Almond Joy Cupcakes
 
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
  • ½ cup butter
  • 2 oz semisweet chocolate or ⅓ cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • ½ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup buttermilk (or ½ cup of milk+2 teaspoons lemon juice or white vinegar)
Almond Frosting:
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
Topping:
  • ½ cup shredded sweetened coconut
  • ⅛ cup slivered or sliced almonds
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line 12-14 cupcake cups.
  2. Melt butter and chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals stirring each time.
  3. In another bowl, stir cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugars, and vanilla together.
  5. Whisk in the slightly cooled melted chocolate and butter.
  6. Alternate adding in the flour and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just combined.
  7. Fill the cupcake tins ¾- almost completely full.
  8. Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick come out clean, rotating the pan halfway through.
  9. Cool completely.
For the Almond Frosting:
  1. Cream butter and sugar together until completely combined.
  2. Mix in extract.
For the Topping:
  1. Toss the coconut and almonds together.
For Assembly:
  1. Either pipe on the frosting or use a scooper in order to get a nice and neat dome shape.
  2. To roll the frosting in the topping, angle the cupcake and roll it so that the frosting gets pushed up into a cone shape.
  3. If you want a more domed shape, smash the pointed top down by dunking it in the topping again perpendicular to the bowl.
  4. Voilà!
Cupcakes will last about 4-5 days in an air tight container at room temperature or longer in a refrigerator.
Notes
If you double the recipe, bake one cupcake tin at a time.
Recipe by Birch Tree Baking at https://www.birchtreebaking.com/almond-joy-cupcakes/