Sweet Saturdays ~ Chunky Monkey Cupcakes

These. Are. Amazing. I'll leave it at that. Unfortunately (I hate to admit this) this recipe is a doctored cake mix. Which I have nothing against, but I love made from scratch foods so I try to do as much home-made as possible. I'm working my way through recipes to see if I can get a good homemade vanilla mix that would work as a substitute for doctored cake mix recipes. But for now, the box mix will have to work.
This cupcake is full of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey awesomeness. It has a great banana flavor, big chunks of walnuts and lots of chocolate. It just can't go wrong!

Cupcake Recipe:
1 box white cake mix (I used Pillsbury)
1 container Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey
3 eggs
Vanilla Ice cream, if needed
banana extract, optional
dark chocolate chocolate chips
walnuts, chopped

Ice Cream Buttercream
Vanilla Ice Cream, melted
1 c. butter
1 c. shortening
2# powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

*This recipe will work with any ice cream flavor, you'll just need to adjust the topping. The first step is to let your ice cream sit out until it is melted. Or you could melt it in the microwave. Once it's melted you will need to measure it. You need to have 2 cups of melted ice cream. Ben & Jerry's is usually pretty close to 2 cups and the only time I need to add ice cream is when I use a flavor such as "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" and that's because I have to pull out the big pieces of candy that are in the ice cream.
Mix all of the ingredients together. I added 1 1/2 tsp of banana extract to make sure that I got a good banana flavor. The batter will be a lot thicker than a regular prepared box mix. I add in extra chocolate and walnuts to make sure that there are some in each cupcake. And that's it!
I always bake my cupcakes at 330*. These took 20-22 minutes to bake. Let them cool completely and then frost with an ice cream buttercream and more chocolate chips and walnuts (and I added drizzled fudge sauce to mine).
To make the buttercream, cream together the butter, shortening, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure that everything is smooth. Turn the mixer on low and mix in half of the powdered sugar slowly. At this point, I like to mix in about 1/2 of my liquid which for this recipe will be the melted ice cream. The amount you will need will depend on the consistency of your ice cream. To start with, I'd say mix in 1/3 of a cup. Mix in the rest of the powdered sugar. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and the bottom to make sure you don't get any surprise dry spots. Turn mixer on low and add more melted ice cream until it reaches a creamy consistency.
Top your cooled cupcakes with the buttercream and then top as desired. I've found it easier to start with the fudge drizzle because the other toppings will stick to the fudge.