Ooooy Goooey S'Mores Cupcakes

Ever since I started this blog, I have been promising one of my very bestest friends that I would make her s'mores cupcakes.  I made them a few years ago, and she has been raving about them ever since.  So, I finally decided I would give in and make them again.  After all, she has been helping me to get off my butt and start training for another half marathon.  So, I of course reward her hard work and dedication to me with a bunch of cupcakes!

This recipe is PERFECT for Fall.  There is nothing better than a warm fire, comfy sweater, and of course, s'mores.  I figured I would shy away from the traditional pumpkin theme of Fall and give you all something different.  Don't worry, I have s'more (get it- "some more", "s'more" haha) great Fall cupcake recipes up my sleeve that involve pumpkin.

These cupcakes have a crunchy, graham cracker crust, with chocolate cake, marshmallow buttercream, and a Hershey's chocolate and graham cracker garnish.

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Crust

• 1 1/2 cup of crushed graham crackers
• 1/2 cup of melted, unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 tsp of salt

Cupcakes

•  1 box of chocolate cake mix
• 2 full eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil

Marshmallow Icing 

• 1 1/2 cup of room temperature butter
• 8 oz of Marshmallow fluff
• 1/3 cup of confectioner's sugar

Preheat your oven to 325 °.  Line 24 cupcake trays with liners.

First you want to make the graham cracker crust.  In a food processor, crush your graham crackers until you have 1 1/2 cups.  It took me about 1 and a half sleeves.  Then, in a medium sized bowl, add the graham crackers to your melted butter and mix together with a spoon.  Next add in your sugar and salt and mix well.  It should be like a grainy consistency.  Add in about 3/4 a TBSP of your mixture to the bottom of each liner and flatten out to make a nice, thin crust.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool before adding your cupcake mixture.

To make the cupcakes, I cheated and used a box mix.  You can either follow the recipe on the box, or feel free to use my alterations above.  I like to use more egg yolk because it makes the cupcakes richer.  I also like to substitute the water for milk in chocolate box mixes to make for a creamier cupcake.  Add in all of your ingredients and mix well until mixture is smooth.  Fill the liners with your cupcake mixture until they are about 3/4 of the way full.  Bake according to the package.  I baked mine at 350° for about 19 minutes.  Let them fully cool before icing them.

To make the icing, start out as you would making buttercream.  Cream your room temperature butter in a mixer on low speed for about 3 minutes, or until smooth and creamy.  Slowly add in your marshmallow fluff and mix on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes.  Then slowly add in your confectioner's sugar a little bit at a time until you get the desired consistency.  Frost your cupcakes using a piping bag.  You may want to put a little extra icing in the center so that you can easily place your garnishes on top.

To garnish, I first used a torch to "toast" my marshmallow icing.  This gave it that "burnt marshmallow" flavor as well as caramelized the top for a nice crispy coating.  Then add on top a chocolate square and small piece of graham cracker.  There you go... the perfect campfire treat!