Poor Girl Cooks: Gluten-Free Peppermint Patty Brownie Cupcakes

Okay, first of all, my GOODNESS have I discovered the most delicious gluten-free brownie mix. I first made these cupcakes good ol' wheat flour style from scratch, but they sort of turned out like chocolate mint hockey pucks and even Adam would barely eat them. So I thought about my problem (almost 100% sure I'm over stirring, which we all remember from the epic blueberry muffin failure that didn't get posted) and realized that perhaps I should just leave the brownie making to the professionals. I mean, they've had years to make it idiot proof, right? And to that extent, why not use the gluten-free brownie mix so that everyone could enjoy them? And that is what brings us to this concoction.

When I go on baking sprees, it is really best for me to go to the grocery store by myself and stare at the gluten-free flours so that Adam doesn't get all antsy and unhappy. I went in search of brownie mix, obviously, and the store had a few brands but this is the one I selected:

What drew me to this particular mix? In all honesty, it was the only one at Wegman's that did not claim to be dairy free. They all said that they contained real chocolate chunks, but dairy free chocolate isn't my favorite thing. Plus, I was just going to put candy in the middle of them anyway, so dairy free was sort of an abandoned principle from the beginning.

This mix was just as easy to use as any ol' off the shelf brownie mix (although about 3 times as expensive). You add an egg and some oil and some water and ...

...(barely) stir it all together. No really, I went around the bowl only 26 times (yes, I counted) and really, it could have used a few more rounds but I wasn't really in the mood to flirt with danger.

You add one spoonful of brownie mix to each cup and then lightly push a mini peppermint patty (York patties are certified by the FDA to be gluten-free) into each one, then top with more batter. I had to stretch my batter pretty thin, but it made exactly 1 doz cupcakes.

Now here's my shortcoming and something I hope you can understand: These were so amazingly rich and fantastic that I never got a good picture of the presentation. No really, they were that awesome, we ate them without a thought of preserving their image for the world. I did get this quick action shot with my cell phone during lunch the following day, but that's all that remains of the legacy:


Gluten-free peppermint patty brownie cupcakes
adapted from The Crepes of Wrath

1 package of Pamela's Gluten-free chocolate brownie mix
1 egg
1/2 cup of oil
3/8 cup of water
12 mini peppermint patties
12 foil cupcake liners (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownie mix according to instructions. Line cupcake pan with foil liners (or boring paper ones if you are no fun at all). Place one small spoonful of batter into each cup. Press an (unwrapped, duh) patty gently into each cup, just getting the batter to settle. Place an additional spoonful of batter on top of each patty, being sure to cover the whole thing. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the cupcakes look done on top (err on the moister side of things). Enjoy and share at your discretion. Makes 12 cupcakes.