Anyway, I love mint-flavored things... cookies, ice cream, gum, so I was excited to make these cupcakes. I was also excited that these cupcakes were easy to make and I wouldn't end up with a ton of them. I'm in training you know, and ever since Bobby brought home Girl Scout cookies last week I fell off the good-eating wagon for a little while and I'm trying my best to get back on board.
The step that required the most work was chopping the chocolate and butter, other than that it was just melting and stirring. I didn't even need to use a hand mixer! When the batter was done I started layering together the cupcakes. I ended up doing one cupcake at a time because I didn't want to put a tablespoon of batter into each of the cupcake liners to start, and then not have enough batter to finish all the cupcakes. So, I spooned one tablespoon of batter into the cupcake liner, pressed a peppermint patty on top and then spooned two more tablespoons of batter on top of the peppermint patty. I repeated that step until I ran out of batter and managed to get myself 11 cupcakes, just one short of what Martha said I would get.
The recipe said to bake the cupcakes for 35 total minutes with a turn halfway through the baking time. I upped the time by a couple minutes because the cupcakes weren't quite ready (at least I didn't think they were) after 35 minutes. In hindsight it may have been a little too much baking time, but I was afraid they would be too soft and mushy in the middle if I didn't add a little time. If I were to make them again I would probably stick with the 35 minutes and let them set in the pan after they were finished baking.
Overall I was happy with how the cupcakes turned out, but again, I wouldn't bake them as long the next time around. I think they should have been a little softer. But overall they tasted good and I managed to control myself and only eat just one. Small victories people, small victories.
