The moment Starbucks releases their holiday drinks, you are guaranteed to find me(Gabs) in line ordering a Grande, Non-Fat, No Whip Peppermint Mocha (with an extra shot during finals). It’s probably my favorite drink of the holiday season and has gotten me through my fair share of Black Friday shopping trips, 8 am chemistry finals, and 4 hour car rides home. So, when Hannah and I got to choose something to bake for the first time in months, we headed straight to our baking Pinterest boards. Since I’m a sucker for anything peppermint mocha and delectable desserts, when we came across an amazing recipe for Peppermint Mocha cupcakes, I jumped on it! So keep reading for the recipe and our notes for making the perfect cupcakes. These babies came out to be gorgeous, too. The frosting was thebomb.com and probably my favorite part!

Merry Christmas from the girls at the Swirl! We hope you have a wonderful day spent with family and friends and maybe some baking! 😉 Also, this post is linked up with #galpalholiday! Thanks to Rachel, Cathleen, and Cristina for hosting the perfect link up! We wish we could have participated even more! Check out twitter  and Rachel’s link up post for links to some more seriously amazing holiday posts!

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

(originally posted on Sally’s Baking Addiction)

Chocolate Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter
• 2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
• 1 heaping Tablespoon instant coffee*
• 1/2 cup (64g) unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
• 3/4 cup (95g) all-purpose flour* (careful not to overmeasure)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (50g) packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk*

Peppermint Vanilla Frosting

• 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3-4 cups (360-480g) confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• salt, to taste

Cupcake Toppings

• 4 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
• crushed candy canes

You can find the full instructions on her site, she explains how to make these delicious from scratch cupcakes! Here are some of our notes from our own experience baking them:

1. Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature; you can read more about this in the post about the cupcakes. They will turn out way better if you follow this.
2. If for some reason you can’t find regular peppermint candy canes for the topping, simply use pinwheel peppermints! Use a heavy duty Ziplock bag to crush them or else it will get everywhere.
3. If you don’t readily have access to instant coffee, pick up some individual instant coffee crystal packets from the brand Folgers for $1.00!
4. Appreciate the consistency and flavor of the icing because it is now our all-time favorite recipe and made for the perfect cupcake swirl.

Here is a picture, or two, of our delicious creations (not to toot our own horns or anything):

If you loved these bad boys, or if they look absolutely delicious, pin them for later! Use our graphic below and follow us while you’re at it! Have a very merry Christmas! Thanks for reading!