This post was sponsored by AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate as part of an Influencer Campaign for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog.

I can’t believe the holidays are less than two weeks away! This is the first year Ben and I will be celebrating as a married couple, so I’m looking forward to having him be a part of our traditions and making new ones together! Since Aimery was little, we’ve had a routine in the Winter that on Sundays we would spend the afternoon baking. Now that Aims is getting older he’s able to help a lot more and appreciate these family times as well!

I’m no star baker but we have a lot of fun! Over the years I have learned a lot more about baking and all that goes into it… literally. The ingredients can make or break a dish, so I always stick to brands I know, like and trust! For example, AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate is an ingredient I use frequently when baking my favorite chocolate dishes! It has a variety of flavors used by early American chocolate makers such as vanilla, orange peel and cinnamon. It’s actually based upon authentic recipes from the 1700s! It’s history is as rich as the chocolate itself.

There’s certain ingredients that really just elevate a recipe! In AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate, spices from all around the world are blended directly into the cocoa. This gives the chocolate a wonderful taste & flavor, that’s unique as well. Not only is it delicious but also makes baking so much easier! I’ve found that using grated chocolate is such a simple solution for melting chocolate perfectly! I’ll be the first one to admit it, that grating chocolate is hard. AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate Finely Grated Chocolate makes it easy and replaces semi-sweet chocolate 1:1 in any recipe!

This past weekend Aimery and I had the best time making these Mint Chocolate Cupcakes, with the help of AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate! He’s getting to the age where he wants to help as much as possible. We had so much success using the Finely Grated Chocolate, making it simple for Aims to get involved, while also giving me confidence in my creations! The unique flavor profile and history adds so much character to any recipe. I’m so inspired to see what we can make next! You can get AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate Finely Grated Chocolate on Amazon and incorporate it into any holiday recipe! What recipes should we try next?

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

12-20 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

1 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate Finely Grated Chocolate

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup oil of choice

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 tablespoons sour cream (or sub plain yogurt)

2/3 cup buttermilk

For the Mint Buttercream:

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter

4-5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 - 2 teaspoons mint extract

green food coloring

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees, and line muffin tins with cupcake liners. First, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

Second, beat together the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and sour cream in a separate bowl. Add half of the flour mixture followed by half of the buttermilk and mix. Repeat with the second half of the flour mixture and buttermilk until smooth.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins. Bake for 15-17 minutes.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. Beat the butter until fluffy.

Add in about 1/2 to 1 cup of icing sugar at a time, and continue beating until all icing sugar has been combined. Continue to beat for 5-10 seconds.

Next, add cream, mint extract, and green food coloring until the desired color and consistency is reached.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate Finely Grated Chocolate