Tag Archives: Mint

Mint Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes

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I’ve got more birthday treats for you guys!

My older son is turning 6(!).  I can hardly believe it!  I can remember so clearly what it was like to be 6, and I really hope that he enjoys this year of his childhood as much as I did mine.

My boys are 23 months apart, so in the YinMom YangMom Allie household, the Spring is all about birthday baking!

Chooch’s number one favorite ice cream flavor is Mint Chocolate Cookie, so we decided to bake him up a cupcake version to share with his kindergarten classmates.

Mint Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes

You may remember this cake recipe from Shmoo’s birthday cake, last month.  I’ve been making it forever, and I’ve tried other chocolate cake recipes, but I keep coming back to this one.  (Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake.)  The results are always consistent: light, moist, and chocolatey, and it’s easily adaptable to cupcakes as well as layer cakes.

Mint Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes

Also, it comes together quickly and easily, with only one bowl and one big measuring cup to clean.  Most of the time, I don’t even bother to break out my mixer; I just whisk it up by hand.  Super simple and super delish.

Mint Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes

I baked Chooch’s favorite Cool Mint Oreos into each cupcake, and topped them with this fabulous American-style buttercream I found on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen: Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting.  It really does taste just like the ice cream!

Mint Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes

I just subbed in chocolate cookies for the chopped chocolate.  It has a great texture, but don’t waste your time trying to pipe it pretty on the cupcakes.  The cookie bits just clog up the tip.  Your best bet is just to swirl it on with a little spatula, and top it off with a Junior Mint for garnish.

Mint Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes

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Mint Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes
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Serves: 32 cupcakes
 

Ingredients
  • Cake:
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 32 Cool Mint Oreos
  • Frosting:
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • a few drops of green gel color paste (optional)
  • 10 dark chocolate cookies (such as Famous Wafers or Oreos)
  • 32 Junior Mints (for garnish)

Instructions
  1. Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a Cool Mint Oreo in each well of a lined cupcake tin. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine all the wet ingredients in a large glass measuring cup. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir until well combined. Stir in the hot water. Fill each cupcake well with batter, about ⅔ full. Bake for 22 minutes.
  2. Frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and heavy cream together until smooth and fluffy. Stir in the extracts. Add the powdered sugar and beat until completely incorporated. Mix in the gel color paste, if using. Add in the cookies, and stir until they are broken up. When the cupcakes are completely cooled, frost and garnish with a Junior Mint candy.

Chocolate Mint Cookie Cupcakes

So moist and chocolatey, with that cool, creamy hit of mint, and a little deep, dark, cookie crunch!

Mint Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes

Happy Birthday to my big boy!

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Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Dried Cherry Vinaigrette

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Turkey always gets top billing when we’re talking Thanksgiving, but let’s get real for a minute and call the Thanksgiving feast what it really is:  a carb orgy.  Stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, pies… the list goes on.  Nobody’s really looking forward to the vegetables.  If anything, they are kind of a necessary evil.  Often, they are delegated to some kind guest who thoughtfully asks the hostess “what can I bring?”

With so much energy being devoted to those magnificent carbs, veggies are often an afterthought.  “Oh, I guess we should have something green…”  Green beans are usually something that everyone can get on board with, unlike the controversial brussels sprouts or kale.  We’ve all enjoyed the green bean casserole, in all it’s cream-sauce-fried-onion glory, but I argue that it kinda defeats the whole purpose of putting something green on the table:  to provide a lighter contrast to all the richness.

This recipe is perfect for so many reasons.  The vinaigrette is a wonderful surprise.  The flavors are bright and intense, and the dried fruit and toasty walnuts help keep that seasonal vibe.  If you are hosting, it’s great because you can do it ahead.  If you are that thoughtful guest bringing the veggie dish, it’s equally great because you don’t have to burden your host’s already overworked oven or stovetop to reheat it.  It’s perfectly delicious at room temperature!

I’ve prepared this side dish on many occasions, modifying it only slightly from the way it originally appeared in Bon Appetit’s November 2010 issue.  This version will serve 12-15, and the addition of a touch more vinegar gives it a zippier flavor.

Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Dried Cherry Vinaigrette

3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1/3 sherry wine vinegar
1/2 cup minced shallots
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup tart dried cherries
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 pounds trimmed slender green beans

Toast and chop the walnuts.  This can be done several days ahead, and they can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Place the sherry wine vinegar, minced shallots, salt, sugar, and pepper in a small bowl.  Slowly drizzle the olive oil in while whisking vigorously.  Add in the dried cherries.  This can be done a day or so ahead, and stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Boil the green beans in salted water for three minutes.  While they are doing their thing, fill a big bowl with ice water and set a colander down into it.  Once the beans are tender-crisp, drain them and shock them in the ice water.  This stops the cooking process and locks in the brilliant color.

This can be done a day ahead, just drain them once they are cooled, wrap them in paper towels, and seal them in a baggie until ready to serve.

On the day of, place the green beans in a pretty serving dish and spoon the vinaigrette over.

The shallots have mellowed out, sweetened, and become almost pickled in the dressing.  The tart cherries are plumped and juicy and give a wonderful sweet and chewy contrast.

Sprinkle the toasted walnuts on for crunch.

And top with chopped mint for a fresh, herbal note.

This is a veggie dish that can stand up to all those delicious carbs!  I’m just as excited to eat these green beans at a holiday dinner as all that stuffing, potato, and pie…

What are you doing for Thanksgiving this year?  Are you a host or a guest?  Have you been asked to bring a dish?  Did you get stuck with the green veggie?  Let me know what you think of this recipe!

And have a very happy Thanksgiving holiday from YinMom YangMom!  xoxo

Happy Juice

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Here’s a little something you may not know about me… I like to drink. Like really, really. It’s super fun and it tastes good. I’m Irish, Scottish & Italian, so it’s in my DNA.

Thanks in part to the “Mixologist” episode on Portlandia, I’m lately digging on a new breed of beverage. I normally like to drink Chardonnay, but in the summer with so many seasonal fruits available, it’s so fun to make something special on the weekend to sit and sip on in the backyard with my favorite drinking buddy (Jared).

Mixology is so hipster.

So here’s what I’ve been sipping on this week! It’s a Watermelon Lime Mint Cooler. It’s loosely based on this recipe for a martini:
http://savorysweetlife.com/2011/05/watermelon-mint-lime-martini/

I think my recipe is better than a martini because:

A) It’s hard to lay down in a hammock with a martini glass in your hand.

B) Martinis will get you very drunk very quickly and can be dangerous if combined with the heat of the sun.

This is my five-step program to drinking responsibly in your backyard:

Step One:
Remove the rind and cut up pieces of half of a seedless watermelon.

Step Two:
Blend the watermelon in a blender or use a stick blender (my favorite).

Step Three:
Strain the juice out. You can either use a strainer, cheesecloth, or my favorite; a paint straining bag. You can buy these little bags at Lowes or wherever for less than $5, and they work fantastically for making your own juice! I sold my juicer and use these instead because they’re so cheap and easy to clean and reuse.

Juicers are so last season.

Step Four:
Juice 1 lime.

Step Five:
Throw the watermelon juice, lime juice, a few mint sprigs, a tablespoon or two of agave nectar, 1-2 cups of water, and 3-4 shots of vodka into a pitcher. Let the flavors mingle in the fridge for an hour or so, then serve in a glass of ice and sip away!

Refreshing!

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Give Your Oven the Night Off!

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Here is a seasonal, refreshing, and delicious meal for a hot summer evening!  With a little tweak for the kiddos, this one can be a home run for the whole family!  And you don’t even have to use your stove or oven!

The first time I heard about a watermelon salad, I thought it seemed like an odd combination of flavors.  But after one bite, it all made sense.  So delicious!  And, this type of preparation has actually been around forever in the Mediterranean part of the world.  Those Mediterraneans sure know what works when it comes to food!

Watermelon Salad with Grilled Shrimp
(serves 2 adults and 2 small children)

1 pound uncooked jumbo shrimp
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 seedless watermelon
1 pint grape tomatoes
4 oz. crumbled feta (I like the goats’ milk kind)
bunch of fresh mint
about 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lime

Another thing I love about this recipe is that it’s so quick to prepare, and, besides the plates and forks you ate off of, you’ll only end up with a cutting board, one knife, and one bowl to clean.

Start by peeling the shrimp, and placing them in a bowl with about a tablespoon of olive oil, the chili powder, the garlic powder, and a bit of salt and pepper.  Toss them around to coat, and pop them in the fridge while you go preheat the barbecue.

While the shrimp are marinating, and the grill is warming up, you can slice the watermelon into thick wedges.

Take out four wedges, for the grownup plates, remove the rind, and cut them into cubes.  Divide them between two plates.

The remaining wedges are for the kiddies.  I can’t explain it, but for my kids, watermelon is not watermelon unless it is in triangle form…

Now halve the grape tomatoes.  Tumble a few handfuls over the watermelon cubes, for the grownups, and into neat piles alongside the watermelon triangles for the kids.  (Woe be unto the parent who allows tomato and watermelon to touch on a kid’s plate.)

Crumble feta over the tomatoes and watermelon on the grownup plate.  I omitted the feta for my kids…

Top each of the grownup plates with about two tablespoons of fresh mint, roughly chopped or torn…

…my kids are green-phobic so this was also omitted for them.

Pop the plates in the fridge to keep everything good and cold while you go grill the shrimp.

On a very hot grill, shrimp will only take about three minutes on the first side, and another one minute on the other.  Don’t overcook them!  They will get rubbery and dry.  You want some good char marks on them but they should still be juicy.

Chop a few shrimp into bites for the little ones, and top the grownups’ salads with the rest. Now grownups each get a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of tangy lime.  Enjoy!  Easy!