Peppermint Swirl Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate peppermint swirl cupcakes with candy canes.

These moist Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes are topped with fluffy vegan peppermint buttercream for a festive and delicious holiday treat!

Course Desserts

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 18

Total Time 43

Servings cupcakes

Calories 274

Author Jessica Hylton

Ingredients

1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar or regular vinegar (22mL)
½ cup soy milk or other vegan milk (120mL) (room temperature For buttermilk)
1 cup brown sugar or cane sugar (200g)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (180g)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (40g)
1 teaspoon baking powder (4g)
1 teaspoon baking soda (6g)
½ teaspoon sea salt (3g)
⅓ cup oil (66g)
½-1 teaspoon peppermint extract (for a subtle or a stronger peppermint taste, 2.5-5mL)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5mL)
½ cup warm milk + 1 teaspoon instant coffee mixed in until dissolved. Stir these together right before you need it so it's still warm for cake batter (120mL milk + 1.8g coffee)

FOR THE FROSTING:

½ cup vegan butter softened (113g)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (2.5mL)
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract (1.25mL)
1 ½-1 ¾ cups powdered sugar (180g)
½ tablespoon vegan milk add more if needed (7mL)
⅛ teaspoon sea salt only if using unsalted butter (0.75g)

GARNISH:

Chopped peppermints in a food processor

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line muffin cups with cupcake liners or foil bake cups.
In a jar, add the vinegar and vegan milk together to curdle to form a buttermilk. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Using a whisk, whisk all the ingredients together, removing and clumps that may form.
Whisk in the oil, the buttermilk mix from earlier, peppermint extract and the vanilla extract.
Heat up that additional milk and coffee mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds (or on stove top until warm not boiling). You want it warm enough to dissolve but not boiling. Stir the instant coffee into it with a whisk or fork to dissolve for about 30 seconds.
Add it to the bowl on top of everything. Beat on medium speed of electric mixer for no more than 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once in between to ensure that everything is incorporated.
Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners (about ¾ full with batter). You can use an ice cream scoop to help! Tap the cupcake pan on the counter three times (lift and tap down slightly) to remove any excess air bubbles before baking.
Place the pan in the middle rack of your oven and in the center of that rack. Bake for 18 minutes until fully cooked and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean or with a few crumbs . Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
After cooled, frost with buttercream frosting and with sprinkles (optional!) Enjoy!

Frosting:

Beat the butter, vanilla and peppermint extract for about 2-3 minutes with a stand mixer or a handheld mixer, until fluffy.
Add 1 cup of powdered sugar. Fold it in with a spatula so it doesn’t fly everywhere, then beat for about 1 minute. Add the rest of the frosting in small increments too, until fully incorporated.
Add in a ½ tablespoon of vegan milk at a time until it reaches your preferred volume and consistency. Add that last ½ cup powdered sugar if you desire.
Then beat for about 5 minutes, using the spatula to mix everything together every other minute, until the frosting is fluffy, white, smooth and creamy.

Notes

Don’t Skip the Vinegar: This is our key ingredient to helping these cupcakes rise
alongside the baking soda! It reacts to it and also helps with the fluffiness. Don’t worry – you don’t taste it at all.
Ensure Ingredients are Room Temperature: This ensures that everything blends together properly. It also makes emulsion (such as for the buttermilk) easier, so aids in the end cupcakes being fluffy, tender and soft.
The secondary ½ cup warm milk is crucial. It helps to dissolve the coffee which enhances the chocolate flavour. It also aids in helping the cupcakes to be soft. You want this to be warm, but not piping hot!
Check Your Ingredients for Freshness: Always ensure your baking powder and baking soda are fresh! This will make or break your recipe, and its very easy to check with this tip.
Weigh Cocoa Powder: I highly suggest using a kitchen scale for this! It gives you the most accurate results. Even if you don’t weigh the other ingredients, I highly
recommend always weighing your cocoa powder. It can get packed very easily and you can end up adding too much or too little, which will throw off the rest of the recipe.
Don’t Over-Mix the Batter: Over-mixing the batter can make the cupcakes too dense because of the gluten that activates in the flour – just mix enough to combine all of the ingredients together.
Always let your chocolate cupcakes cool completely before adding frosting. This way the frosting won’t slide off or melt.
Sift Your Powdered Sugar: Be sure to sift your powdered sugar before making your frosting! This makes such a tremendous difference to the consistency of the frosting.
To Avoid Thick Frosting: You don’t want the frosting to be runny, but you also want it to spread easily across the top of the cake. If your frosting turns out to be too thick, try adding a splash of milk to it. Add your milk a little bit at a time.
Let Cakes and Cupcakes Cool Before Frosting: Frosting too quickly might make the cake and cupcakes crumble. If you want a pretty cake, wait to frost until it's cooled.
Sift Your Powdered Sugar: Make sure to sift your powdered sugar before mixing, so that the frosting is the ultimate creamy consistency.
Soften Your Vegan Butter: Be sure that your vegan butter is soft enough to spread before mixing it. You don't want it runny though!
If Too Thick, Add Milk: The ideal frosting is not runny, but not too thick either. If yours becomes too thick, add a splash of milk until it reaches the desired consistency.
Whip It: For super fluffy frosting, you'll want to keep whipping it. I prefer using a stand mixer for my frosting so I can whip it for about 5 minutes.

Nutrition

Want to save this recipe?