Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Minty Meringue Buttercream

This was a fun recipe because it took a slightly new spin on the buttercream frosting that other mint chocolate cupcake recipes have not. This recipe actually creates a meringue beforehand, then mixes in butter to make a buttercream meringue topping for the cupcakes. It's pretty easy to make with a mixer, but it does take some time.

To start off, just make your favorite chocolate cake recipe and bake in the oven in cupcake tins. A box cake mix will do just fine! We're focusing on the chocolate mint topping here. I've also seen some folks put peppermint extract into the cake mix, so you could try that as well for extra minty flavor.

With a mixer, making meringue is easy! I'm used to making it by hand which is painful and can take a while. Ouch! Whisking egg whites and sugar until they're stuff will really give your arm a workout. But with a mixer you can just set it to whisk while you do other things.

The next step is to add the butter chunk by chunk. I think you could probably cheat a little and add a few pieces at a time just to speed things up. This process can take a while.

After it's whipped, it's time to add some vanilla, peppermint extract, and green food coloring. Using gel can help you maintain consistency without getting too thin. Add as much green as you need!

In this recipe she's using shredded chocolate pieces, but you can add whatever small type of chocolate you have on hand. Something as big as chocolate chips probably won't work, but if you have a chocolate bar on hand (milk or dark), you can use a regular grater. Just don't melt the chocolate in your hands!

Another cool effect would be to simply break apart the chocolate bar into shards and add it on top.

The full video of how to make this recipe is shown below in the video. Click over to the description for a list of ingredients and measurements.