When I first saw these, I figured making these would be too time consuming and, well, difficult. The trick is to use the white, yogurt covered pretzels which are then just “glued together” and decorated. Sort of like a craft project combined with a cupcake making project. It might be fun to get the kids involved in the decorating, too, but don’t tell them there is spinach in the cupcakes. That will be our secret. Well, ours and From Apples to Zucchini.
Shamrock Pretzel Cupcakes
for the shamrocks:
about 40 yogurt covered mini pretzels
3 oz white chocolate chips
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1-3 tbsp water
green food coloring
ARRANGE pretzels on a sheet of parchment paper – bring three pretzels, narrow ends brought together in the center
melt the white chocolate and use it to “glue” the pretzels together. You can even use a bit more to fill in the center if you wish
use a broken piece of pretzel as a stem between two of the “leaves”, using more white chocolate to adhere it in place
mix sugar and water to get a pate consistency and add in food coloring
pipe around the outer edge of the pretzels to form an outline of a shamrock
allow to dry comepletely
for the cupcakes:
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 c. chopped spinach
1 tbsp olive oil
2/3 c. skim milk
CHOP fresh spinach in a food processor with olive oil to as close as pureed as you can get in consistency and set aside
cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs and vanilla
add spinach and blend throughly
add dry ingredients, then milk
line a muffin tin with cupcake papers and fill the cup 3/4 full of batter
bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes, or until done and slightly golden
allow to cool comepletely
for buttercream:
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. shortening
1 (2 pound) bag powdered sugar
2-5 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
green food coloring
CREAM butter and shortening
add sugar, then vanilla
add milk one tablespoon at at time until you achieve the consistency that you want
add coloring until you get the shade of green you desire
pipe onto cooled cupcakes
place a shamrock on top of each iced cupcake, adhering them with a little extra buttercream
