While I’ve stalled out a bit on my whole “learning to cook” plans, I definitely have not given up on the baking side of things. Riding high off the success of our macaroons, I sauntered back into the kitchen to try my hand at s’mores cupcakes last weekend.

Now, I’ve made an incarnation of these before — from a recipe I found on Bakerella’s (love her!) site. Y’all remember those? They were quite tasty and very, very chocolatey. It was probably all that cocoa powder I had to add.

These were faster, less intensely chocolatey — and cuter, honestly. I mean, teddy grahams? Stuck in homemade frosting? I couldn’t resist. You’ll see that I used miniature chocolate chips both in the cupcake batter and in the frosting instead of chopping up chocolate bars. You know, ’cause I’m a little lazy. They turned out great and I had plenty to share with my hungry family members, boyfriend and coworkers. Loved universally, my coworker’s 12-year-old daughter already told me that I “must make these again!”

And hey, who am I to disappoint the kids, you know?

S’mores cupcakes

Recipe from BettyCrocker.com

Ingredients for cupcakes:
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 bars (1.55 oz each) milk chocolate candy, finely chopped

Ingredients for frosting:
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons milk
1 bar (1.55 oz) milk chocolate candy, if desired
24 bear-shaped graham crackers, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Fold in graham cracker crumbs and chopped chocolate bars. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

2. Bake 18 to 23 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

3. Remove and discard lid and foil seal from jar of marshmallow creme. To soften marshmallow creme for easy removal from jar, microwave on High 15 to 20 seconds. In large bowl, beat marshmallow creme, butter and powdered sugar on low speed until blended. Beat in enough milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to make frosting spreadable. Spread over tops of cupcakes. Divide chocolate bar into rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally in half and place on top of each cupcake. Top each cupcake with bear-shaped cracker. After frosting has set, store loosely covered at room temperature.