S'mores Cupcakes

Camping is one of my favorite pastimes. Pitching the tent. Hiking. Building fires. And of course, campfire cooking.

In 2009, when we went camping in Eastern Canada, I shared some of my campfire cooking with you: Campfire Toasted Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, Fire Roasted Chicken Thighs, Cheddar Baked Potatoes, and of course, Warm Baked Apples filled with Nutella.

I think that was the last time we went camping (living in the Middle East, camping is not a very popular pastime) and since moving back to British Columbia, I have been dying to go!

So, while I was drifting off, thinking about ideas for cupcakes for my best friend, it's no surprise that camping came back into my mind. And then I thought of S'mores. The sweet, sticky, oozy marshmallow with the rich chocolate and the crunch of the graham cracker. So I decided to recreate S'mores in a whimsical cupcake.

This cupcake has a graham cracker crust, layer of chocolate, dense chocolately cupcake, graham sprinkles, broiled marshmallows, a chocolate drizzle, and topped with a graham cracker garnish.

Yes, it is a lot of steps and yes, it does take some time, but it is so so worth it! They looked fantastic and the taste was to die for. How could you possibly resist?

S'mores Cupcakes

Makes about 5 dozen medium sized cupcakes

For the Crust

1 1/2 cups Graham Crumbs

1/2 cup Sugar

1/3 cup Butter, Melted

3/4 cup Semi-Sweet Mini Choc Chips or Finely Chopped Chocolate

For the Cupcakes

(I used the One Bowl Chocolate Cake Recipe for these!)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups cocoa powder

2 1/2 cups sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp salt

2 large whole eggs, plus 1 large YOLK

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups warm water

For the Toppings

Marshmallows (I used mini but you could also use big ones)

1 1/2 cups Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Dark Chocolate Chips

15 Graham Crackers, broken into large pieces

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line your muffin pans with paper liners or spray your cake pans with cooking spray.

Combine the graham crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press about 1 tsp into each cupcake mould. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Add the eggs and yolk, milk, oil, vanilla and water, and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth and combined (about 3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add chocolate cupcake batter on top of the graham crusts until the cups are about 2/3 full. Sprinkle with a little of the graham crust. Bake for about 20-25 minutes (for medium sized cupcakes).

Let cool on a wire rack. Turn the oven to broil. Once cool, top with marshmallows and broil for about 30 seconds until the marshmallows are browned. Make sure you watch the marshmallows as they brown quickly and burn easily.

Once browned, remove from oven and using your fingers or a spoon, just press down the marshmallows.

In a microwave proof bowl, heat chocolate chips for 20 seconds at a time, then stir, then heat again, until completely melted. Place the chocolate into a ziplock bag and cut a small corner off the bag. Drizzle the chocolate over the top of the cupcakes. Garnish with a piece of graham cracker.