Thin Mint Cupcakes

So.....you have a load of thin mint girl scout cookies.......what do you do???
Well here's a  recipes for some  thin mint cupcakes.

Now, I'm retracing my steps to remember how I made them.  (I know, I know, why the heck didn't I write this down when I was making them???)
Ok, first off you'll need to check out this girls website.  Her chocolate cake recipe is kinda what I adapted this from.  Best Ever Chocolate Cake recipe  (She's got some really good recipes on her site).  Basically, all I did was replace the jello pudding mix with the crushed thin mints.

1. a whole box of thin mint cookies (one sleeve crushed up/one left for decoration)
2. 1 cup chopped Andes mints
3. 1 cup mini chocolate chips
4. box of devil's food cake mix
5. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6. sour cream/greek yogurt (now with this part, I'm not exactly sure how much of each one I used b/c I'm trying to substitute oil in my cakes.  So I think I did like half sour cream-b/c I was running low- and half yogurt.  Looking back now, I'd say either add more yogurt or add more oil.  b/c the cupcakes could have been a little more moist)
7. 4 eggs
8. 1/2 cup oil (preferably canola oil)
9. 1/2 cup milk

Mix all this together.  You could do 2-- 9" pans for a double decker cake, or do the cupcakes or one whole sheet cake.  Whichever you like.  I went by the cooking directions on the cake mix box.  Which was probably like 350 degrees for about 20-25 min. on the cupcakes.  But I'm not exactly sure :(  sorry,  just keep checking them with a toothpick.

I will have to do this recipe again and WRITE it down so I will have it!  Hmmm, St. Patrick's Day is coming up, HEY --green cupcakes for kids' class?!?!?!!  lol 

Oh the best part.....frosting time!

1. 1 lb. box of confectioner's sugar (I think I used about 3 1/2 cups maybe lil' more)
2. 1 cup of shortening (I used one of the Crisco sticks)
3. 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
4. 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
5. 1/4 tsp. salt
6. 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
7. green food coloring (optional)

Note: with the frosting, you gotta play around with it to get the right taste/texture to suit your needs.  Add more, or less for the extracts, whipping cream and sugar while your mixing it all up together.  So play around with it.  Don't be scared, worst that could happen is that you'll end up having a ton of frosting, haha! 

Also, for the tops - just cut the leftover thin mints in 1/2 (whatever you have left from snacking on.....uh ah, I know.  I did it too :)  stuck on top.
I've gotten some requests on making some tagalong ones next.

Girl Scout Cookies for sale banner

Ah, yes it's that time again folks.......girl scout cookies!!!  Well Summer's troop has to get rid of these somehow, so we had a cookie booth sale.  Here's the lovely banner I created, thanks to my Cricut Expression.  Ok, I also went alittle overboard with the flowers.  Well heh, this is a Daisy girl scout troop, so ya know ;)  

Cute mini Valentine's day cards

Well the other day I got an itch to play around with the cricut, and came up with these little cuties!  I used the Sweet Treats cartridge's little cupcakes and hearts.  I had everything set on 2".  I liked the first cupcake with the little swirly doo-dad on top.  So cute with all the bling and glitter!  Love it.  It was a good way to get rid of some of my scrap paper.

(The little hearts were the layer piece from the cupcake with the heart on top--I also used 2")   I ended up using 8 1/2 X 11" cardstock, cutting them into 4 equal squares, which ended up making little cards the size of 2 3/4" by 4" when folded.  Then I just used a scalloped edge stamper for bottom.  I used plain ol' elmer's glue for the swirly and put some glitter.

My daughter comes in from school and says, "what are these for mommy?"  I said "these are going to be your valentine's day cards for your classmates".  She was like "oh ok, great.  They are so pretty!  But mommy, umm......where are the blue and green ones for the boys???"  She was dead serious!  LOL  I 'm thinking oh my gosh, it's valentine's day, geez!  everything is pink, purple,  and red!!!

For heaven's sake, I got suckered in to making some more for the boys.  Needless to say, now I have enough for both Summer's class and Lance's class.