S’mores Cupcakes
Thursday, 17 March 2011
I just realized that I sort of have a thing for s’mores. What’s not to love? Chocolate + marshamallow heated up till it’s gooey and melty, on top of a crunchy cracker…yum. In the past, I’ve made a s’mores pie (with a Guiness-chocolate filling, which makes it very appropriate for today - Happy St. Patrick’s Day!), gourmet s’mores and homemade graham crackers for s’mores kits.
Today, I bring you a combination of 2 awesome desserts: s’mores + cupcakes. They have a mini graham cracker crust, toped with small chunks of bittersweet chocolate, chocolate cupcake sprinkled with more graham cracker crumbs and chocolate chunks, and are finally finished with a marshmallow frosting. Toast the frosting with a mini torch or under the broiler and it gets a perfect toasted marshmallow taste and texture.
I brought these in for a staff lunch and let everyone take a turn with the mini torch. It was lots of fun – I recommend buying a torch if you don’t already have one!
What’s your favorite kitchen tool?
Recipe:
S’mores Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes 14 cupcakes
For the graham cracker crust:
- 1 C graham cracker crumbs
- 1/8 C sugar
- 4 T unsalted butter, melted
- Pinch of salt
- 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
For the chocolate cupcakes:
- 1 C + 1 T sugar
- 14 T unbleached all-purpose flour*
- 7 T unsweetened cocoa powder*
- 3/4 t baking powder
- 3/4 t baking soda
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 C milk (the original recipe called for whole but I used 2%)
- 1/4 C vegetable oil
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 1/2 C boiling water
For the frosting:
Adapted from Food & Wine
- 3/4 C sugar
- 1/3 C water
- 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/4 t cream of tartar
- 1 t vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cupcake pan(s) with foil liners and move rack to center of oven.
To make the crust: In a small bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter and salt with a fork. Drop about 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of the mixture into each cupcake liner and press down firmly. Reserve remaining mixture for topping cupcakes. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of chopped chocolate on top of each crust and bake for about 5 minutes (until edges of crust are golden). Remove from oven but leave on at 350° F.
To make the cupcakes: Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir lightly with a fork to combine. In a mixing bowl, combine egg, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Combine dry and wet ingredients and mix on low speed for a minute, then medium speed for 1-2 more minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl in between if needed. Add boiling water and mix just until combined. (Note: The batter will be very thin at this point.)
Pour 1/4 cup of batter on top of each crust (mine were a little over 3/4 full). Sprinkle each with remaining graham cracker mixture and chopped chocolate. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until tops are firm and toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Let cool completely.
To make the frosting:
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water over high heat. Once it starts boiling, place the egg whites in a mixer bowl with a whisk attachment and begin mixing at medium-high speed. Once they become foamy, add the cream of tartar. Continue to beat at medium speed until stiff peaks form.
Once the sugar mixture reaches 242°F, remove from heat and slowly pour into the egg whites with the mixer on low speed. Increase speed to high and beat for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add vanilla extract and mix to combine.
*These are measured in tablespoons because I halved the original recipe and it was the easiest way to reduce the measurements (half of 1 3/4 and 3/4 cup)
No. 1 — March 17th, 2011 at 10:54 am
Pretty sure I’m going to need to play with the torch next time i’m in town!
No. 2 — March 17th, 2011 at 11:14 am
I have never had a s’more and now I’ve seen them I really want to give them a try! They look so pretty.
No. 3 — March 17th, 2011 at 11:56 am
Wheels – it’s a date!
Caroline – you definitely need to try them! They’re amazing.
No. 4 — March 17th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Beautiful! I bet these were darned tasty, too~
Liz recently posted Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
No. 5 — March 17th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
I need one like ASAP
they look so good!
No. 6 — March 17th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Your cupcakes are gorgeous. I’ve never made s’mores cupcakes, but I’ll have to try.
My favorite kitchen tool is my microplane zester. Veru easy to zest fruits,a nd grate garlic.
Becky recently posted Baileys and Coffee Brownie Cupcakes
No. 7 — March 17th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
These are drool worthy! Great post.
egb recently posted Na- Na- Na- Naan
No. 8 — March 17th, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Hey I wanna use the torch! This is a really good recipe. Love the flavor combination.
No. 9 — March 17th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
These look delicious….and fun! Thanks for sharing!
Amy’s Cooking Adventures recently posted Vegetarian Chickpea Burgers
No. 10 — March 17th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
Oh darn, as if the flavors weren’t enough, you brought out the torch!! This is torture!
No. 11 — March 17th, 2011 at 6:32 pm
omg i need a smores cupcake now
No. 12 — March 17th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
I have made a version of these cupcakes before, and my husband was floored by how delicious they were. Yours look scrumptious!!
Too many fun kitchen tools to choose a favorite, but I really love my cake turntable… it makes frosting cakes SO much easier!
No. 13 — March 18th, 2011 at 3:55 am
Those cupcakes with that frosting look great
can i have one? 
No. 14 — March 18th, 2011 at 5:30 am
Mmm, they look great ! Maybe this can be my excuse for buying a torch !
Maja recently posted Шакшука Shakshouka
No. 15 — March 18th, 2011 at 11:04 am
These are awesome and they’d be the perfect way for me to try out my new kitchen torch! S’mores and cupcakes are two of my very favorite desserts
No. 16 — March 18th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
OMG! That looks incredible!!! That frosting… oh me, oh my!
Great blog; happy I found you!
No. 17 — March 18th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
My boyfriend and I just finished doing this recipe and these cupcakes are absolutely delicious! The perfect amount of everything for a cupcake to imitate a s’more. HUGE hit in my household so far. My sister has already had seconds!
This is a MUST TRY AND KEEP recipe.
**In order to try and make this recipe a tad “healthy” I used white whole WHEAT flour instead of unbleached all-purpose flour and nobody said a thing about it tasting funny. Couldn’t even tell the difference!**
Oh and because I did not have a torch for the frosting, I did the suggested alternative with the broiler. (but only at most for 25 seconds, otherwise the tip of the frosting almost began to burn and smoke.) The broiler worked just perfect!
Thanks for sharing..looking forward to more recipes =]
No. 18 — March 19th, 2011 at 6:10 am
The bruleed frosting makes this cupcakes EXTRA special! I want one right now!
Tiffany recently posted Tangelo Tofu
No. 19 — March 19th, 2011 at 7:02 am
Ok, I need a blowtorch! Those are fabulous.
No. 20 — March 19th, 2011 at 9:20 am
Such a cute idea! I love how the tops look after using the kitchen torch. I’m passing along an award to you that you can receive here: http://theculturaldish.blogspot.com/2011/03/st-josephs-day-and-award.html
Elyse @The Cultural Dish recently posted St Josephs Day and an Award!
No. 21 — March 19th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
These look divine. I recently made my version of a S’Mores Pie which tasted fabulous. Doesn’t look as pretty as yours though. I did cheat a bit, I used Ghirardelli’s Ultimate Brownie mix for the filling. Because I love thier Ultimate Brownie mix! I will have to try this frosting recipe next time so that it will be look REALLY pretty!
http://www.funfabulousfood.com/2011/02/ultimate-smores-brownie-pie-semi.html
No. 22 — March 19th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Great use for the torch too. The cupcakes sound and look delicious.
Joyti recently posted Coconut Carnaroli Kheer Rice Pudding
No. 23 — March 19th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these! I’ll have to try the recipe! Keep those cupcakes coming!!
Bianca recently posted Elijahs Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
No. 24 — March 20th, 2011 at 5:28 am
Oh WOW! These look incredible!
Simply Life recently posted Inspired by Chocolate- Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier
No. 25 — March 21st, 2011 at 12:52 pm
I love the recommendation to purchase a torch. It’s something that hasn’t made it to my collection yet. These cupcakes look great
No. 26 — March 21st, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Oh, I’m definitely with you! My favorite gadget has to be a tie between my blow torch and my immersion blender. I pull out both of them any chance I get!
No. 27 — March 23rd, 2011 at 12:54 pm
that looks so good
Joy recently posted Tea Party for a Cause
No. 28 — March 24th, 2011 at 1:42 am
Yumm!
Seeing all these S’mores Cupcakes makes me want to buy a mini torch the next time I make these tasty sweets. I recently did a version similar to yours:
http://gbtgraphics.com/blog/2011/03/15/simply-smores/
Can’t wait to try yours!
KitchenAid has to be my favorite kitchen tool!
No. 29 — March 24th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
could you use storebought marshmallow fluff/creme on top?
No. 30 — March 25th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
Veronica – I’m sure you could use marshmallow fluff on top. I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure how the texture will work as a frosting, but let me know how it turns out!
No. 31 — March 30th, 2011 at 11:41 am
These look amazing! I definately need to give these a try.
Laura recently posted Four Cheese Baked Ravioli
No. 32 — April 3rd, 2011 at 2:59 pm
this is just crazy enough to work
No. 33 — April 6th, 2011 at 10:01 am
[...] a challenge: make an adult version of Hostess cupcakes. I didn’t have much time, so I made s’mores cupcakes then but kept the challenge in the back of my mind. At the end of spring break I tackled it, with [...]
No. 34 — May 24th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Ok, so I saw this recipe and I had to make it! So I asked for a torch for Mother’s Day. My husband actually got a tear in his eye because I wanted a torch! So I made them and they turned out great!! I thank you, and my children thank you for sharing this wonderfull recipe.
Thanks, Kathy
No. 35 — May 24th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
@Kathy – that’s great! You’re very welcome, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
No. 36 — June 6th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
This is my next cupcake project! Thank you.
Did you find they were ok to leave at room temperature for a day or 2? I normally don’t leave them out longer, as cupcakes tend to dry out, but not sure how stable they are after a day?
Lastly, do you think they would freeze well?
TIA!
No. 37 — June 6th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
@Ruby – You’re welcome! I think I let them sit out for a day, but I can’t remember for sure. The cupcakes themselves should be fine, but I would wait until the day you’re serving them to make the frosting. Not sure about freezing – again, the cupcakes would probably be fine but I don’t know if this frosting will freeze well (I doubt it). I’ve only frozen buttercream before (which works ok, but it comes out a little greasy). If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
No. 38 — June 10th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
[...] I can use the ice cream to top s’mores cupcakes in place of marshmallow [...]
No. 39 — June 16th, 2011 at 10:42 am
[...] didn’t want to just make my original s’mores cupcake and plop some ice cream in place of frosting; how boring is that? I brainstormed for a while and [...]
No. 40 — October 26th, 2011 at 6:58 am
Yum!!! I cannot wait to try these!
No. 41 — December 31st, 2011 at 11:31 am
[...] 8. S’mores Cupcakes [...]
No. 42 — February 16th, 2012 at 3:12 am
These look great, I’m going to visit a friend next week and she sent me this recipe and says we have to try them out! I’m more than excited to do so!! Nice work!
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No. 43 — September 15th, 2012 at 7:28 pm
Your recipe calls for a mixer with a whisk attachment to make the frosting..does it work if I use my regular beaters?
No. 44 — September 15th, 2012 at 9:03 pm
@Susie – yes, that should still work.
No. 45 — April 7th, 2013 at 2:35 pm
Thanks so much for the recipe! I just made these, and they’re AMAZING – huge hit. My only feedback is the frosting was a total disaster, and it could be user error. My frosting had great stiff peaks prior to slowly adding the sugar/water mix, but once I did that, it just turned to liquid and stayed there- despite a kitchen aid mixer trying desperately for at least 10 minutes. I found the original recipe online, though, and see that it recommends combining the sugar, egg whites and cream of tartar in a double broiler and whisking until reaching 155 degrees, THEN mixing with the whisk attachment. This worked much better. Just fyi in case someone else had the same problem I did. Thanks again!!! Delicious!!