It's that time of year...

Girl Scout Cookie Time!  Like most of America, my absolute favorite is the Thin Mint (don't worry Peanut Butter Patties, I love you too).  So when the boxes I ordered from my co-worker's daughter arrived last Friday, I was very excited!

I decided to try and make some thin mint cupcakes.  I couldn't find a recipe that I really liked/ had the ingredients on hand for, so I decided to (gulp) try making up my own!  This was a first for me, as I usually stay pretty close to a recipe, especially with something I haven't tried before.

First, I crushed up a sleeve of Thin Mints in my handy-dandy food processor.

(don't worry little cookies, I have better things in store for you!)



I processed these until they were just teensy little crumbs, then combined them with cocoa powder and some hot chocolate.

Yep, hot chocolate!  I whisked this into the cocoa powder and crushed thin mints, then put it into the fridge to cool.

In the meantime, I mixed up some bread flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and set that aside.

Once the chocolate mixture cooled (approx 20 minutes), I took it out and added some vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and white vinegar.  I whisked it all together then mixed in the dry ingredients.  At this point, the cake part was done and ready to bake! 

I popped these in the oven and while they were baking, I whipped up a 'Thin Mint Buttercream' frosting.  I mixed together butter, heavy cream, the rest of the crushed thin mints and vanilla (recipes below).

Once the cupcakes cooled, I decided to use this Wilton Decorating Tool for the frosting.

Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it - I know I froze the other sleeve of cookies to make these again before next year!  You could also substitute in other cookies - grasshoppers, oreos, etc.

I was really happy with how my first foray into straying from recipes went - the cake was very moist, and the frosting was light and not too sweet.  My only regret is not baking more than 12 ;)

The Sweetest Times' Thin Mint Cupcakes

Ingredients:
2/3c chopped Thin Mints
1/3c cocoa powder
3/4c hot chocolate
3/4c bread flour
1c sugar
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp baking powder
6tbsp vegetable oil
2 eggs
5tsp vanilla extract
2tsp white vinegar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1c heavy cream, room temperature
3c confectionary sugar

Preheat oven to 350 and line a muffin pan with 12 baking cups.

Ground up one sleeve of Thin Mints in a food processor.

In a large bowl, combine 1/3C of Thin Mints with 1/3C Cocoa Powder and 3/4C of hot cocoa.
Whisk together and set in fridge to cool completely (approximately 20 minutes).

In a small bowl, combine 3/4c bread flour, 1c sugar, 1/2tsp salt and 1/2tsp baking powder.
Whisk together and set aside.

Once the chocolate mixture has cooled, remove from the fridge and add 6tbsp vegetable oil, 2 large eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract and 2tsp white vinegar.  Once this is combined, slowly add in the dry ingredients.

Pour into muffin pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Thin Mint Frosting:
Cream 1 stick unsalted butter (softened) and 1c heavy whipping cream (room temperature).  Once mixed, add 1/3c of Thin Mints and 3 tsp vanilla extract.  Slowly add in the powdered sugar (amount may vary depending on desired thickness).

Spread onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!