Black-and-White Irish Cream Cupcakes

Say what?!? These cupcakes just SCREAM St. Patrick’s Day – at least to me. They are like black-and-white cookies but cupcakes!! YUM!

Black-and-White Irish Cream Cupcakes 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 egg whites
• 2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk substitute
  • 1 1/2 cups coconut or rice milk
  • 1/2 or 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons vegan butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 recipe Irish Cream Ganache - In a small saucepan bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate (do not stir). Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in liqueur until smooth. Cool about 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.
  • 1/2 cup rice whipping cream
  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon Irish cream liqueur
• 1 recipe Irish Cream Icing - In a small bowl stir together powdered sugar, liqueur, and vanilla.
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Irish cream liqueur
  • 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Cupcakes:

1. Allow vegan butter and egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and flour twenty-eight 2-1/2-inch muffin cups (or line with paper bake cups).
2. In a medium bowl stir together gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.
4. Add sugar, liqueur, and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk substitute, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.
5. Transfer 2-1/2 cups batter (about half) to a medium bowl; stir in melted chocolate. Fill each prepared muffin cup about two-thirds full, spooning chocolate batter into one side of cup and white batter into other side of cup.
6. Bake about 20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on racks.
7. Spread Irish Cream Ganache onto tops of cupcakes. Let stand at room temperature about 1 hour (or chill in the refrigerator about 15 minutes) or until ganache is set. Spoon Irish Cream Icing onto centers of cupcakes. Let stand until icing sets.

YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!

ENJOY!

Childhood Favorites – Thin Mints

Oh how we love the girl scouts! Admit it. You know you love them. I was one of them until my freshmen year of college. Thanks to delicious Better Batter Gluten Free batter, you can make your own and give those girl scouts a run for their money. (But donate in another way because the Girl Scouts are amazing)

Thin Mints

Ingredients

For the Cookie:

• 8 ounces organic palm shortening (Earth Balance is great – you can use Crisco if you prefer)
• 4 drops peppermint oil
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup cocoa powder (Hershey’s)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup Better Batter gluten free flour

For the Chocolate Ganache:

• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 c organic palm shortening (Earth Balance or Crisco)
• 4 or more drops peppermint oil

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of your mixer, combine the shortening, sugar, peppermint oil, cocoa, sea salt, and gluten free flour. Beat until smooth.
3. Place in the freezer to chill for about twenty minutes.
4. Lightly flour parchment paper and place the dough on the surface. Flour the dough and roll out to 1/8 inch thickness.
5. Cut into 1 1/2 inch circles with a small cutter. Pierce each cookie several times with a fork. (Just like you would see on a thin mint)
6. Place cookie on lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350ºF for 10 minutes.
7. Place the liners onto cookie racks/wire racks and cool completely. Once cool, take cookies off the sheet to get them ready for dipping!
8. In a double boiler or bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate chips and palm shortening, stirring in enough peppermint oil to make the chocolate nice and minty but VERY careful! Too much peppermint oil will give you a ‘toothpaste’ taste. 4 drops should be good.
9. Let the mixture chill until thickening, but still flowing (about 10 minutes in the fridge, stirring every so often).
10. Using a fork, dip each chocolate wafer into the chocolate-peppermint ganache, hitting the fork gently against the side of the bowl to shake excess off. Place on a clean parchment paper or plate and transfer to the fridge or freezer to set.

MMM! P.S the chocolate ganache is delicious and will work for dipping a bunch of stuff! Chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, frosting cakes. It’s a great recipe to have on hand!

ENJOY!

Kwegyirba Croffie is a freelance Associate Producer at News 12 Connecticut and a Special Events/Event Planning and Social Media Intern at College Lifestyles (TM). She is a Quinnipiac University alumni and a sister of Alpha Delta Pi. She enjoy cupcakes,Broadway musicals, Forever 21 ,giraffes, peacock feathers, orchids, lillies and anything Disney.