Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting

Cream cheese and peppermint candies yield a mildly sweet, tangy frosting that complements the rich, chocolaty cupcakes.

Yield: 18 cupcakes (serving size: 1 cupcake)

Ingredients

• Cupcakes:
• 1  cup  packed brown sugar
• 6  tablespoons  butter, softened
• 2  large eggs
• 1 1/4  cups  all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
• 1/2  cup  unsweetened cocoa
• 1  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  cup  low-fat buttermilk
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 
  Peppermint Frosting:
• 2  cups  powdered sugar
• 1/2  cup  (4 ounces) tub-style light cream cheese
• 1/8  teaspoon  peppermint extract
• 16  hard peppermint candies, finely crushed (about 1/3 cup)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cupcakes, place brown sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Stir in vanilla extract.

Spoon batter into 18 muffin cups lined with paper liners. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when touched lightly in the center. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, combine powdered sugar, cream cheese, and peppermint extract in a bowl, stirring until smooth. Spread about 4 teaspoons frosting on each cupcake; sprinkle evenly with candies.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

214 (26% from fat)

Fat:

6.2g (sat 3.7g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.3g)

Protein:

3g

Carbohydrate:

38.2g

Fiber:

1g

Cholesterol:

38mg

Iron:

1.1mg

Sodium:

205mg

Calcium:

45mg