S’mores Cupcakes
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I absolutely adore s’mores. They bring back memories of high school bonfires, with crackles of fire dancing up into the night sky, and carefree summer days. So this past week when my Chief Culinary Consultant’s mom said she bought graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate bars and marshmallows for s’mores one night, I was totally excited. Even though the boys initially said that “only girls and little kids get excited about s’mores” they definitely went back for seconds and thirds and admitted that s’mores were better than they remembered. See, s’mores are fun for everyone! Ha! So when thinking about what I wanted to bake up this week, I immediately decided that it had to be something s’mores-related. Enter these cupcakes. Which taste pretty much exactly like s’mores.
The cupcake batter smelled like a big ol’ pile of graham crackers once it was mixed up. Who would have thought that graham cracker smell could be intoxicating? It totally was.
Cool the cupcakes, then top them with chocolate ganache and a big heaping pile of marshmallow frosting. If you have a kitchen torch, bust it out and toast up the marshmallow frosting. Mmmm… It’s amazing how much these really taste like traditional s’mores – the graham cupcakes are spot on and you definitely can’t mess up chocolate and marshmallow :)
So whether you grab a stick and some marshmallows over a fire or bake up these beauties, I hope you get to enjoy s’mores at least once this summer!
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S'mores Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 1½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1-1/3 cups (40 g) graham flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) salt
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) ground cinnamon
- 10 ounces (283.5 g) unsalted butter, room temperature, (1¼ cups)
- 2 cups (440 g) light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (84.75 ml) honey
- 6 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Chocolate Ganache Glaze:
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- ½ cup (119 ml) heavy cream
For the Marshmallow Frosting:
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin, 1 tablespoon
- ⅓ cup (83.33 ml) plus ¼ cup cold water
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
Instructions
- 1. Bake the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together both flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
- 2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter, brown sugar and honey until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium; beat in the eggs and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- 3. Divide the batter evenly among the lined cups. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a thin knife inserted in the centers comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored up to 1 day at room temperature, or frozen up to 1 month.
- 4. Make the Chocolate Ganache Glaze: Place the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl and microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds, or until the chocolate softens and starts to melt. Bring the cream to a full boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour over chocolate. Working with a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and glossy.
- 5. Make the Marshmallow Frosting: In a mixing bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water. Allow the gelatin to soften, about 5 minutes.
- 6. Heat the remaining ¼ cup water and the sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring; clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan. Boil the syrup until the temperature reaches the soft-ball stage (238 degrees F). Remove from heat; add the syrup to the softened gelatin. Whisk the mixture by hand to cool, about 1 minute, then use an electric mixer to whisk on medium-high speed until soft, glossy (but not dry) peaks form, 8 to 10 minutes. (The frosting must be used immediately because it will harden.)
- 7. Assemble the Cupcakes: Spoon 2 teaspoon of the chocolate ganache glaze onto each cupcake. Fill a pastry bag with a large plain tip with marshmallow frosting; pipe frosting onto each cupcake, swirling the tip and releasing as you pull up to form a peak. Hold a small kitchen torch 3 to 4 inches from the surface of the frosting, and wave it back and forth until the frosting is lightly browned all over. Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Will the frosting be ok if it wasn’t served right away? I’m baking and assembling them (along with toasting the frosting) tonight but serving them the next day. Making them for my fellow coworkers. Hopefully I’m able to without the frosting hardening. Thank you
Hi Courtney, Yes they’ll be just fine! Enjoy!
Hi, the graham flour says 1-1/3 cups – is that supposed to say 1 and 1/3 cups? Just to make sure!
Hi Denise, Yes, that’s correct!
I want to use this frosting for a cake I’m making instead of cupcakes. Will it spread ok and hold up okay for a cake? Thanks!
Hi Juli, It will spread okay but you have to use it immediately and work fast, as it will start to set.
Can I use something in place of honey in this recipe? I am not a fan of it!
Hi Juli, I have only made this recipe with honey, so I can’t offer a good substitute ingredient.
Hello! I want to try these cupcakes for a party this weekend but am worried that the frosting might melt in the heat, it’s a rooftop party. Any suggestions? Should i try a different frosting? I plan on torching them also. Thank you so much.
Hi Denise, It really depends on how hot it’s going to be. If you make the frosting nice and stiff and the temperature is in the low to mid-70’s and the cupcakes are out of the sun, I think you should be okay. If it’s hotter than that, then they could melt.
My son’s favorite thing is S’mores,so these were a special treat for him. Total hit! Thank you!
I would like to use the cupcake batter to make a cake. Do you think that this would hold up well (cook correctly, maintain texture, etc.)? Are there any adjustments you would suggest making to the recipe to do this? Thank you, and my husband and I love your recipes!
Hi Christina, I have not tried to adapt this as a cake, so unfortunately I can’t really give you much guidance on how it will turn out. You will need to increase the baking time for a cake vs. cupcakes. Let me know how it goes!
I’m not sure what 1-1/3 cups (for the graham flour) means. can anyone explain?
1 cup + 1/3 cup, or “one and one-third cups”.
For those of you who don’t want to make their own marshmallow….there IS a substitute. I am making this post “anonymously” because I own a small cupcake bakery and last time I shared my “secrets” online, my competitors stole them… I guess flattery really IS the best compliment. ;)
I noticed that when making Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting….if you halt the frosting recipe halfway, the result can be piped onto cupcakes and “toasted” in the oven for a beautiful finished look that tastes like marshmallow! It’s basically just a simple meringue….
Recipe:
2 cups granulated white sugar
1/2 cup water
6oz. egg whites (about 6 egg whites)
splash of vanilla extract if desired, or marshmallow flavoring if you have it. (I generally use neither, to be honest…but they are good with as well.)
1. Pour the sugar and water into a saucepan and heat med-high until the soft ball stage, approx. 240 degrees.
2. While waiting for sugar to reach temperature, whip/beat egg whites in your stand mixer on high until stiff peaks form, approx. 5 minutes. If started after you’ve put your sugar mixture on the stove, they’re generally ready about the same time.
3. With mixer on high, slowly pour in the boiled sugar mixture. It will fluff up and “fill” your mixer. Continue beating until mixture has cooled in temperature.
4. Throw into a pastry bag with a tip of your choice, and pipe onto cupcakes…hint, more is better. ;) It’s VERY sticky too, so heads up.
5. Assemble topped cupcakes onto a cookie sheet, making sure that they don’t touch. Pop them in the oven on BROIL/300-350 degrees and WATCH THEM. They can go from toasted to burnt quickly, if you’re not careful. Remove from oven once toasted…and enjoy!
They WILL last overnight, unrefridgerated but they tend to shrivel a bit. They’re best served immediately out of the oven, still warm.
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Love the site, and I encourage everyone to eat a cupcake at least once a week. Cupcakes make the world go ’round. lol
All the best!
CdnEquestrian
I recently found out about Duncan Hines Frosting Creations. I normally don’t care for packaged frosting, but their chocolate marshmallow would be really good with this graham cupcake, I think. Also wondering if you could make your own plain frosting and add a pouch of their flavoring to it. Then you could go with all butter and natural ingredients.
Hi Lissa, I’ve never used these frosting creations or flavoring pouches, so I’m not sure how that would work. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
These things would be the death of me. I mean that in the most endearing way possible; of course it would be because I ate too many!
I really appreciate your feedback! Perhaps I can just make the frosting the morning of, assuming it should do good for a few hours. Thanks again for the info and for being an inspiration!
You’re welcome Kristin! Doing them the morning of should work just fine. Enjoy!
Hi! I really want to make these cupcakes for my son’s 3rd birthday. I need to make them a day ahead as we will be driving an hour to the party location that morning. I am worried about the marshmallow frosting staying soft and fluffy. Can i make the icing and frost the night before? Do they need refrigeration overnight? Thank you so much!!
Hi Kristin, Unfortunately due to the nature of the frosting, they really won’t hold up overnight. I mean, technically they’d be okay to eat, but the consistency will be totally gone – they’ll be a little stiff and gummy (I know this because I ate leftovers!). Almost none of my recipes require cupcake frosting to be served immediately, but this is an exception.
i have a feeling these are going to be amazing – cannot wait to try them in the upcoming weekends! yummy!!
I tried to make this. But I had to make the graham flour substitution. I found the cake too sweet, and too dense (maybe because it wasnt the already made graham flour). I also used fluff (to avoid having to make my own marshmallow, and it was too runny. I made a big mess! But overall I thought it was ok. I just have to re-do it and find out where I went wrong!
I really want to make these for the office pot luck, thus securing my position as Office Hero, but I can’t for the life of me find graham flour in Winnipeg, Canada. I’m trying to avoid having to buy wheat germ and wheat bran; any idea how it would work and/or taste if I used all-purpose flour and added some graham crumbs to the batter?
Hi Sarah, I really can’t speak to the AP flour/graham crumbs substitution since I haven’t used it, but you could always order graham flour from King Arthur Flour: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/king-arthur-whole-wheat-pastry-flour-/-graham-flour-3-lb (it ships to Canada! :))
Hi Michelle,
I have a question, how do leftovers turn out (should there actually be any) with that type of frosting? I’m worried that storing them in the fridge could turn the marshmallow frosting into cement. Any thoughts??
Thanks!
Kristin
Hi Kristin, I would not store these in the refrigerator. I would leave them at room temperature, but after a day or so the frosting will be a little gummy. They really are best served the same day you frost them (and the sooner the better).
Ok, that’s kinda what I figured. Thanks for getting back to me!
Kristin
These look awesome! I would even consider putting the ganache in the center, like the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes (https://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/03/14/irish-car-bomb-cupcakes/).
These sound amazing… Love it! :)
These are awesome, Michelle! What a fun treat these would be for a kid’s birthday party.
Very clever adaption! Thanks for sharing.
Bookmarked! WOW! S’mores fan :-)
Wow….anything s’mores and I’ll eat it even if it’s s’more steak (someone please invent it…hahaha).
Seriously, I can practically smell those cupcakes through my monitor. Looks delicious!
This is an interesting idea. I’ve never heard of graham crack flour though only crumbs.
Graham flour is what graham crackers are made from. I’ve only found it in one store in our area.
These s’mores looks so good even on screen! Wish I could pick it off and try some now :D
So what made you decide on the frosting rather than a seven minute? I’ve been making s’mores cupcakes, but I’m not sold on the seven minute, maybe I should switch to this one!
You definately have me craving smores now!