Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

Baked Dessert

Medically reviewed by Christiana George Updated Date: June 8, 2023

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

These cupcakes mark a very personal anniversary for me. It’s the sort of milestone that’s especially significant once you know the context. One year ago (tomorrow, to be exact), Chris and I moved to New York.

If you’ve ever spent a significant amount of time traveling, you know how exhausting a nomadic lifestyle can be. For seven months, Chris and I were without homes. We’d packed in our lives in San Francisco, quit our jobs, and begun what we later called a “sabbatical”—a high-falutin’ but handy term to explain to our family and friends why we were taking an extended time off. We wanted to travel, work on personal projects, and reconnect with ourselves.

For about four of those months, we played vagabonds in South America. It was enriching and extraordinary. I’m still reeling from some of the places we visited, sights we saw. It was also bewildering, dangerous at times, and grinding in a way that can only be explained by showing, not telling: many-hour-long bus rides (our longest was 35), trudging along roadsides with our enormous backpacks hoping to catch rides from strangers, never quite acclimating to the continent-wide practice of everything shutting down for afternoon siestas and Sundays, meeting new people everyday and explaining our life stories over and over and over. I ate more Oreos and french fries than at any other time in my life, slept in hostels where bunk beds would be stacked on top of each other four beds high, celebrated Thanksgiving with 33-cent street burgers and arroz con leche, and at one point ran from a pack of muggers in Buenos Aires (Chris ended up punching one in the face).



You see? In a sense, I was happy to settle down, throw down some roots and re-establish continuity. I think this blog was borne out of that desire, to be honest. And yet the last year has been anything but predictable. Some dreams were extinguished and hardships faced. I mean, we’re talking about New York City here, the land of big ambitions, lofty goals. But other opportunities came along, bringing with them new beginnings, new adventures, and new people. It’s been difficult and frustrating and strange, truly, but I’m grateful to have experienced it all.

I apologize if I’m sounding incredibly vague and boilerplate. I realize how often people come across passages like these and just want the facts! They’re really not that juicy, just the usual twentysomething pangs.

But hey, the mood’s celebratory, remember? I finally filed my taxes, spring is seeping into the city one flower-laden tree at a time, and this recipe—which I used to make a 4-layer cake for Chris’s birthday a few weeks ago—is TOPS.

It’s worth noting that as far as wedding cake flavors go, I think I can pretty much stop here. This recipe results in a sturdy cake, definitely able to carry some weight, but not dense at all. And it’s so chocolate-y—Chris’s plebeian taste buds loved it. ; )

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CUPCAKES

Adapted from Bon Appétit
Makes 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Guinness (or other stout)
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1-3/4 cups sugar
  • 1/2 Tbsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup sour cream

Directions:



Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pan with tins.

Bring the stout and butter to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add the stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber or wooden spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Fill each tin about 3/4 full. Bake until tester inserted into center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Turn out the cupcakes once the pan has cooled and let them cool completely before frosting, recipe below.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Adapted from the Food Network

I think this ratio of ingredients is perfect, but it makes for a slightly runny frosting. Make sure to refrigerate it to firm it up before frosting your cupcakes. Also, I was able to frost all 18 cupcakes using this amount, but I tend to like less-frosted cupcakes. For those of you who like normal amounts of frosting, use 1.5 to 2x the amounts listed below.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:



In a mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Slowly add the sugar, making sure it’s combined before adding more. Add the vanilla and whisk until smooth. If it’s too runny, refrigerate it for about an hour.



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Candy Coated Oreo M&M;’s

Recipes

Christiana George
Updated Date:
December 19, 2022

Summer is coming to a close.  Kids are going back to school in two weeks.  Yay!  I love my kids, but I need a break.  The past couple of weeks have been busy.  We drove up north for a week to see family and friends.  It’s was nice to see everyone, but man, that drive is killer.  Then last week I was occupied with making treats and decorations for my son’s birthday.  He loves M&M’s, so I scoured Pinterest for ideas on doing an m&m party.  I found a few things, but these Candy Coated Oreo M&M’s were my idea.  I’ve been wanting to make them for a while, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity.  They came out pretty cute.

I was able to find all the color candy coating I needed at Walmart.  They carry the Wilton, Chocomaker, and Candiquik brands.  I used Birthday Cake Oreos for the center, but you can use regular Oreos.  If you choose to do Double Stuf Oreos, you will need a different mold.

I bought these candy molds at a small culinary shop while I was up north, but they also sell similar ones on Amazon.  They are made for candy coating Oreo shaped cookies.  I bought four sets of molds so by the time I finished the last cookies, the first ones were ready to pop out and I could continue using the mold.



This was my first time trying this.  It was a learn as you go process.  I poured about a tablespoon or so of candy melt into the mold, then pressed an Oreo cookie into the middle and twirled it around to cover the sides.  Then I added candy melt to the top and flattened it out with a spatula.  By the second tray I had figured out not to overfill the cavities.  You have to tap the mold a few times against the counter to get the air pockets out and that also levels out the candy melt. I placed them in the fridge to harden quickly.  You have to work a little to loosen the hardened candy from the mold, but it didn’t take too long. 

For the “M’s”, I bought the Wilton Candy Melts Decorating Tip Set at Walmart.  The writing tip worked perfect.  I printed some “M’s” on my computer and placed the printer paper under a piece of wax paper and traced them the best I could.  You could write directly on the candy coated M&M’s, but I was too scared to mess them up.  When the candy “M’s” had hardened, I attached them to the Oreos with a few dabs of candy coating.

I made these as treats for the party, but they make great party favors also.  You can place them in little bags or boxes and make some cute tags to attach to them.  All the party guests loved them.  

Candy Coated Oreo M&M’s

by The Sweet Chick

Prep Time: 1-1.5 hours

Cook Time: 10-12 minutes



Keywords: microwave dessert snack candy melt birthday cake oreos birthday cookie candy American

Ingredients (48 treats)

For the cookies

For the “M’s”

  • 1 package (16 oz.) Candiquik candy coating, vanilla

Additional items needed

  • 2-4 candy molds for plain cookies
  • Wilton’s Candy Melt Decorating Tips
  • 1 box (12) Wilton’s Disposable Candy Decorating Bags.

Instructions

For the cookies

Using one color at a time, melt candy coating according to instructions on the back of the package. (Usually it’s 30 seconds at a time in the microwave.) I melted a 1 cup at a time. You can always add more if needed. You will not use the entire bag of candy melt. Make sure you candy melt is warm, but not hot before pouring into the mold.



Pour about 1- 1 1/2 tablespoons of candy melt into each cavity of the mold. ( I worked with one mold of 4 at a time). Place one Oreo cookie in the center of each cavity on top of the candy coating. Gently press the cookie down and spin is slowly to coat the sides.

Add a bit more of candy coating on top of the Oreo, careful not to overfill. Spread the candy melt out with a spatula. Then gently tap the mold a few times on a hard surface to release any air bubbles.

Place finished mold(s) in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to speed up the hardening of the candy melt. I continued the same process with another color while the first color was setting. I used 2 molds per color, so it worked out great.

When the candy coating has hardened, remove from fridge and gently wiggle the mold to release the cookie. The flat surface will be the top of the “M&M”.

For the “M’s”

Once all the colors are done, it’s time for the “M’s”. If you are confident about your writing skills, you can write directly on the candy coated cookies. I wasn’t, so I made a template on my computer and printed it out. I placed the template under a piece of wax paper to write my “M’s”. My “M’s” were about an inch tall.

Melt the vanilla candy coating according to the package instructions and pour into a disposable candy decorating bag with writing tip attached.

Trace the “M’s” onto the wax paper over your template. Practice makes perfect.

I placed my template and wax paper on a cookie tray so I could pop it in the fridge for a quick set. I also used a sharp knife to cut off any “tails” that occurred due to run-off candy coating.



Once the “M’s” have set, carefully remove from the wax paper, add a couple of dabs of vanilla candy coating to the backs and place them on your candy coated cookies. Let dry and you are done!



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