Pistachio Dark Chocolate Chip Cupcakes With Honey Buttercream Frosting

I would like to thank the delicious and ever so salty pistachio for breaking me out of my baking rut!  I have been in the mood to play with flavors, so to speak, but nothing was sparking in my mind.  Then Hubbs came home one day with pistachio fro yo and I had an ah-ha moment!

I hadn't made cupcakes in awhile and I had a box of white cake mix sitting in my pantry just waiting for me to experiment with.  I decided to throw in some shelled pistachios along with dark chocolate chunks, and top off the cooled cupcakes with a honey buttercream frosting.

PISTACHIO DARK CHOCOLATE CHIP CUPCAKES

Ingredients

1 box white cake mix, plus additional ingredients listed on box (i.e. eggs, oil, water)
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips because honestly think they're the best!)

Directions

Preheat oven as directed for the cake mix, and follow the directions on the box.  Gently fold the pistachios and dark chocolate discs into the batter.

Line two cupcakes pans with cupcake wrappers and fill each mold about 2/3 of the way with batter.

Bake for the amount of time directed on the box (I always aim to check at the earliest end of the range to keep cake moist).  The cupcakes are done when they spring back lightly to the touch.

Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

HONEY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

(adapted from Romancing the Bee)

Ingredients

1/3 cup honey
4 cups) confectioner's sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 - 2 tablespoons of milk as needed

Directions

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the honey and butter together until smooth.  Add 2 cups of the confectioners sugar, incorporate, then continue to add the confectioners sugar a little at a time, until blended.  Add the milk 1/2 tablespoon at a time until the frosting reaches a creamy and spreadable consistency.

Hello.

These cupcakes are a party in my mouth.

Having no idea how these flavors were going to mix, I was honestly a bit nervous.  I was happily surprised to find that the honey added a sweet complexity to the bitterness of the dark chocolate and the saltiness of the pistachio!  The pistachio's salty flavor also brought out the flavor of the honey in the frosting.

And because I used white cake mix, both the cupcake and the frosting were so light and airy!  I may or may not have eaten three right off the bat.

Cupcakes can count as breakfast dinner right?