St Patrick’s Day Andes Mint Oreo Chocolate Cupcakes
These St. Patrick’s Day Andes Mint Oreo chocolate cupcakes take fluffy chocolate cupcakes and dress them up for St. Patrick’s Day. Creamy, cool mint frosting tops them with festive flavor. Crushed Andes Mints and halved mint Oreos complete this fun St. Patrick’s Day dessert.
Can you believe it? We’ve made it to March meaning springtime and sunshine are right around the corner. Time for a happy little celebration. These St Patrick’s Day Andes Mint Oreo Chocolate Cupcakes are the perfect way to put a spring in your step.
Easter feels very far away this year, being that it is at the end of April. Not only does Easter feel extraordinarily far away but it also feels like it’s been awhile since our last excuse to celebrate something.
I guess Valentine’s Day was only a few weeks ago but still these end of winter days seem to last weeks, don’t they? So we might as well use them for something enjoyable and productive like making the most amazing chocolate mint cupcakes to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
There are no shortcuts with this recipe. The whole thing is 100 percent from scratch. But it’s definitely worth it.
The chocolate cupcakes themselves are moist and tender thanks to the addition of buttermilk. I highly recommend not substituting plain milk for the buttermilk. Buttermilk itself is slightly acidic but not nearly as sour as other acids used in baking like lemon juice or vinegar. The slightly acidic batter promotes moist cupcakes because it breaks down the tough strands of gluten that make baked goods tough. Plus, buttermilk is thicker than regular milk, leading to a softer, richer consistency in the finished product.
Making the cupcake batter itself is not difficult. Just whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream together the sugars, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and egg. Then stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients a little at a time until combined. Be careful to mix until just combined without over mixing since over mixing can result in tougher baked goods. Then spoon the batter into a lined cupcake pan, filling each tin until they are 3/4 of the way full. After that, they go into the oven and bake for about 21 minutes. After that, let them cool fully. Then you can make your frosting.
This is where it gets really good. This frosting is the homemade frosting version of a Shamrock shake, but even better. If you are a mint fan, you will love this frosting. It’s lusciously creamy even with the crushed Oreos. And it’s sweet with a hint of chocolate from the Oreos but with the clean, refreshing flavor of mint.
It is a winner for sure. And all you need to do to make it is crush the Oreos in a food processor, then beat together the butter, heavy cream, Oreo crumbs, sugar, and mint flavoring and coloring until stiff peaks form. Not much more complicated than making a standard chocolate or vanilla frosting.
You could finish these cupcakes there, but I really wanted to dress them up and pack them with as much flavor as possible. So instead of just topping each with frosting, I chopped up some Andes Mints to sprinkle on top and garnished each cupcake with a halved Oreo. The result? A St Patrick’s Day Andes Mint Oreo Chocolate Cupcake that any leprechaun would love.
Other St Paddy’s Day Desserts To Enjoy:
If you’ve tried these ST PATRICKS DAY ANDES MINT OREO CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Ingredients
For the chocolate cupcakes:
- 1 C flour
- ¼ C unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ C light brown sugar
- ½ C sugar
- ⅓ C Canola oil
- ½ C buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
For The Mint Cookie Frosting
- 1 C unsalted sweet cream butter softened
- 3 C powdered sugar
- 1/4 C ground mint oreo cookies
- 2-3 drops of mint green food coloring
- 2 tsp mint extract
- 5 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1 piping bag fitted with large star tip
For Decorating
- 1 C andes baking chips
- 22 Mint oreo cookies cut in half
Instructions
To Make The Cupcakes
- Preheat Oven to 350 degree and line cupcake pan with St Patricks day themed cupcake liners
- In a large bowl, add together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, mix to combine
- Add in the sugar and brown sugar stir until combined.
- Add the oil, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined.
- Fill cupcake liner 3/4 of the way full.
- Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs onto the cupcake batter in the cupcake liners
- Bake for 21 minutes.
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven.
- Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool
To Frost The Cupcakes
- Using a blender or food processor, blend up 6 Mint oreo cookies until fine crumbs. This should equal out to 1/4 C
- Using a standing mixer, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, crushed oreo cookies, mint extract and heavy whipping cream until combined, smooth and thick peak star to form
- Beat in until combined the mint food coloring
- Scoop frosting into piping bag and pipe cooled cupcakes
To Decorate The Cupcakes
- Pour the andes baking chips onto a plate
- Carefully roll the edge of the cupcake into the chips
- Place the Mint oreo cookies that have been cut in half, in the center of the frosting
- Enjoy!
These are beautiful! My dad loves mint chocolate, and he would love, love, love these cupcakes. The shamrock-shake-inspired frosting is the perfect touch. Thanks for sharing!
These are fabulous! I love the sound of the buttercream and the Oreos are a great touch too.