S’mores Cupcakes

Graham Cracker Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tbsp. white sugar

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes:
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbsp. butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup chocolate chips

Additional Ingredient:
24 standard-size marshmallows

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners. Mix graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar until well blended. Place 2 teaspoons of this mixture in the bottom of each liner and press down until firm. Bake 3-5 minutes or until a golden brown crust has formed in each liner. Remove from oven and let cool.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a medium size bowl. Set Aside.

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Add in flour mixture and milk, alternating until both are completely mixed into the batter. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon a heaping teaspoon-full of batter into each liner. Place a marshmallow sideways in the center of each liner (if you have a Cupcake Surprise Pan simply skewer a marshmallow sideways onto the prong). Use a spoon to scoop more batter on top of the marshmallows until they are covered and no white shows through. They will be more than 2/3 full.

Place in the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes at 350 degrees until the marshmallow peeking through has a nice golden brown color. Let cook for 5 more minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack.

*Best served warm.

**Makes 24 cupcakes.

***Total time for these cupcakes ranges between 1 and 2 hours depending on your baking style and your number of cupcake pans.

Cream Cheese filled Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Filling:
4 oz package cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Cupcakes:
any carrot cake or chocolate cake mix – (yields 18 cupcakes)

DIRECTIONS:

Start by mixing the cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then mix in sugar with mixer until blended. Spoon mixture into a small bowl and refrigerate.

Follow the directions for your cake mix/recipe. Line cupcake surprise pan with paper liners. You do not need to grease the prong in the middle of each cup. Spoon batter into each cup until 1/3 full. Remove cream cheese filling from the refrigerator. Carefully spoon filling onto each prong. You can use how much or how little filling you want; I used about the size of a standard bouncy ball that you would find in a vending machine. Once each cup has filling, add batter to each cup, ensuring they’re about 2/3 or 3/4 full. Bake according to your recipe. Let the cupcakes cool for at least 15 minutes before tasting!

*To purchase a cupcake surprise pan look here: http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Metallic-Non-Stick-Surprise-Cupcake/dp/B00570C0A6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371586062&sr=8-2&keywords=cupcake+surprise

**Check back for other varieties of surprise cupcakes, and feel free to share any ideas in the comments!