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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

S'mores Cupcakes

S'mores Cupcakes
I'm a pretty good big sister.

Baby (and by baby I mean 22 years old) brother has a birthday and what do I do? I ask him repeatedly what he wants me to make him, waiting through his "I don't knows" until he finally helps me decide on: s'mores cupcakes.

Which he ate 5 of within a 2 hour period.
S'mores Cupcakes
Now, I'm not gonna lie to you: I've been dreaming up my idea of the perfect s'mores cupcake and this is not it. I had neither the ingredients nor equipment (read: KA stand mixer) to pull that off at this point, so I sort of mushed together a few recipes and ideas to come up with these. And, even though they're not perfect, they're pretty danged awesome.

Oh and you wanna know something funny? This is only the 2nd cupcake recipe I've made. Ever. And the last time I made cupcakes (these AMAZING dark chocolate peanut butter cupcakes-which I actually like even better than these) was 2 years ago. I KNOW. What kind of sweet-toothed food blogger am I?? It's because of my relationship with cookies. I just....given the choice...am pretty much gonna pick cookies every time. Sorry cupcakes, you're great every once in awhile, but I just can't quit cookies!
S'mores Cupcakes
Oh and...the actual cake part of these cupcakes? Vegan. Totally didn't intend that but there ya go. Now...the cupcakes themselves as a whole aren't vegan because of the little graham cracker crust and the marshmallows but I'm sure you can easily make some tweaks or substitutions to vegan-ify the whole thing. Just a fun fact.
S'mores Cupcakes
Now let's take stock:
  • Broke me out of my 2 year long cupcake dry spell? check
  • Buttery graham cracker crust on bottom of the cupcake? check
  • Dark, moist (and vegan) chocolate cake? check
  • Toasty marshmallow goodness up top (which is super quick and easy and means you don't have to dirty dishes by making frosting)?? checkity check check!
They're messy and fun and tasty and make you so happy that it's summer. Just like a regular s'more. :D


S'mores Cupcakes

Cake recipe adapted from Joy the Baker and idea inspired by Kevin & Amanda

S'mores Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes.
Ingredients:
Graham Cracker Crusts-
  • 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used homemade you can use storebought if you prefer)
  • 1/2 tbsp. granulated sugar
  • 2-3 tbsp. butter, melted (start with 2 tbsp. and add a third if needed)
Chocolate Cake-
  • 1 and 1/8 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (or canola oil)
  • 1 tsp. white vinegar
  • 1 cup cold water
Cupcake Assembly-
  • 36 chocolate chips or 12 chocolate pieces/pieces of chocolate bar (milk or dark)
  • 12 regular sized marshmallows
Preparation:
Graham Cracker Crusts-
  • Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line a standard sized muffin/cupcake pan with liners.
  • Process graham crackers in a food processor until they are fine crumbs. Measure out 3/4 cup and then stir with the sugar and melted butter until combined and moistened.
  • Add about 1 tbsp. of the graham cracker mixture to the bottom of each liner. Press down with the back of a spoon and bake for 5 minutes. Remove and cool.
Chocolate Cake-
  • In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt rigorously.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the vanilla extract, oil, vinegar, and water.
  • Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix. The mixture will be quite wet.
Cupcake Assembly-
  • Distribute the batter evenly between the cups, on top of the graham cracker crusts, until they are each about a third full. Place the chocolate in the center of each partially filled cupcake. Top with more batter until the cups are two thirds full (you might have extra batter).
  • Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
  • Top each cupcake with a marshmallow and place under the broiler, keeping a close eye to avoid burning, until they are toasted golden brown. 
  • Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
S'mores Cupcakes
 
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