One of my favorite {if not, my most favorite}, summer night activities is bonfires and s'mores. I love the smell of the fire that gets on my clothes and in my hair, and the sparks that fly up when the fire gets stoked, but the best part of the entire experience is obviously the s'mores! These cupcakes are the direct inspiration from a summer night bonfire, and will no doubt leave you craving one yourself.
S'mores Cupcakes
Yields 24+ {about 30}Cupcakes and crust:
{1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter substitute}
1 cup butter substitute
1/2 cup dairy free, soy free chocolate chips
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup almond milk
Frosting:
6 eggs whites
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter substitute until the crumbs are moist.
Spread the crumbs evenly in the cupcake cups, and press in evenly to make a crust.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes {just to give it a bit of a crunch}. Remove the trays from the oven, and let cool while you make the cupcake batter. Leave the oven on 350 though.
For the cupcakes:
Melt the butter substitute and chocolate together in the microwave.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder.
In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla together until smooth.
Add the cooled butter substitute/chocolate and beat until smooth.
While still beating, add half of the flour mixture, then half of the almond milk.
Repeat until everything is added. Stir until just combined
Bake on 350 for 20-25 minutes
While the cupcakes are cooling, start making the frosting. This frosting is definitely one of the easiest and tastiest frostings that I've ever made, and it goes perfectly with these cupcakes! You couldn't have a s'more without a marshmallow could you?
For the frosting:
Put the egg whites and sugar in a {heatproof!!!} glass bowl, and put the bowl over barely boiling water.
Over the course of 3 to 5 minutes, gently whisk the egg whites together with the sugar until all of the sugar is dissolved. You aren't trying to make meringue here, so there is no need to whisk fast. You are just dissolving the sugar, so don't try to rush it :)
Once all of the sugar is dissolved, remove the bowl from over the water. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and sugar on a high speed for 4 to 7 minutes until stiff, glossy peaks are formed.
Add vanilla and continue beating until the vanilla is combined.
Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes without a tip, just use the circular hole of the piping bag.
Admittedly, I am a bit of a pyro. This is a judgment-free zone, so none of you are allowed to judge me. That being said, my absolute most favorite {optional} part of these cupcakes was lightly torching the marshmallow frosting with my kitchen torch :)
Like I said, this is optional, but how cute do they look?! I will also admit that I accidentally burned a lot of cupcake wrappers while doing this, but once I got the hang of it, it wasn't so bad :)