Peanut Butter S’mores Cupcakes

Peanut butter s’mores cupcakes with a perfect graham cracker crust, peanut butter cupcake, milk chocolate filling and homemade toasted marshmallow fluff!

Ok friends. It’s s’mores season, actually it’s always s’mores season for me, but it’s OFFICIALLY s’mores season. & what makes s’mores better than the original graham cracker, Hershey’s chocolate & toasted marshmallow?! I’ll tell you my friend, it’ a Reeses cup. The ultimate s’mores is made with a Reeses cup & so I have for you a peanut butter s’mores cupcakes recipe. Now I know some may disagree with me, that the original is better & normally I would agree because I’m an ‘original’ kind of person, I don’t like all the extra toppings on most things. BUTTTTT, it really doesn’t get much better than graham crackers, chocolate, peanut butter & toasted marshmallow ya’ll.

Also we need to talk about one more thing before we get to this recipe here. Someone please tell me why majority of the “s’mores” recipes out there like “s”mores cake” or “s’mores cupcakes” or “s’mores donuts”, etc. highlight the chocolate as the ‘hero’ of the dessert?! Don’t misinterpret this, I LOVE chocolate, but chocolate is NOT the hero of a s’more. If anything, it’s the toasted marshmallow but personally I think it’s the balance of the three flavors. Do you really want the chocolate just over powering everything else? I don’t think so. Like everyone overlooks the graham cracker but omg it’s like my fav part!! Ok rant over.

What Are Peanut Butter S’mores Cupcakes?

Layers. Beautiful aren’t they?!

• Crust: a graham cracker crust to give it a nice grahamy flavor and some texture.
• Cupcake: The cupcake is flavored with graham crackers and peanut butter. I wanted a nice balance here so none of the flavors are super strong in the cupcake.
• Filling: I used real Hershey’s chocolate to get that authentic s’mores flavor.
• Topping: there just aren’t many things better in life than toasted homemade fluff lol it’s easy to make and holds up so much better than store bough fluff.

OMG & I ALMOST FORGOT!!! I also lit my countertop oven on fire with these cupcakes -__- LOL So I toasted the meringue in there for a few minutes & it was perf but then I ran out of meringue for the last two cupcakes (don’t worry, recipe is adjusted) so I topped the last few with large marshmallows & tried to toast those guys. Well… the marshmallows may have grown a wee bit too tall & touched the top of the oven & lit on fire. All is ok, toaster oven is fine & the cupcakes were still edible LOL.

How to store cupcakes

Mmmm, meringue is iffy. Generally I like to keep cupcakes with buttercream at room temperature for 2-3 days but because this has a meringue topping, you’ll need to keep it chilled. Place the cupcakes in an airtight container and refrigerate them for up to a week.

You can also freeze them but the meringue can break once they defrost again so I don’t recommend it. Alternatively you can freeze the cupcakes and just make a fresh meringue when defrosting and serving. If you’re just freezing the cupcakes, wrap them in plastic wrap individually and place them in a ziplock bag, squeezing out all the excess air.

Ok now go make these incredible peanut butter s’mores cupcakes & DON’T LIGHT YOUR OVEN ON FIRE!! Use a blow torch if you have one… & then buy me one too, lol. If you make them, make sure to tag me @baranbakery on instagram, I want to seeeee tooooo! As always,

Love, B

Recipes

Occasions

Peanut Butter S’mores Cupcakes Recipe

prep 45 minutes mins

cook 20 minutes mins

Additional Time 1 hour hr

total 2 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Serves 18 cupcakes

Peanut butter cupcake with a graham cracker crust, filled with chocolate ganache, and topped with swiss meringue! The perfect alternative to traditional s'mores!

Author: Bernice Baran

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Servings 18 cupcakes

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Equipment

• ▢
  Muffin Pan 
• ▢
  Thermometer

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

• ▢ 3 Tbsp (42g) unsalted butter, softened
• ▢ 8 sheets (1 sleeve) graham crackers, crushed

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

• ▢ 1 1/2 cup (180g) cake flour, spooned and leveled
• ▢ 1/2 cup (50g) graham crackers, powdered
• ▢ 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup (110g) light brown sugar, lightly packed
• ▢ 2 1/2 tsp (10g) baking powder
• ▢ 1/4 tsp salt
• ▢ 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
• ▢ 1/4 cup (64g) peanut butter
• ▢ 1/3 cup (80mL) milk
• ▢ 1/4 cup (60mL) sour cream
• ▢ 1 tsp (5mL) vanilla
• ▢ 1 large egg, room temperature
• ▢ 2 large egg whites, room temperature

Chocolate Ganache

• ▢ 3 Hershey’s Candy Bars
• ▢ 1/2 cup (120mL) heavy cream

Meringue

• ▢ 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• ▢ 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 tsp (10mL) vanilla

Method

Crust

1. Begin by preheating the oven to 350F/177C convection (325F/163C conventional).
2. Combine the butter and crushed graham crackers. Distribute evenly among 18 cupcake liners and press them down firmly. Set aside.
   3 Tbsp (42g) unsalted butter softened, 8 sheets (1 sleeve) graham crackers crushed

Cupcakes

1. Combine the cake flour, powdered graham crackers, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add in the chunks of butter and peanut butter until the mixture becomes crumbly.
   1 1/2 cup (180g) cake flour spooned and leveled, 1/2 cup (50g) graham crackers powdered, 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar, 1/2 cup (110g) light brown sugar lightly packed, 2 1/2 tsp (10g) baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter softened, 1/4 cup (64g) peanut butter
2. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, sour cream and vanilla. While mixing on medium speed, pour about 3/4 of the milk mixture in the cupcake batter. Beat for 1 minute.
   1/3 cup (80mL) milk, 1/4 cup (60mL) sour cream, 1 tsp (5mL) vanilla
3. Mix the eggs in the left over milk mixture and pour half of it into the batter. Beat for another minute. Add in the rest of the milk and egg mixture and beat until they are fully combined and smooth.
   1 large egg room temperature, 2 large egg whites room temperature
4. Fill the cupcake tins about 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes. Then remove them from the pan and allow them to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Ganache Filling

1. Break the Hershey's bars into small chunks and place in a heat proof bowl.
   3 Hershey’s Candy Bars
2. Heat the cream in a sauce pan just until it simmers, and remove before boiling. Pour over the chocolate bar and stir until smooth. Set it aside and allow it to cool.
   1/2 cup (120mL) heavy cream
3. Meanwhile, remove a chunk from the middle of each cupcake. I used the back end of a large piping tip to do this or you can use a knife to cut it out.
4. Once the chocolate is cool enough to the touch but still thin enough to drizzle, fill the holes with chocolate, and top with the chunk of cupcake you removed. *see photos*

Meringue

1. Heat up a small pot of water on the stove to create a double boiler for the Swiss meringue. Whisk the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer over the double boiler until about 140F (60C) or until the sugar is fully dissolved and the egg whites are frothy.
   4 large egg whites room temperature, 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
2. Remove from the heat and use the whisk attachment to beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff peaks form. Add the vanilla and beat until it is fully incorporated.
   2 tsp (10mL) vanilla
3. Use immediately to frost the cupcakes. Use either a blow torch to brown the meringue or place the cupcakes in the oven on broil for a few minutes (watching intensely so they don't burn).
4. Let them set in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 342kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 5gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 202mgFiber: 1gSugar: 30g

Course: Cakes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate ganache, graham cracker crust, peanut butter cupcakes, s’mores cupcakes, swiss meringue, swiss meringue cupcakes