Hoot Owl Cupcakes Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 muffin tins with paper liners.
• Combine 2 cups sugar, flour, 1 cup cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a bowl.
• Whisk buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Add flour mixture; mix until well-combined. Pour in hot water; stir until batter is smooth. Divide batter evenly among muffin tins.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 20 minutes.
• Whip 3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoon heavy cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold in 1 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese, 7 tablespoons cocoa powder, and 1/4 cup sugar gently to make frosting.
• Spread 1 tablespoon frosting over each cooled cupcake.
• Twist chocolate sandwich cookies open, leaving all cream filling on 1 side. Place 2 cookies, cream filling-side up, on each cupcake to make owl eyes. Place a brown milk chocolate piece on each cookie to create pupils. Insert an orange or yellow milk chocolate piece in the center to make a beak.

Steps:

• For the eyes: Place the malt balls cut side up on the work surface. Attach a white sprinkle to each ball using a skewer dipped in the buttercream to adhere. Add a mini chocolate chip as a pupil to each white sprinkle using more buttercream. Set aside.
• For the ears: Unwrap the caramels and press with fingers to flatten. Warm the candies in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds if they are too hard to flatten at room temperature. Cut each caramel into 2 little triangles with scissors. Coat each triangle with frosting on one side and cover with chocolate sprinkles. Set aside.
• For the beaks: Place the small yellow gumdrops on the work surface standing upright. Snip each gumdrop with scissors straight down three-quarters of the way through the candy to make the open mouth. Snip to narrow the overall size and shape into a tapered beak.
• To assemble: Frost each cupcake with about 2 tablespoons buttercream. Place the chocolate sprinkles in a small bowl. Invert each cupcake into the sprinkles and press gently to adhere. Attach the eyes and beak by applying small dollops of additional frosting and pressing gently. Push the ears into the edges of the cupcake. Repeat steps for all cupcakes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. Divide half of batter evenly among lined muffin tin cups (about a heaping tablespoon per cup). Press 2 cookie halves without frosting into each cup, then divide remaining batter evenly atop cookies. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
• Divide frosting evenly among cupcakes. Place 2 cookie halves with filling side-by-side in center of cupcakes, pressing to adhere to frosting. Press 1 button-shaped chocolate into center of each frosted cookie to mimic pupils. Press another chocolate into frosting perpendicular to the other candies and centered, just below cookies to mimic a beak. Press almonds, if using, into frosting above cookie-eyes in rows to mimic feathers, or scrape frosting with the tip of a paring knife in short, upward strokes to create a feathery look.

Steps:

• Frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting., Split the sandwich cookies in half, keeping the cream side whole (microwaving a few cookies at a time for several seconds helps to keep the cream side solid). Place the cookies, cream side up, on the cupcakes for eyes. Cut remaining cookie pieces crosswise into thirds; discard the center third and set the rest aside., With the vanilla frosting, attach the chocolate-covered mints for eyes; pipe pupils., Place reserved cookie pieces above eyes for the ears. Pipe chocolate frosting on ears and around eyes. For beaks, press yellow candies between eyes.