Red Velvet Cupcakes W/ Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese F

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 24
• 1 (18 1/4 ounce) package plain german chocolate cake mix
• 1 (3 1/2 ounce) package vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 (1 ounce) bottle red food coloring
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 ounces chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 -2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted, divided
• 6 peppermint candies, crushed (optional)

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350. line 24 cupcake tins with paper liners; set aside.
• 2 in a lg mixing bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, food coloring, and eggs. blend with electric mixer on low for 30 seconds; scrape sides with rubber scraper. increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, scraping sides if necessary. batter should look thick and well-combined.
• 3 fold in chocolate chips.
• 4 spoon or scoop 1/3 c batter into each prepared cupcake cup, filling each 3/4rds full.
• 5 bake for 18-20 minutes until they spring back when lightly touched w/ your finger.
• 6 remove from oven and cool in pans for 5 minutes on wire rack.
• 7 run knife around each cupcake and gently lift from the pan using the knife, grasping gently w/ fingertips. cool on wire rack for 15 minutes before frosting.
• 8 frosting:.
• 9 place chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave oven on high power for one minute. remove and stir with wooden spoon or rubber scraper until smooth. set aside to cool.
• 10 in a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter; beating with electric mixer on low speed for about 30 seconds til well-combined.
• 11 add cooled chocolate and blend on low speed for appx 30 seconds until well-combined.
• 12 add peppermint extract and 2 cups confectioners sugar; blend on low speed until well-combined, appx 30 seconds; increase mixer speed to medium and beat til the frosting is fluffy, appx 1 minute, adding upto 1/2 c additional confectioners sugar if necessary to make it a spreadable consistency.
• 13 ice cupcakes by placing a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake, swirling to spread with a short metal spatula, covering the tops of each cupcake.
• 14 place in frig for appx 20 minutes until the frosting sets.
• 15 optional: before chilling, sprinkle tops of frosted cupcakes w/ crusted pepperment candies.