Graham cracker crust, moist espresso chocolate cupcakes, and a swiss meringue buttercream.
This post may contain affiliate links, please read the privacy policy for details. This post is sponsored by Papanicholas Coffee. All opinions are my own.
espresso s’mores cupcakes
Would it even be summer without some s’mores recipes?! These cupcakes are s’mores in a delicious cupcake. With a graham cracker crust on the bottom, a super moist espresso chocolate cupcake, and a marshmallow-y swiss meringue buttercream. For garnish, add on some chocolate, espresso beans and crushed graham cracker, and a little homemade shortbread cookie! This recipe is small batch, because we don’t always need a lot of cupcakes and bakes, but can easily be scaled up.
why you’ll love these espresso s’mores cupcakes:
- They’re super rich and chocolatey: dutch cocoa powder makes these cupcakes *so* nice and chocolatey.
- They’re small batch: like a lot of the recipes you’ll find here, these cupcakes are small batch – yielding 6 delicious cupcakes.
- They’re s’mores in cupcake form: the combination of the graham cracker crust, moist chocolate cupcake, and marshmallow-y swiss meringue buttercream bring all the delicious flavors of s’mores, without the mess of s’mores!
papanicholas coffee
I’ve partnered again with my all-time favorite coffee brand: papanicholas coffee for these espresso s’mores cupcakes. I use their coffee beans every day and am so happy to be able to partner with them to spread the love of their coffee. In this recipe I used their mocha java espresso beans which is super smooth and slightly sweet with notes of cocoa. I definitely highly recommend trying some of their coffee, they have so many delicious flavors and are always the coffee I use in my recipes (and for my daily caffeine dose!). You can find their website by clicking here. Also, if you do end up purchasing their coffee be sure to use code FRESH20 for 20% off your coffee order!
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
How to make your chocolate cupcakes more chocolatey:
The secret to getting more chocolate flavor into your chocolate cake? Bloom your cocoa powder! Blooming your cocoa powder just means that you’re mixing the cocoa with a hot liquid. Here we’re using hot espresso to both bloom the cocoa and add moisture into the cake. Adding in the hot espresso releases the cocoa powder particles from a very thin membrane on them, exposing cocoa solids and bringing out more flavor. It’s truly such a simple way to add more chocolate flavor into your bakes, and makes it easier for the cocoa to incorporate into the batter.
Be careful when mixing the cupcake batter:
When you over-mix your batter, you create more gluten in the batter which will make your cupcakes go from light and moist to dense and chewy. When you’re mixing in the dry ingredients, be sure that you only mix *just until* that last streak of flour disappears into the batter.
Use room temperature ingredients:
This is super important for allowing the batter to come together smoothly. You’ll want to take your ingredients out of the fridge about an hour before baking to allow them enough time to come to room temperature.
Keep a close eye on the cupcakes while they bake:
Cakes and cupcakes like to go from under-baked to over-baked super quickly so it is important to keep a close eye on them. I’d recommend that you start checking on the cake around 15 minutes.
how to fix soupy swiss meringue buttercream
If the mixture seems thin and soupy, place it in the fridge for 20 minutes and whip it back up – it should be perfect! You may need to refrigerate it longer but do not put it in for more than 20-minute intervals or the butter will solidify. If it seems a bit curdled, just keep on beating it until it eventually smooths out.
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for s’mores cupcakes:
graham cracker crust:
- Graham crackers: the base of any good graham cracker crust!
- Unsalted butter: binds the crust together. Salted or your favorite non-dairy butter stick will work perfectly here as well.
- Granulated sugar: for a bit of sweetness.
Espresso s’mores cupcakes:
- All purpose flour: the structure of the cupcakes
- Baking powder: for leavening and giving that “cakey” texture.
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness
- Dutch process cocoa powder: gives the cupcakes a deep, rich chocolate flavor. You can use natural cocoa powder here as well, just note that the cupcakes will be much lighter in color.
- Espresso: a shot of hot espresso poured over the cocoa helps bring out that ultra-chocolatey flavor. You can use freshly brewed espresso from a machine or instant espresso mixed with the appropriate amount of hot water. Hot coffee will also work well here too. If you are avoiding espresso or coffee, you can just use hot water in it’s place!
- Vegetable oil: tenderizes the cupcakes. Any neutral oil, such as canola, will also work here.
- Granulated sugar: sweetens the cupcakes and helps lock in the moisture.
- Egg: contributes moisture to the cupcakes and helps bind the batter together
- Sour cream: tenderizes and adds moisture to the cupcakes. I recommend using full-fat sour cream for the best texture.
Shortbread cookie garnish:
- All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderness and flavor.
- Light brown sugar: for flavor and sweetness.
- Graham cracker: for texture & flavor.
Swiss meringue buttercream:
- Egg whites: the base of the meringue in swiss meringue buttercream.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetening and helping the egg whites whip up.
- Unsalted butter: adds flavor to and thickens up the buttercream. You can use salted butter here, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the buttercream.
- Vanilla: for flavor. I use and love this vanilla extract!
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the buttercream.
how to make espresso s’mores cupcakes
Here’s just a quick little visual on the process of making these small batch espresso s’mores cupcakes. The full recipe is at the end of this blog post!
s’mores cupcakes recipe q&a
do I need to use espresso in these cupcakes?
I highly recommend using espresso in these cupcakes (especially papanicholas!) If for any reason you don’t want to or can’t use espresso in these cupcakes, that is perfectly fine! Simply replace the hot espresso with an equal amount of hot water or hot milk.
can I double this recipe?
Of course! Obviously they will not be small batch anymore but small batch isn’t always what we need! Simply double all of the ingredients in the recipe to make 12 delicious cupcakes. I even more strongly recommend measuring by weight if you are going to double the recipe for the best results.
can I make these cupcakes ahead of time?
You can make the cookies up to a week ahead of time, and the cupcakes up to 2 days before you want to serve them. I’d recommend waiting to make the swiss meringue buttercream until you want to frost and serve the cupcakes.
how to store the cupcakes
Because these cupcakes are topped with a swiss meringue buttercream, they do need to be stored in the fridge for food safety. If you’re not a fan of cold cupcakes, you can let them sit out for an hour to come to room temperature before eating.
can I turn this into a cake?
Definitely! Bake the cake in a 6″ cake pan. Just note that it will take a bit longer to bake because it will be bigger and thicker than the cupcakes.
tools and ingredients
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Espresso S’mores Cupcakes
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 22 g graham crackers (1 ½ sheets)
- ½ tbsp. butter
- ½ tbsp. granulated sugar
Espresso Chocolate Cupcakes
- 90 g all purpose flour (¾ c.)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 32 g dutch process cocoa powder (⅓ c.)
- 60 g freshly brewed espresso (2 oz.)
- 75 g vegetable oil (¼ c. + 2 tbsp.)
- 100 g granulated sugar (½ c.)
- 1 egg room temperature
- 75 g sour cream room temperature (⅓ c.)
Shortbread Cookie Garnish*
- 28 g unsalted butter room temperature (2 tbsp.)
- 1 tbsp. light brown sugar
- 40 g all purpose flour (⅓ c.)
- 2 tsp. crushed graham crackers
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 2 egg whites
- 135 g granulated sugar (½ c. + 3 tbsp.)
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 113 g unsalted butter (8 tbsp.)
- ½ tsp. vanilla
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a muffin tin with 6 parchment liners.
- Crush the graham crackers or pulse them in a food processor until they are very finely crushed.
- Melt the butter, then mix the butter and sugar into the crushed graham crackers.
- Place 1 tbsp. of the graham cracker mixture into each parchment liner, and press it down.
- Bake the crust for 8 minutes. In the meantime, make the cupcake batter.
Espresso Chocolate Cupcakes
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and freshly brewed coffee.
- To the cocoa-espresso mixture, whisk in the vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, and sour cream until well combined.
- Add in the flour mixture, and whisk together just until no flour streaks remain.
- Distribute the cupcake batter evenly between the 12 liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
Shortbread Cookie Garnish
- In a small bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until just combined.
- Add in the flour and crushed graham crackers and beat until the mixture becomes a cohesive dough.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out until it is ¼” thick. Cut out 1½” cookies, then re-roll out the dough and cut out more cookies.
- Transfer the cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet and place them in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up. Then, bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, until the edges turn golden brown.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- In a small saucepan set over medium heat, constantly whisk together the egg whites and sugar until the mixture reaches 160°F / 71°C.
- Once the mixture is hot enough, transfer it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk the mixture on medium-high speed until it reaches soft peaks.
- While the egg whites are whipping up, remove the butter from the fridge and slice it into 1 tbsp. slices.
- Once the egg whites reach soft peaks, keep the mixer running. Add in the butter 1 tbsp. at a time, waiting at least 20 seconds before adding in the next slice. Continue until you have used all of the butter and the mixture is cohesive.
- Beat in the salt and vanilla. If the buttercream seems runny, put it in the fridge in 10-minute intervals, beating the mixture after each interval until it’s firm enough to be piped on to the cupcakes.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your piping tip of choice. Pipe the frosting on to each cupcake, then garnish with a shortbread cookie, melted chocolate, crushed graham crackers and espresso beans. Serve and enjoy
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
Made these today minus the coffee lol and they were scrumptious!!
Thank you so much, I’m so happy you liked them! 🙂
I know this a crazy question but love s’mores hate coffee can I just use hot water or milk for espresso substitute?
Not crazy at all! You can substitute in an equal amount of hot water and it will be just as delicious! 🙂