Triple Chocolate Sort-of-Healthy Mint Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine Greek yogurt, sugars and the egg. Beat until combined (you can use your stand mixer for this, although whisking it by hand works just as well).

2. Add salt, flour and cocoa to the batter mixture and mix well.

3. Stir apple cider vinegar and milk together in a measuring glass to make your own quick buttermilk. Add the baking soda to this mixture and stir until it begins to foam.

4. Add buttermilk mixture a bit at a time into the cake mixture, mixing as you go to incorporate all of the liquid.

5. Whisk in vanilla and mint extracts.

6. Whisk in boiling water a little bit at a time so you don’t splash/burn yourself.

7. Fill two 12-count (recipe makes about 20) standard sized cupcake tins with paper liners and then fill the liners 2/3 of the way full with batter. Bake at 350 F for 15-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove pan from the oven and move cupcakes to a wire rack and let them cool.

For the ganache:

1. Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking occasionally so it doesn’t burn, until it comes to a simmer.

2. Place chocolate chips in a large, heat-resistant bowl (glass or ceramic are good choices). Remove milk from heat and pour it over chocolate, then stir gently until chocolate has melted and you’ve formed a smooth ganache.

3. Stir in the mint extract and set ganache aside. Let this cool while you make the frosting.

For the frosting:

1. In a medium bowl, melt the butter. I use the microwave—it’s just easier. Just heat it for 30 seconds at a time and stop once melted.

2. Stir cocoa and powdered sugar into melted butter.

3. Stir boiling water into frosting a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well in between each addition. Continue until frosting has reached a thick, buttercream-like consistency. The frosting will set and harden very quickly, so be prepared to frost the cupcakes as soon as it’s ready! You don’t need sky-high frosting on each cupcake. It’s super rich so use it in moderation!

To assemble the cupcakes:

1. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes (I use a Wilton #1M or a ziploc bag with a corner cut off). You could also spread the frosting on the cupcakes with a knife.

2. Give the ganache a stir, then drizzle a spoonful of it over each cupcake once they’re frosted. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could also dig a little hole in each cupcake before you frost them and pour some ganache into the center, then frost and decorate normally. Me, I’m too lazy to do that 90% of the time. But it does taste good!

3. Top the cupcakes with a thin mint cookie and some chocolate shavings or eat them as is!