How to make easy and festive peppermint chocolate cupcakes!
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There are a few staple flavors that we associate with Christmas and the holiday season. You know exactly what I’m talking about; flavors such as peppermint and eggnog just scream out with holiday cheer! And those two flavors are pretty much a necessity at any party or holiday gathering of the season.
One of my favorite easy recipes to break out to impress at holiday parties and gatherings is this one for my Easy Peppermint Cupcakes. These festive cupcakes turn out so adorable and charming that they’re guaranteed to melt hearts! But that’s not even the best part. The delicious flavor combination of chocolate mixed with peppermint makes these tasty treats packed full of holiday flair!
These Christmas cupcakes are perfect not only for holiday parties and gatherings, but also for holiday movie nights, to serve with hot chocolate, or for a night full of wrapping Christmas presents! Whatever you want to make these delightful peppermint cupcakes for, they’re sure to bring all the cozy Christmas cheer with them!
Easy Baking Equipment
First, let me go over the cupcake equipment. If you’re familiar with making homemade cupcakes then you already know that they do require the use of several kitchen tools. On the other hand, if that is the case, then you probably already have everything you need to get this baking party started! Here’s what I use to make these easy peppermint cupcakes:
- Glass mixing bowl
- Blending whisk
- Hand mixer
- Red foil cupcake liners – I much prefer foil cupcake liners to the paper ones as they are much stronger, and they don’t get soggy and tear easily like the paper ones do.
- 12-cup cupcake pan
- Dough scoop
- Cooling rack
- Ziploc Gallon Bag
- Rolling Pin
- Spider strainer
- Piping bags
- Piping bag ties
- Jumbo piping tips
- Spatulas
- Spider strainer
Perfect Peppermint Ingredients
Now let’s break down the sweet cupcake ingredients. Since I’m using the easy version of these cupcakes, I actually don’t have to pick up a lot of ingredients to make this recipe. That makes this recipe perfect for making big batches of cupcakes for parties or to take to coworkers or schoolmates. Here’s what I use to make easy peppermint cupcakes:
Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 1 box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix 18.2 oz
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup water
- 2 Large Eggs
- ½ cup Canola Oil or olive oil
- ½ tsp Peppermint extract
Peppermint Frosting:
- 6 Peppermint Candy Canes
- 2 cans Vanilla buttercream frosting
- ½ tsp Peppermint extract
How to Make Perfectly Easy Peppermint Cupcakes
Now it’s time to make a little holiday magic! This recipe is super simple and easy to follow along with but it does involve several phases so let’s get started. Here’s how I make easy peppermint chocolate cupcakes:
Making the Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes:
- First, gather up and measure out all of the cupcake ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Then, in a large mixing bowl, mix together the box of brownie mix and the flour.
- In a separate medium-size bowl, combine the water, eggs, canola oil, and Peppermint extract together.
- Next, pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl of dry ingredients.
- Mix all the ingredients together well with a blending whisk.
- Then, line a 12-cup cupcake pan with the red foil liners.
- Next, use a (1.5 oz) dough scoop to distribute the cupcake dough into the liners. Use 1 scoop per cupcake liner, filling the liner about ⅔ full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- After baking, transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.
Crushing Peppermint Candies:
- First, put 6 candy canes into a gallon ziploc bag. Flatten the bag to remove all the air and zip it to seal.
- Next, put the bag of candy canes on a cutting board, or flat surface, and use a rolling pin to roll over the candies until they’re crushed into tiny little pieces.
- Then, cut off a corner from the bottom of the bag.
- Next, sift the candy pieces through the spider sifter into a bowl to separate the small and large pieces. The small pieces will go into the frosting.
- Save the larger pieces for garnishing the finished cupcakes with.
- You should end up with 2 separate bowls of crushed peppermint candies.
Whipping Up the Peppermint Frosting:
- First, gather up the frosting ingredients and the bowl of small peppermint candy pieces.
- Then, empty 2 cans of vanilla frosting and add the peppermint extract into a large mixing bowl.
- Next, whisk the frosting for 3-5 minutes using a hand mixer on high speed.
- If the frosting is too runny (soft): mix in powdered sugar 1 tbsp at a time until the desired consistency is reached. The frosting should form stiff peaks and be able to hold its shape.
- Check out my Store-Bought Buttercream Frosting Hacks to see how to get the perfect frosting consistency.
- Then, pour in ¼ cup of the smallest candy cane pieces.
- Fold the candy cane pieces into the frosting with a rubber spatula.
- Next, cut about 1.5 inch from the tip of a piping bag, and insert a metal piping tip.
- Lastly, fill the piping bag with the peppermint frosting and then close it off with a piping bag tie.
Decorating Perfect Peppermint Cupcakes:
- First, pipe the peppermint frosting on top of the cooled chocolate cupcakes.
- Finally, garnish the cupcakes by sprinkling the large candy cane pieces on top. Serve and enjoy!
Storing and Traveling with Cupcakes
Storing peppermint cupcakes: these peppermint cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container for 4-5 days at room temperature, or covered and stored in the fridge for up to 1 week. Always label the date on the outside of the container to keep up with freshness.
To safely travel with homemade cupcakes
just carefully transfer the decorated cupcakes to these paper cupcake boxes that have individual slots for each cupcake. This will keep the cupcakes from crashing into each other and messing up the frosting and toppings.
Sweet Celebrations for the Holidays
Can’t get enough of those cheerful and enchanting Christmas recipes? Try out some more of my favorite holiday recipes to keep the Christmas excitement around throughout the entire holiday season!
- Christmas Hot Chocolate Bombs
- Marshmallow Snowmen
- Sugared Cranberries and Rosemary
- Holiday Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
- Eggnog Buttercream Frosting
- Gingerbread Cupcakes
- Eggnog Scones
- Chocolate Cookies with Peppermint Chips
More Christmas Recipes
Easy Peppermint cupcakes
Equipment
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix 18.2 oz
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup water
- 2 Large Eggs
- ½ cup Canola Oil or olive oil
- ½ tsp Peppermint extract
Peppermint frosting
Instructions
Making the Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes
- First, gather up and measure out all of the cupcake ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Then, in a large mixing bowl, mix together the box of brownie mix and the flour.
- In a separate medium-size bowl, combine the water, eggs, canola oil, and Peppermint extract together.
- Next, pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl of dry ingredients.
- Mix all the ingredients together well with a blending whisk.
- Then, line a 12-cup cupcake pan with the red foil liners.
- Next, use a (1.5 oz) dough scoop to distribute the cupcake dough into the liners. Use 1 scoop per cupcake liner, filling the liner about ⅔ full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- After baking, transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.
Crushing Peppermint Candies
- First, put 6 candy canes into a gallon ziploc bag. Flatten the bag to remove all the air and zip it to seal.
- Next, put the bag of candy canes on a cutting board, or flat surface, and use a rolling pin to roll over the candies until they’re crushed into tiny little pieces.
- Then, cut off a corner from the bottom of the bag.
- Next, sift the candy pieces through the spider sifter into a bowl to separate the small and large pieces. The small pieces will go into the frosting.
- Save the larger pieces for garnishing the finished cupcakes with.
- You should end up with 2 separate bowls of crushed peppermint candies.
Whipping Up the Peppermint Frosting
- First, gather up the frosting ingredients and the bowl of small peppermint candy pieces.
- Then, empty 2 cans of vanilla frosting and add the peppermint extract into a large mixing bowl.
- Next, whisk the frosting for 3-5 minutes using a hand mixer on high speed.If the frosting is too runny (soft): mix in powdered sugar 1 tbsp at a time until the desired consistency is reached. The frosting should form stiff peaks and be able to hold its shape. Check out my Store-Bought Buttercream Frosting Hacks to see how to get the perfect frosting consistency.
- Then, pour in ¼ cup of the smallest candy cane pieces.
- Fold the candy cane pieces into the frosting with a rubber spatula.
- Next, cut about 1.5 inch from the tip of a piping bag, and insert a metal piping tip.
- Lastly, fill the piping bag with the peppermint frosting and then close it off with a piping bag tie.
Notes
Nutrition
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