Mini Chocolate Rudolph the Reindeer Cupcakes

Rudolph the red nose reindeer, reindeer. Had a very shiny nose...

Tis the season for beautiful Christmas decorations, over spending the birth of Christ, un-neccessary weight gain and joyful family time surrounded by food of course.

Can you believe Christmas is almost here? It amazes me how quickly time flies by. When I was younger, a week felt like an eternity. And here we are now ending 2010. Another year older and hopefully another year wiser.

In honor of the upcoming Christmas festivities, I had to make these super cute mini reindeer cupcakes for my loves pre-school class. Aren't they adorable! I can't recall where I saw this idea but I had to recreate it.

The chocolate cupcakes are light and airy and not too sweet. And not a lick of butter was used in this cupcake recipe. Seriously. Instead, I used 0% Fage Greek Yogurt mixed in with a bit of 2% milk. The results were outstanding. However, my friend Mr. Butter made an appearance in the cream cheese and butter frosting which was the perfect balance of flavors.

Printable Recipe
Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted from Martha Stewart 
3/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder not dutch processed
1-1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1-1/2 Cups Sugar
1-1/2 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt
2 Large Eggs
3/4 Cup Warm Water
3/4 Cup Buttermilk (I used 1/2 cup 0% Fage Greek Yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup 2% milk)
3 tbsp Safflower Oil (I used Grape seed Oil)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Yields 24 Mini Cupcakes & 7 Regular Cupcakes

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350º. Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda & powder, and salt in the bowl of our stand alone mixer (or a large bowl to work by hand). Add the eggs, water, yogurt, oil and vanilla and mix well for about 3 minutes.

Pour into your desired cupcake pan with liners about 2/3 full (I used my mini cupcake pan). Bake for 18 minutes. I also used a regular muffin pan and baked seven regular cupcakes with the leftover batter. I baked these an additional couple of minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely.

As usual. "Ma, I want to help you."

Cream Cheese & Butter Frosting
1 Eight oz Cream Cheese
6 tbsp of Butter, sliced at room temperature
1 Cup Confectioners Sugar, sifted
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Red Regular M&M's (for the nose)
Dark Chocolate Mini Chips (for the eyes) or Mini Brown M&M's
Mini Pretzels, cut to look like reindeer antlers

Directions
1. Place the cream cheese in your stand alone mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand using a spatula or hand held mixer) and on medium speed, mix until creamy. Add the butter pieces one at a time until fully incorporated. Add the confectioner sugar and vanilla and blend well.

2. Then add the red M&M nose, mini dark chocolate chips for eyes and mini pretzels for antlers. And tada, you have Rudolph cupcakes!

These little treats are sure to be a hit with the kiddies. Enjoy!