Peppermint Patty Cupcakes

I had to make a dessert for my work lunch today, so I chose Peppermint Patty Cupcakes. Let's dive in.

      For the cupcakes
4 oz Dark chocolate chips
1 box Chocolate cake mix
3 Large eggs
1½ tsp Pure vanilla extract
¾ C Water
⅓ C Oil
½ C Sour cream
      For the frosting
1½ C (3 sticks) Unsalted butter at room temperature
12 peppermint patties
4 C Confectionary Sugar
3 tbsp Heavy whipping cream
1 tsp peppermint extract

Preheat oven to 350° In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips for 45-60 seconds or until melted. Stir until smooth and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, combine cake mix with remaining ingredients and mix until combined. Add melted dark chocolate last and mix into batter.
Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill each liner ⅔ full of batter.
Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the middle of the cupcake. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cupcakes are done.
Allow cupcakes to cool for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool them completely.
For the frosting:
Allow butter to come to room temperature. Remove peppermint patties from wrappers and use a knife to chop into small pieces. Using the wire whisk attachment on your mixer, whip butter for several minutes until light and fluffy.  Slowly add powered sugar one cup at a time. Alternate one cup of powdered sugar with one tablespoon of heavy whipping cream. After adding the 4th cup of powdered sugar, increase speed to medium high and beat for another 3-4 minutes. Then add in the extract.  Add peppermint patties last and mix until combined.

So when I did the original recipe, the girl didn't have the extract in her recipe, and her frosting literally tasted like nothing. It just tasted like sweet butter, and not in a good way. So I added the extract myself, and it improved it greatly.

Delicious! (I cut a peppermint patty in half and put it on top for decoration)