor.
These decadent miniature brownies have a Candy Cane Hershey Kiss baked into the center of them, making for a sweet, pepper-minty surprise. They’re topped with striped vanilla buttercream and some chunky sanding sugar—it’s like a winter wonderland in one little brownie! Imagine your family members and friends complimenting you on your baking. They will wonder why you’re such a great baker and what your secret is. Want the recipe to your success? Keep on reading below!
For the brownies you’ll need:
· 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
· 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
· 2 c. sugar
· 3 eggs
· 2 t. vanilla
· 1/4 t. salt
· 1 c. flour
*Or you can buy brownie mix at the store*
For the buttercream you’ll need:
· Two sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
· 2 c. powdered sugar
· 2 t. vanilla extract (or peppermint would also be delicious!)
*Or you can buy buttercream icing at the store*
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a microwave safe bowl for 90 seconds to two minutes, on high. Stir the mixture until all the chocolate is melted and combined with the butter. Stir in the sugar until it’s well combined, and then add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and salt, and stir until creamy. Finally, add the flour and stir until just combined. *If you are preparing brownie mix, ignore this step and prepare the brownie mix as stated on the box*
3. Fill paper-lined mini cupcake tins with a heaping tablespoon of the brownie batter. Press one Candy Cane Hershey Kiss into the center, and cover with a little bit more of the batter, so the candy is fully covered (the little peak of the kiss might be visible, that’s okay). Bake for about 23-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the brownie comes out clean. Keep an eye on them, you don’t want to over-bake.
4. Allow to cool, and then make the buttercream. *Ignore this step and step 5 if you already bought the buttercream*
5. Whip the butter until creamy, and then add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until it’s fluffy. Whip in the vanilla and then give it a taste and make sure you don’t need more of anything.
6. To get the candy cane stripes, paint a couple of red stripes of food coloring gel straight up the side of a pastry bag. Then fill with buttercream, and pipe onto the brownies as usual. (If you’re doing this method, you may need to add another stick of butter and cup of powdered sugar to the buttercream recipe to ensure you’ll have enough for all the brownies—piping uses more frosting than just spreading it on.)
7. Finish with some chunky sugar sprinkles for a frosty touch. And enjoy!
I saw this recipe on Pinterest and I really want to try it out this holiday season, it’s so festive! And I’m also looking for an excuse to try out all of these cupcake recipes I pinned on Pinterest… I swear I’m addicted to that website. I wanted to try a tiramisu cupcake, but it’s a very complex recipe. I feel like I’ll mess something up along the way because there are so many steps and ingredients. I think I’m going to bake a s’mores cupcake for my family’s holiday party, though. It’s just a chocolate cupcake with marshmallow fluff as the icing and sprinkled graham cracker pieces on top. Want the recipe? Go to pinterest.com and search for me, ablessing517.