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. That being said, obviously the best part of the entire experience is 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

For the crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup melted butter

For the cupcakes:
1 cup butter
½ cup chocolate chips
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup almond milk

For the frosting:
6 egg whites
1 ½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees Celsius). In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter 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 slight crunch), then remove trays from the oven and let cool while you make the cupcake batter. Leave the oven on 350 degrees. Melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave. Mix the cocoa powder, flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the cooled butter/chocolate and whisk until smooth. Add half of the flour mixture, then half of the buttermilk. Repeat until everything is added. Stir until just combined. Bake on 305 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) 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 have ever made, and it goes perfectly with these cupcakes! You could not quite 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 are not trying to make meringue here, so there is no need to whisk fast. You are just dissolving the sugar, so do not 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 the 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.

My absolute favorite (optional) part of making these cupcakes was lightly torching the marshmallow frosting with my kitchen torch. Like I said this is optional, but it adds a lot to the character of your cupcakes, and makes them overall more appealing. Top with graham cracker crumbs for a little extra crunch.