S'mores Cupcakes

The first annual Cochran family get-together was this year in the Arbuckle wilderness area in nowhere Oklahoma. All 20 something of us lived in one big lodge for the weekend. Being all campy-feeling, I though s'mores would be appropriate, but there was a burn ban in Oklahoma so that meant no camp fires. So.... I came up with s'mores cupcakes! I googled a few recipes, and turns out there are lots of different ways of doing this. So, I combined a few recipes and my own ideas. They turned out okay, but I think I'll try a few things different if I make them again.

For the cake:
Mix up a yellow cake mix per the package directions. Separately, crush up graham crackers until you have about 1 cup of crumbs. Fold these into the cake batter for a graham cracker cake, put into cups, and bake according to the mix directions. When cooled, dig out a little hole in the center of each cupcake.

For the chocolate middle:
Melt down some Hershey chocolate bars in the microwave, and fill up the holes in the cupcakes with the melted chocolate, letting it run out the top so you can spread a layer over the top of the cupcake. This is something that needs some work because while it turned out great right afterwards to have a gooey chocolate center, the next day the chocolate hardened in the center and left a little chocolate turd in the middle of the cupcakes. Good, but not quite what I was going for.

For the marshmallow frosting:
Blend a jar of marshmallow fluff with a stick of softened butter. Then gradually add in about 2-3 cups powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Dollop a spoonful onto the tops of each chocolate-filled cupcake. This frosting was a little thin, so it ended up running down the side instead of staying nice and perky. And, it tasted a little to sugary sweet instead of marshmallow-y, but not sure what I could have done about it other than using more fluff and less powdered sugar?

Finally, a garnish of a graham cracker! I wanted to toast these in the broiler to give the marshmallow a toasty look, but the oven at this lodge didn't have a broiler.

Have one, then have s'more!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Balls

I think the title is pretty self-explanatory of what these are. Balls of chocolatey peanut buttery goodness!

I made just a regular ol' box of chocolate cake (which by the way smelled so so so good. I think I want a candle called "warm chocolate cake"). After it cools, crumble it up. Looks like dirt. 

Instead of using frosting, I used straight creamy peanut butter. I stirred in almost a whole jar because it required that much to get to the right consistency. Unfortunately, I think this resulted in too much peanut butter and not enough chocolate, but for some that's okay. Me, I prefer more chocolate, but I guess I can't always have my way.

Ball it up, then let them chill (freeze) for a few hours. Melt down some vanilla candy chips or almond bark. Dip each ball into the coating and set on wax paper to cool.

For the finishing touches, melt down a Hershey chocolate bar and scrape it into a plastic baggie. Cut off a small tip and use it to drizzle chocolate over the tops of the balls. This really made the balls look a lot nicer!

Yum yummy!