S'mores Cupcakes

S'mores are just the thing I look forward to every summer and then hardly ever eat. This summer was no exception. Just as September hit that s'mores craving was back with a vengeance. The problem is that September was already filled with desserts--caramel cake, strawberry shortcake, where was the room for s'mores? Finally it came. My sister & her family were invited for a birthday lunch. At first I was going to make some of the many recipes for s'mores bars but then I decided since this is a celebration it had to be cupcakes.

I browsed the web and thought about how to make a s'mores cupcake my way. I thought that maybe I could do a graham cracker crust like the oreo bottoms for cookie & cream cupcakes. A lot of the recipes for s'mores cupcakes though insisted on a graham cake but I just wasn't feeling it. I mean you can't use a mix for graham cracker cake. Finally I found a recipe that uses a graham cracker crust and loosely followed the directions--very loosely.

We wanted a marshmallow filling for our cupcakes and we thought we had it taken care of that but our method didn't work. We cut large marshmallows in fourths and placed them on top of the baked graham cracker and then poured the cake over it. In the oven, the marshmallows totally expanded and moved to the top and were basically undetectable when eating. So next time, I would do one of two things. 1. Spread marshmallow creme (preferably fluff) on top of the graham cracker crust. 2. Use a piping bag to fill cupcakes after they are baked (you take the tip and just stick it into the top and pipe and then frost the top. Next time. We thought that because we were missing the filling there wasn't as much of a delicious marshmallow flavor. So filling should be added!

S'mores Cupcakes

Ingredients

Chocolate cake mix and ingredients according to directions on the box

5 1/3 T butter, melted

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs, about 1 sleeve crackers

1/4 C sugar

Marshmallow cream, preferably fluff if you can get that brand

2 regular sized Hershey's bars, optional

6 regular sized marshmallows, cut in fourths (See note about how this doesn't work)

24 paper cupcake liners

1/2 C melted chocolate or extra marshmallow cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Prepare graham cracker crust by mixing sugar, graham cracker crumbs and butter in a bowl until combined. Press 1 T crust into the bottom of each paper liner.

3. Bake Crusts for 5 minutes. Cool

4. Prepare cake mix according to directions on the box

5. Spread a little marshmallow or some melted chocolate on the graham cracker crust and then place a marshmallow piece on it (but you may want to skip the marshmallow see note)

6. Pour cake batter 2/3 full in the paper liners

7. Bake according to directions and cool completely

8. When cupcakes are cool, spread a small blob of marshmallow creme on top, don't worry it won't spread easily but it will melt easily!

9. Wait a few minutes and you find the creme melted across the top of the cupcakes, place a square of chocolate on top for garnish

*These cupcakes only last for about 2 days once "frosted" with marshmallow creme. As they sit, the creme melts into the cake and drips off the side. You can, of course, re-frost them if you let them sit out, but that's a lot of work when you might as well just eat them.