S'mores Cupcakes

The gospel and baking? Yup. 

Every other month my church hosts a dessert night at a women's shelter. It's a wonderful time to fellowship, have some good eats, and share biblical encouragement with these women and their children.  There's nothing more humbling than visiting a shelter where women have been beaten, homeless, and/or addicted to a substance and all they have is literally nothing but the shirt on their back. I listen to them, hug them, pray with them and share the good news of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. 

Think about how the Lord has blessed you and what he has given you. Do you have more than one outfit to wear this week? Do you have more than one can of green beans in your cupboards? Do you have a bed to sleep in at night? Are your kids healthy? 

Find your local shelter, children's hospital, or nursing home and give them a call to minister to them for an hour every other month - that's only 6 times a year for 6 hours. Serve them, love them, and bless them.

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons brewed coffee
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup good cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 13 Graham Crackers
• 2 tsps Cinnamon
• 1 Stick salted butter (if have unsalted just add a pinch of salt)

Marshmallow Frosting

2 bags of Marshmallows

2 sticks of unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups confectioner's sugar

2-4 Tbsps water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners and spray with cooking spray so if the cupcakes bake over, they won't stick.

Get all your ingredients together...

Melt stick of salted butter. Place 13 graham crackers a food processor and chop until the crackers are fine. Add the melted butter and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Fill the bottom of each cupcake liner with 1 Tablespoon of the graham cracker mix. Press down and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. Make sure you crack the eggs in something other than the bowl you're using for the batter. If you get a bad egg, you ruin the batter.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. 

In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. 

On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup or if using mini-cupcake tins use the 2 Tblsp scoop). 

Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. 

 To make sure they're done, place a toothpick in one of them and make sure it comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

Melt 1 stick of butter & 1 bag of marshmallows on the stove top.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the other stick of butter until smooth and well blended. Beat in the vanilla extract and marshmallow creme. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the water and beat to combine. Then, on high speed, beat frosting until it is light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Add more cream or confectioners sugar if necessary to get the right piping consistency.

Place 4-5 mini marshmallows on top of the frosting. Using the torch, light the marshmallows until browned.