S'mores Cupcakes

Hello from snowy New York! Today I woke up to about a foot of snow...and no school! SNOW DAY. I only thought it was appropriate to bake something that went along with the weather conditions. What's better than sitting in front of a roaring fire with a cup of hot chocolate and some s'mores? With a graham cracker crust, moist chocolate cake, and a marshmallow frosting these cupcakes really warmed me up =] - Nikki


Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup light brown sugar
5 T unsalted butter, melted
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
Marshmallows (you'll need about 100 mini marshmallows)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Add sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and melted butter and mix until well combined. Add approximately 1- 1 1/2 tablespoon of crumbs to the bottom of each liner. Use a small circle object to press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of each liner. Bake for 5 minutes and remove from the oven. Divide the chopped chocolate evenly among the cupcakes. Add approximately 4 marshmallows to each tin. 


Cake:

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup boiling water

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in your mixing bowl. In a small bowl, add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and whisk together. Add to dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add boiling water and beat on low until just combined.

Spoon batter evenly into cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 of the way full. The marshmallows will float to the top but that's okay. Bake approximately 18 - 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center cupcake comes out clean. Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.


Marshmallow Frosting-

1 stick butter, unsalted

1 (8 ounce) jar marshmallow fluff

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons milk

Beat butter in a large bowl with mixer on high speed until creamy. Beat in marshmallow fluff. Reduce speed to low, and beat in confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and milk. Increase speed to high; beat until fluffy.