I attended schools in the same district from kindergarten through twelfth grade.  During that time, I had a total of 4 – maybe 5 tops – snow days.  So far this year, that very same district is on its 6th snow day and counting… and it’s only January.  Needles to say, Groundhog Day has never been more important.  In an effort to butter up the little critter and persuade hime to predict an early spring, this week’s project is Groundhog Day Cupcakes.

To make these adorable treats, you will need a brownie mix, a cake mix, chocolate frosting, white frosting, red hot candies, mini chocolate chips, and regular chocolate chips.  These special baking pans work perfectly for this project:

Groundhog Pans

The bowl shaped brownie pan on the left makes perfect groundhog burrows (although you could also use regular muffin tins if you can’t find one of these pans), and the mini muffin pan on the right makes the groundhogs.

Make the burrows with brownie mix.  They will be much more sturdy and come out of the pan much better than if you make them with regular cake (learned that the hard way!).  When they are cool, frost them with white frosting so they look like snow covered burrows.

Then make the groundhogs with cake mix in mini muffin tins.  After they cool, frost them with chocolate frosting.  Add red hots for the mouths and chocolate chips for the ears.  Use white frosting with mini chocolate chips for the eyes.

Groundhog Cupcakes

Finally nestle the groundhogs in the tops of the burrows and enjoy… and cross your fingers for an early spring!