Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Ingredients

• Cupcakes-
• ½ cup salted butter, room temperature *see note
• 2 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
• ¾ cup flour (95 g) (spoon and level)
• 2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (55g) (such as Hershey’s Dark)
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• ½ cup sugar (100g)
• ¼ cup packed light brown sugar (50g)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
• ½ cup buttermilk
• Chocolate Ganache-
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting-
• 6 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature
• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon red food coloring gel
• Assembly-
• 3 piping bags
• Piping tip (Wilton 1M, open star tip)
• Crushed starlight peppermints or crushed candy canes for decoration