Simply the best S'mores Cupcakes for summer (or anytime really)! S'mores are iconic and reminiscent of hot summer nights around a campfire.
Over the last couple of years, we've been spending time at my sister's house in the Catskills at the end of summer and s'mores are always on the list of must-haves!
The kids love 'em and us adults love 'em because they are a simple, delicious dessert that requires very little effort - save for lots of cautions about getting too close to the fire or poking one's eye out with the marshmallow roasting sticks. But, no one's lost an eye just yet, so it's all good.
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S'mores for Dessert all Summer long
For Mother's Day this year, I decided to bake up a batch of S'mores Cupcakes. We've had a long, cold and snowy winter here in the northeast and just a couple of weeks ago it started looking like Spring had finally arrived.
So, I wanted to soak up as much of the warm weather feel as possible. These treats did the trick!
And, the best part was that I got to use my kitchen torch - yay! My sis Robyn got me the torch for Christmas recently and I look for reasons to use it.
I learned on this one to be careful because it's easy to burn the cupcake liners (thank goodness no one was watching when that happened...), but getting that charred, crispy top on the marshmallow frosting was the icing on the cake in this recipe (pun totally intended).
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For more summery s'mores treats, check out these recipes:
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Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Cupcakes
- ¾ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- ¾ cup hot brewed coffee can be substituted with hot water
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter
- 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, room temperature
Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 7 ounce jar Marshmallow Fluff
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 1 sheet graham crackers broken into 24 pieces
- 4 ounces Hershey's chocolate bar broken into 24 pieces
Instructions
Make the Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line two standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
- In a small bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar until well combined.1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Press a heaping tablespoon of the crust mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup and bake until golden and just set, 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Make the Cupcakes
- Whisk together cocoa and hot coffee until smooth.¾ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, ¾ cup hot brewed coffee
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- In a small saucepan, melt butter with sugar over medium-low heat, stirring to combine.1 ½ cups unsalted butter, 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
- Remove from the heat and pour into a mixing bowl. With a handheld or stand mixer, beat on medium-low speed until mixture is cool, approximately 4-5 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time to butter sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. Scrape down sides of the bowl as needed to ensure ingredients are well incorporated.4 large eggs
- Add vanilla then cocoa mixture and beat until combined.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream or yogurt, beating until just combined. Do not over mix1 cup sour cream
- Using an ice cream scoop, place one scoop of batter in each lined muffin cup, filling each ¾ full (note: you may have leftover batter).
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cupcakes comes out clean, about 20 minutes, rotating pans after 10 minutes.
- Let cool in the muffin tins on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the tins and allow to cool completely.
Make Frosting
- In mixing bowl with paddle attachment affixed of a stand or handheld mixer, beat softened butter with powdered sugar on medium until fully incorporated.½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup powdered sugar
- Beat in marshmallow fluff until light and fluffy then mix in vanilla.1 7 ounce jar Marshmallow Fluff, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Scoop one heaping tablespoon of frosting and dollop on top of each cooled cupcake. It doesn't need to be pretty - in fact, the messier the better in my opinion.
- With a kitchen torch (or your oven's broiler), lightly brown the frosting, being very careful not to set the cupcake liners (or your kitchen) on fire. If using the broiler, keep a very close eye on the cupcakes - they can go from browned to burnt in the blink of an eye!
- Top each cupcake with a piece of graham cracker and chocolate.1 sheet graham crackers, 4 ounces Hershey's chocolate bar
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Cupcakes can be baked the day before, covered (be sure they're completely cool first), and stored overnight at room temperature (no need to find room in your fridge!). They also may be frozen (unfrosted) in airtight containers for up to 2 months.
- Recipe inspired by and adapted from Ree Drummond.