S'more Cupcakes Please!

I've spent a lot of time camping throughout my life. Camping with my grandparents was a huge part of my childhood and some of my best memories were made around a campfire or in a lake. And like any other person who's been camping, making s'mores were probably my favorite part. My grandma always made sure there was a full box of graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows, and of course Hershey's chocolate bars. As time went on we made the discovery that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are even more amazing on s'mores, but that's another story completely. Well I decided on trying to combine these classics elements into a cupcake and make it even more delicious. And it worked. I made a chocolate cupcake with a graham cracker and chocolate crust. I then topped these cupcakes off with graham cracker crumbs and then threw on marshmallow butter cream frosting. These cupcakes were absolutely the most amazing things I've tasted. The cupcake was soft and had the best chocolate flavor. While the frosting was light, sweet, and tasted pretty much like a marshmallow. To start this recipe off, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line your pan with cupcake tins.

Start off by taking your semi-sweet chocolate and chopping it up into into pieces. This will be used in the crust of the cupcakes.

Crumble up the graham crackers into a fine dust. Having some bigger chunks isn't a big deal. Set the chocolate and graham crackers aside and save for later.

Next, take a separate bowl and add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Whisk together until all the ingredients are completely mixed.

 In another bowl mix the butter, sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla together until fully incorporated.

After the liquid ingredients are mixed together, melt the semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave. Do this by heating one minute at a time at 70% power. Once the chocolate is fully melted pour it into the liquid batter and mix together.

Once the liquid batter is fully mixed together, pour the dry ingredients into the liquid batter in sections. The batter will be thick, dense, and almost dry looking.

After the batter is fully mixed boil a cup of water. Once the water comes to a complete boil pour it into the batter and mix together.

By doing this is it makes the batter thinner and moister, but it also brings the chocolate flavor out from the cocoa powder. Set the batter aside and save for later.

With your graham cracker crumbs in a separate bowl, take another bowl and melt the butter set aside for the crust in the microwave. Once the butter is completely liquid, pour it into the graham crackers and mix until all the graham crack crumbs are moist.

Take the buttered graham crack crumbs and put enough in the bottom of each cupcake tin. Take a spoon and pack the crumbs down.

Next, take a pinch of chocolate and sprinkle it onto the graham cracker crust.

Put the pans into the oven and bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees F. Bake until the crusts are a light brown and the chocolate is melted.

Take the cupcake batter and fill the tins until about 3/4 full. Then take the graham cracker crumbs and sprinkle on top of the batter.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 18-20 minutes. To check if they're done insert a toothpick into the center of a couple cupcakes and it should come out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then take out and let cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling you can start on the frosting. Take the butter and mix until creamy. Once the butter is creamy and light add the marshmallow creme and mix until fully incorporated.

Next, add the powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, until smooth and light. At the end, mix in the vanilla. Once your frosting is complete you can spoon it into a piping bag or simply spoon the frosting straight onto the cupcake. Make sure to wait and frost until your cupcakes once they're completely cool and there's no warmth left to melt your frosting.

I chose to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes

And top with edible pearls =]

Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Graham Cracker Crust Recipe

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup melted butter

3 chopped semi-sweet chocolate Baker's squares

Marshmallow Butter Cream Recipe

1 cup unsalted butter

7 oz marshmallow creme

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Enjoy baking these tasty campfire inspired treats!