Candy Cane Kiss Cupcakes

I'm the kind of person that always has a box of cake mix in the pantry. And generally speaking, this is something I'm not super proud of. I'd much rather be the kind of person that whips up a cake from scratch on the rare occasion a home-baked cake is needed; or the kind of person that didn't crave cake; or the kind of person that doesn't eat most of said cake in one sitting; or some combination of the three.

But being that I'm not, I had a box on hand yesterday. And on that cold and very rainy day, when my daughter was on a nap strike and happened to be fighting a cold- I've never been happier to be that kind of person.  Because my seventeen-month-old, as little as she is, does enjoy logging some major kitchen-time.  And we were able to expend some much needed energy and attention while baking these festive- and super simple- treats.

Not only am I the kind of person that has a box of cake mix on hand, I'm also the person that has bowls of holiday candy as well- in this case, Candy Cane Hershey Kisses and {my favorite} White Chocolate Peppermint M&M's. So to make this treat semi-homemade, I opted to whip up a variation of the classic cupcake; combining our holiday candy to make a treat fit for the season.

After I followed the directions on the back of the box to mix up the batter { I used Betty Crocker's Super Moist Butter Yellow Recipe}, I scooped the batter into a cupcake tin and added one unwrapped candy kiss to each cupcake before placing in the oven for baking. After baking as directed, I let cool, then frosted with vanilla frosting and topped with crushed M&M's. This minty version happens to be one of my favorites, but I believe any variation would do just fine. Even on a not-so-rainy-day.

How do you spend a rainy day with the littles?