Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Chocolate peppermint cupcakes are homemade, one-bowl chocolate peppermint cupcakes topped with light and fluffy peppermint frosting. These moist, rich cupcakes are so fun for the holidays, and they can be made from scratch in no time!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 18

Total Time 43

Servings cupcakes

Calories 464kcal

Author Kate @ I Heart Eating

Equipment

Muffin tin

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

¾ cup salted butter at room temperature
⅔ cup granulated sugar
⅔ cup brown sugar packed
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
½ cup sour cream at room temperature
¼ cup warm water about 85 F
2 cups all-purpose flour properly measured
⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Peppermint Frosting

1 ½ cups salted butter
6-7 cups powdered sugar
⅓-½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons peppermint extract

Decoration

4-6 candy canes crushed

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 20 muffin cups with cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together until well-combined, about 3-4 minutes on medium.
¾ cup salted butter, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, ⅔ cup brown sugar packed
Mix in the eggs one at a time until well-incorporated.
2 large eggs
Mix in the vanilla extract and peppermint extract.
1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Add the buttermilk, sour cream, and warm water. Mix in until well-combined.
1 cup buttermilk, ½ cup sour cream, ¼ cup warm water
Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in just until combined. Do not overmix.
2 cups all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups.
Bake about 18-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Frosting

In a large mixing bowl add the butter and 6 cups powdered sugar. Beat on the lowest speed until the butter and sugar form crumbs.
1 ½ cups salted butter, 6-7 cups powdered sugar
Add 1/3 cup heavy cream and peppermint extract, beat on a low speed until the buttercream starts to come together then increase the speed to high and beat for 5 minutes or until the buttercream is light and fluffy. You can adjust the thickness of the buttercream by adding more powdered sugar to thicken or more cream to thin.
⅓-½ cup heavy cream, 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
Transfer the peppermint buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip or similar tip.
Pipe decorative swirls on top of each cupcake and sprinkle over the crushed candy canes.
4-6 candy canes

Notes

Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe. If you would prefer to use unsalted butter, increase the salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
Brown sugar: Light or dark brown sugar will work equally well.
Buttermilk: I recommend using full-fat, but low-fat will work if that’s what you have. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a substitute with this buttermilk substitute recipe.
Sour cream: I recommend using full-fat sour cream in this recipe.
Flour: Be sure to properly measure the flour to avoid dense or dry cupcakes. Either weigh or sift the flour, lightly spoon into the measuring cup, and then level.
Heavy cream: Heavy cream helps the frosting whip up light and fluffy. If you don't want to use cream, you can use whole milk; however, the frosting will not be quite as light and fluffy.
Nutrition values are estimates.

Nutrition