Home Baked Happiness

Cupcakes are my favorite things to bake!  I have been wanting to bake Oreo cookie cupcakes after I saw a recipe on Pinterest.  I got super excited when I came across some peppermint Double Stuff chocolate wafer cookies that look like Oreos, but actually taste better! I used a box cake mix and tweaked it a bit by substituting coffee for the water to enhance the chocolate  flavor, and I added peppermint extract to give it a peppermint flavor.  I always fill my cupcakes.  This time I used  a plain vanilla whipped cream to compliment the peppermint in the cake and in the frosting.  They came out perfectly divine!  These super yummy cookies rang up at 25 cents per package at the dollar store.  I could hardly believe my luck! I bought all that they had which was only 4 packages. The packages came with 20 cookies each. I used 36 for the bottom of the cupcakes and another 15 crushed up in the frosting. I cut up the remaining cookies into quarters and used them as garnish for the

I adapted this recipe from the “50 Peppermint Treats” insert I found in  the December issue of the Food Network magazine.  Instead of minty flavored M&Ms, I crushed up peppermint candy canes to add to the mix.  They baked up perfectly with just the right amount of pepperminty flavor to compliment the milk chocolate chips. Here’s what you need:  3 cups of flour 1tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1tsp salt ( skip the salt if you use salted butter) 1 cup butter melted 2 cups light brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp peppermint extract 1 cup chocolate chips ( semisweet or milk chocolate) 3/4 cup crushed peppermint candy Here’s how to put it all together: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and peppermint extracts together.  Mix until well combined.  Add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. I used my KitchenAid mixer on low speed with

This year I’ve decided to try 50 different Peppermint recipes in 50 weeks!