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These Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes are decadent and sweet and absolutely perfect with an extra little truffle on top. They’re perfect for the holidays and always a crowd pleaser!
I’m partnering up once again with Natural Delights which is my GO TO source for fresh and delicious Medjool dates! Today we’re doing something a little different and highlighting Natural Delight’s Truffles! They come in THREE different flavors and are so delicious!
The outside of the truffles is chocolate while the inside is a deliciously sweet medjool date filling. They’re SO GOOD and make the great topper for these cupcakes :)
Decadent chocolate cupcakes usually don’t need anything else on top. HOWEVER, it’s the holidays and we’re indulging. PLUS, you’re going to want any excuse that you can find to eat these date filled truffles. Seriously SO GOOD!
The cupcakes themselves are pretty straightforward.
You’ll start out by whisking together the dry ingredients, then adding in all of the wet ingredients and mixing until a batter forms. From there, you simply divide the batter into a cupcake tin and bake! I love cupcakes for their ease.
The frosting is a simple buttercream frosting that’s flavored with peppermint extract. After it’s been pipped onto the cupcakes, we’re going to sprinkle on some crushed peppermint and then top the cupcakes with the Natural Delight Truffles! Super simple but rich and DELICIOUS!
You can buy already crushed-up peppermint OR simply crush them yourself. The pre-crushed peppermint is actually really nice bc it doesn’t stick together nearly as much BUT, truthfully, either will work just fine!
If you end up making these cupcakes, please be sure to snap a photo and tag me on social media! And thanks again to Natural Delights for sponsoring this post and thank YOU for supporting the brands that make my blog possible.
Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 2 ½ cups of all purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cups of organic cane sugar or granulated sugar
- ¾ cup of cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoons of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of espresso powder
- ⅔ cup of melted coconut oil, get unrefined if you want it to be virtually tasteless, vegetable or coanola oil also work
- 1 ½ tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- ½ teaspoon of almond extract
- 1 ½ cups of milk, any kind works here (I tested it with almond milk and regular dairy milk), at room temperature*
- ½ cup of apple sauce unsweetened, at room temperature*
For the frosting:
- ½ cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature (vegan as desired)
- 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon of peppermint extract
- 2 tablespoons of milk of choice
- Crushed peppermint for garnish
- Natural Delights Truffles for garnish
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cupcake tins (makes roughly 18-20 cupcakes) and spray the inside of the liners with cooking spray.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together the apple cider vinegar and milk. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with an electric mixer or even just a whisk), combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Mix.
- Add in the oil, milk/ apple cider vinegar mixture, vanilla, almond extract, and apple sauce. Mix until just combined (be careful not to over mix), scrapping down the sides as needed.
- Pour the batter evenly between your cupcake tins filling each about 3/4 of the way full. I’ve made this where I filled them pretty high and got 18 cupcakes and another time where I ended up with 20.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool.
- While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting by adding the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer (this can also be done with a hand mixer). Cream for 2 minutes until lighter in color and smooth. Add in the milk, extract, and sugar. Beat on medium/ high speed for 2 full minutes until the frosting is fluffy and airy. As needed, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to reach your desired consistency.
- Pipe the icing on the cupcakes and top with crushed peppermint and Natural Delights truffles. ENJOY!
