Almond Joy and Mounds Cupcakes

So this weekend, I am so excited because my sister is coming to town! And what better way to celebrate than with our favorite thing: CHOCOLATE! I saw this recipe on pinterest for Mounds Brownies and I thought to myself, my sister would LOVE them and so would my fiance! Sadly, I thought I had a brownie mix, but I did not :( I began to panic, and think...what can I make my sister while she is here, that she would like just as much...but then I realized, I can still stick with the Almond Joy/Mounds theme, and make them cupcake style!

I think they came out adorable. I dont get to take these to school to see how yummy they are becuase Ill be out of town with my sister, but my fiance gave them a thumbs up (though he pretty much likes everything that I make, so I am not sure how much that counts). I hope my sister likes them when she tries them tomorrow!

So for those of you who do not know, Mounds and Almond Joy are pretty much the same thing (chocolate with coconut but almond joy has...duh...almonds). So I made them with and without almonds, hence the Almond Joy/Mounds title. Super easy to make (bc of the semi-homemade ingredients). Total time to make was like an hour.

Almond Joy Cupcake

Mounds Cupcake

ALMOND JOY AND MOUNDS CUPCAKES

Adapted from In Katrina's Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

1 box of devil's food cake mix

3 cups of coconut (and a few Tbls for garnish)
14oz can of condensed milk
1 c. powdered sugar
1 can of chocolate icing (or homemade chocolate buttercream frosting)
Almonds Slivers

DIRECTIONS

Bake the cupcakes according to package. I use an ice cream scoop to have each cupcake be about the same size (make sure each cup is filled no more than 3/4 of the way full).Let cook for several hours or overnight. Use cupcake corer to make a hole in the middle of cupcake, to be filled with filling. In a bowl mix together coconut, condensed milk and powdered sugar- should have a nice creamy texture. If to watery, add either more coconut or powdered sugar. I liked to make my filling more creamy and condensed milk like (if you like a more solid texture- I would add more coconut). Place filling in piping back with wide open tip (otherwise the coconut will clump and not pipe out). Fill each cupcake hole with filling.  Frost each cupcake with tip of choice. Garnish with coconut (stop here, if you just want Mounds cupcakes) and top with almonds (for Almond Joy cupcakes).

Enjoy and Happy "almost" Mardi Gras,

Chika

Mardi Gras ended up being a BLAST!