double trouble

There's something undeniably nostalgic about the taste and aroma of s'mores on a warm summer evening. The combination of gooey melted marshmallows, rich chocolate, and crisp graham crackers evokes feelings of carefree adventures around the campfire.

Of course, if you’ve seen 2022’s The Menu, you might have a different take on this old school treat. Not sure about how ethically sourced the chocolate is, but at least we don’t have to worry about the “gelatinized sugar water imprisoned by industrial-grade graham cracker” because these s’more muffins are of course, vegan.

To capture this essence and bring a delightful twist to the familiar flavors of s'mores, I have concocted a mouthwatering muffin recipe that encapsulates the essence of summer.
Imagine sinking your teeth into a soft, tender muffin that magically encapsulates all the elements of a classic s'more. Each fluffy bite is reminiscent of sitting by the fire, toasting marshmallows to perfection and sandwiching them between crumbly graham crackers and decadent chocolate. And here's the best part - this delightful muffin creation is completely vegan!

Skill Level- Beginner -Easy

Shopping List:

• All Purpose Flour

• Espresso Powder

• Dutch Processed Cocoa

• Baking Powder

• Granulated and Brown Sugar

• Salt

• Potato or Cornstarch (optional)

• Neutral Oil

• Plant Milk

• Apple Cider or White Vinegar

• Vanilla Extract

• Chocolate Chips (vegan friendly)

• Chocolate Bar (vegan friendly)

• Graham Crackers (vegan friendly)

• Marshmallows (vegan friendly)

Equipment:

• Jumbo or regular size cupcake pan

• Cupcake liners or parchment squares

• Large + small bowl

• Scale, if using (you should! )

• Cooling rack

• Whisk + spatula

• Sifter or sieve

• Knife

  
  Makes 6 jumbo or 12 regular muffins

Products used:

• Silk Unsweetened Organic Soy Milk- I used to always use oat, but I’ve made the switch to soy because it has more protein and I think it lends a better result (especially curdling the vegan buttermilk), but use your fave plant milk or whatever you have on hand… but if you can, go for unsweetened

• King Arthur All Purpose Flour- I know people love Swans Down, but it legit just taste like chemicals to me, so I go for KA’s unbleached. Cake flour gives a nice, light crumb, but if you don’t have, can’t find, or it’s cost prohibitive, just use all purpose as a substitute

• Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt- the chef’s salt for various reasons I won’t get into here, but…it contains 53% less sodium than standard salt, so that’s why I say to use half the amount the recipe calls for if you’re using Morton, sea, or table salt.

• Domino Sugar- now, this is a tricky one… my supplier list it as vegan and Domino has stated in the past that the sugar coming from Baltimore, MD, Yonkers, NY or South Bay, FL are all vegan, but at the time (this was around 2017), the supplies coming from west coast were not. It’s been 5 years, so I suspect that it’s all vegan now. However, I haven’t had the chance to confirm this, so buy with caution. If you’re a distrustful vegan (aren’t we all? ) go for an organic instead- just try to get the finest grain you can- your baking results will be better

• 72 % Cocoa Endangered Species Chocolate- I like this bar because it is rich and 10% of ESC chocolate goes to help endangered animals, however you should use one that you personally like. I believe Lindt as well as Trader Joe’s have vegan friendly bars as well.

• Dandies Jumbo Marshmallows- Trader Joe’s also has a vegan option.

• Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Baking Chips- When I’m baking for myself and don’t have to worry about allergens, my preference is Guittard. I believe that the Organics brand has vegan-friendly semisweet chips as well- also ESC (see above) if looking for milk chocolate. If you need certified vegan and allergy free, try Enjoy Life.

• Nabisco Original Graham Crackers- These are the most affordable and easy to find brand without honey or butter.

• Medaglia D’Oro Espresso Instant Coffee- A little espresso powder doesn’t make these muffins taste like coffee, but rather, it intensifies the chocolate flavor in the muffin.

Helpful Notes:

Milk- In a baking recipe (unless otherwise stated) you want all of your ingredients to be room temp- especially the milk. Room temperature sounds very broad, I mean rooms can be lots of different temperatures… So what does that mean? Technically between 68 and 72 degrees farenheit, but practically, it means you can stick your finger in it and feel nothing. Think of it this way, if it’s too warm you’ll think to yourself “yep, that’s kinda hot” and if it’s too cold, you’ll think, “ooh, that’s cold”. When it’s room temp, it’s nothing…I know it sounds weird, but here we are… To get your milk to room temp quickly, you can pour it a bowl or glass measuring cup and pop it in the microwave for 20-50 seconds (depending on the amount and the microwave). Use whichever plant milk you prefer. My preference used to be plain and unsweetened oat, but now I prefer plain and unsweetened soy. That being said, it all works.

Salt- Diamond Crystal Kosher is my preference, but if you use Morton or table salt, reduce the amount by half as Diamond is less salty than the two.

Sugar- to make sure it’s vegan, use organic as it does not use bone char (yes, it’s as bad as it sounds) in the processing like conventional sugar.

Vinegar- We use vinegar to curdle plant milk, which produces a buttermilk-like substance (this is why I switched to soy milk- it really reacts to the vinegar). Vinegar also reacts with raising agents (baking soda + powder) to give vegan baked goods a nice rise. Both apple cider and white work in this recipe.

Oil- Along with milk, oil serves as our egg replace. A neutral one is best- coconut oil works, but will change the flavor of your baked goods.

Measuring- Listen… just go ahead and get a scale! They’re cheap and the most accurate for baking. I use them to develop my recipes and do the best I can to convert to the cup measurements out of courtesy to those who don’t have one, but trust me, if you like to bake- it will be the best $20 dollars you spend to improve your recipes. If you still refuse, make sure that you use the scoop and level method to measure out your flour to avoid using more than the recipe calls for.

Prep:

• Bring milk to room temp

• Add vinegar to milk to make vegan buttermilk (let set about 5 minutes)

• Boil water in a cup in the microwave or on the stove

• Line cupcake pan

INGREDIENTS:

Dry

• 240 g (2 C ) all-purpose flour

• 35 g (1/3 C )cocoa powder, dutch processed

• 1T baking powder

• 1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt (I use Diamond, half the amount if using table salt or Morton)

• 100 g (1/2 C ) superfine or granulated sugar (organic or vegan-friendly)

• 150 g (3/4 C ) light brown sugar (organic or vegan-friendly)

Fats

• 158 ml (3/4 C ) oil (grapeseed, vegetable, or canola work best)

Liquids

• 180 ml (3/4 C ) plant milk (room temp)

• 120 ml (1/2 C) strongly brewed coffee or water, hot

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract (pure)

Add Ins

• 4 oz ( 1/2 C ) chocolate chips, semisweet, vegan-friendly

• 1 chocolate bar chopped

• 4- 6 graham cracker sheets, broken into large pieces

• 6-12 jumbo marshmallows

Preheat oven to 425° F

Directions:

1. Add cocoa powder to a large bowl and add the salt along with the hot coffee or water. Stir until the cocoa and salt dissolve into a thin chocolatey mixture. Adding hot coffee or water blooms the cocoa powder to intensify the flavor. Using coffee instead of water also helps to give chocolate flavors more richness and depth. However, if you don’t have coffee on hand to use or prefer to go without, hot water works perfectly fine.

2. To the cocoa mixture, add sugars, oil, and vanilla. Beat the mixture with a whisk until the sugars dissolve and becomes incorporated with the oil- about 2 minutes.

3. Pour in the room temp milk and whisk until well combined.

4. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then stir the mixture with a spoon or spatula to fully incorporate all the ingredients- Although it is a bit harder to over-mix by hand, it can be done, so mix until the batter just comes together and there are no pockets of dry spots.

5. Add in the 4 ounces of chocolate chips and mix lightly until chips are evenly distributed.

6. At this point, I like to put my batter in a storage container and let sit overnight in the fridge (this helps to give you a bit higher muffin tops and develop the flavor, but you totally don’t have to if you don’t want to take the time. **just note, you should not do this technique with cake or muffin recipes with baking soda **

7. When ready to bake, fill each of the lined or sprayed cupcake tins 1/3 way up with batter, then place a piece of gram cracker, chocolate bar, and marshmallow in each tin (I like to use one whole jumbo marshmallow when making jumbo muffins).

8. Fill with more batter until it reaches almost the top of the tin (this ensures a higher muffin top).

9. Place the muffin tin on the middle rack of your preheated oven then bake for 5- 7 minutes at the 425° F temp, then turn the oven down to 350 ° F (don’t open the oven door!) and continue cooking for another 10- 15 minutes or until tops are firm and there is no jiggle in the muffins (it’s a little tricky to do the toothpick test with these because of all the chocolate inside).

10. When done, remove from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the tin and let them cool further on the cooling rack.

11. If you’d like, you can add more gram cracker and chocolate to the tops of your muffins.

12. I find these most delicious to eat while still warm and gooey on the inside.

13. Enjoy!

Storage and Use

1. Store your muffins in an air-tight container and keep at room temp for 2-3 days.

2. Warm muffins in the oven to get chocolate and marshmallow gooey again.

Thanks for checking out the recipe-

xx Debbie, Shorty, + Sophie