S’mores Cupcakes
Can you believe that I didn’t have a single cupcake recipe on this blog? Sure, I have a few donut recipes that could be baked as cupcakes, but I prefer to call those “muffins” so I can justify eating them at 8am.
I think the last time I made cupcakes was a year (or more) ago when I attempted chocolate cupcakes with decadent mint buttercream for my mom. She, like me, loves the mint chocolate combo, but told me the frosting reminded her of toothpaste. Really delicious toothpaste, I hope.
Anyway, I’m not going to subject you all to a recipe that some people compared to Colgate. Instead, I kept with my chocolate theme as of late, and used it as inspiration to come up with a vegan s’mores cupcake – chocolate cake with crushed graham crackers mixed into the batter, and a gooey, marshmallowy frosting, all topped with a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs for good measure.
I used Ener-G egg replacer to make the topping, but I’d love to try melting down some Dandies vegan marshmallows next time to see how that turns out. I would have bought some Dandies for this recipe, but the last and only time I did that, I ended up eating almost the entire bag by myself over the course of three days. Okay fine, two days. Who doesn’t need a few marshmallows between every meal or drink of water?
I’ve only used the Ener-G egg replacer a few times thus far, but it’s kind of miraculous that something that’s primarily made with potato and tapioca starches can so closely resemble egg whites. I’m working on a recipe for vegan meringues and aside from a slight aftertaste, the texture is spot-on and I highly doubt anyone would know they’re vegan. I love it when that happens.
But until I perfect the vegan meringues, I guess you’re just stuck with these gooey s’mores cupcakes. Life is hard.
| Vegan S’mores Cupcakes |
- For the Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 1 C. Plain Non-Dairy Milk (I used soy milk)
- 1 Tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 C. Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 C. Canola Oil
- 2 Tbs. Unsweetened Applesauce
- 1 1/2 Tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 C. All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 C. Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 C. Vegan Graham Cracker Crumbs, plus extra for garnish
- 1 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
- 3/4 Tsp. Baking Soda
- 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/4 Tsp. Sea Salt
- For the Marshmallow Topping:
- 1/2 C. Ener-G Egg Replacer* (see note below)
- 1/2 C. Water
- 2 Tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 C. Granulated Sugar
- 1/8 Tsp. Sea Salt
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Lightly grease a muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar. Set it aside for 2-3 minutes and allow the milk to curdle (this is how you make vegan buttermilk).
- To the milk, add the sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Beat for about 30 seconds.
- Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix to combine and until no large lumps remain.
- Fold in the graham cracker crumbs.
- Portion the cupcake batter into muffin tins, filling each a little more than 3/4 full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool while you prepare the topping.
- To make the marshmallow topping, add the Ener-G egg replacer, water, and vanilla to the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Mix on low speed, then scrape down the sides and mix again.
- Keeping it on low speed, slowly pour in the sugar and salt, and then turn the speed up to high. Whip the topping for about 12-15 minutes, until it’s light and fluffy.
- Refrigerate the topping for about 30 minutes to help it firm up.
- Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, spoon or pipe the marshmallow topping over them and garnish with the remaining graham cracker crumbs.
- Store the remaining cupcakes in the refrigerator.
*I’ve received some feedback that the marshmallow topping seems too thin to frost the cupcakes. It’s certainly not a thick frosting, but I didn’t have any trouble with it sliding off the cupcakes. If you do find that it needs to be thicker after it’s been whipped for 12-15 minutes, I recommend adding a little more egg replacer (try a teaspoon at a time) until you achieve the desired consistency.
For the graham cracker crumbs, I ended up processing about 4 sheets of graham crackers.
