Sweetness on Sunday: Super Fudgy Mint Cupcakes

These are heaven. They are so easy and with the minty coolness and dense gooey chocolate texture, they are the chocolate-lover's perfect summer cupcake! I actually made these for my Dad on father's day and aptly named them "Dad's Milkshake Cupcakes". Why? Well, because growing up, we went to Baskin Robbin's alot. And Dad always ordered a Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake. So these were inspired by him. :)

(created by combining two recipes from Big Book of Cupcakes by Jan Moon, and altered just a bit!)

For the cupcake:
~6 (1 oz.) semisweet chocolate baking squares
~1 cup butter
~1-3/4 cup sugar
~1 cup all purpose flour
~4 large eggs
~2 tsp. vanilla extract
~1/4 tsp salt

• Over a double broiler with simmering water in the bottom pot, stir chocolate squares and butter just until melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
• In the meantime, whisk together sugar, flour, and eggs in a large bowl. Add in chocolate/butter mixture and stir just until combined. Add in vanilla and salt and stir.
• Line cupcake pan with paper cups and lightly spray with cooking spray. Fill with batter 2/3 full.
• Bake 13-15 minutes at 350○. They should be gooey in the middle and crackly on the top. The centers will fall a little, that is good! Makes the perfect place to hold a spoonful of frosting! :) Cool these in the pan for 10 minutes, and then cool completely on a cooling rack.

For the Frosting:
~1/2 cup butter, softened
~1/3 cup whipping cream
~1-2 tsp. peppermint extract (I like mine extra minty, so I might have added just a bit more!)
~2-4 drops green food coloring
~1/8 tsp salt
~1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar

Mix first 5 ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix each time on low speed (or the sugar will fly everywhere!) until the frosting is at your preferred consistency. Then beat for an additional 2 minutes until creamy. I left this one a little thinner, kind of like whipped cream so I could do a cute little dollop on the cupcakes :) Makes approximately 3 cups.

With a spoon, dollop (why yes, I do like that word!:D) a nice spoonful of frosting onto the cupcake center.
To garnish these, I coarsely crumbled frozen mint chocolate cookies (i.e. Keebler grasshopper cookies or Girl Scout Thin Mints) and sprinkled them generously on top!

Enjoy!!