Name: Almond Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcakes
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: 225 g butter salted; 450 g soft brown sugar; 3 eggs; 320 g self-raising flour; 60 g cocoa powder; 75 g ground almonds; 100 g chocolate chips; ½ tsp baking powder; ¾ cup milk; 1 tsp vanilla essence; 150 g heavy cream; 150 g dark chocolate; Mini Marshmallows; Chocolate Chips

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These chocolate marshmallow cupcakes recipe makes deliciously moist, dark chocolate chip cupcakes topped with decadent chocolate ganache and yummy mini marshmallows.

These cupcakes are fairly easy to make and are fun to decorate.

The cupcakes are decorated with ganache and mini marshmallows. It’s so simple, it can even be used as a decorating project for kids (see the decorating guide below).

Each cupcake is topped with a thin layer of chocolate ganache and mini marshmallows in circles of white and pink, starting from the outside and all the way towards the center. The ganache acts as glue to hold the marshmallows in place. And since these were chocolate chip cupcakes, I decided to add more chips as part of the deco.

Cupcakes on a plate, decorated with mini white and pink marshmallows and chocolate chips. — Marshmallow cupcakes

How to Make
Notes
Like this recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out
Recipe (Printable)

How to Make

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

Butter (salted)
Soft brown sugar
Eggs
self-raising flour + baking powder
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Ground almond
Chocolate chips
Milk
Vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache

Dark chocolate
Heavy cream

Decoration

Mini Marshmallows (white and pink)
Chocolate chips

Mixing the batter

The cupcake batter is mixed using the creaming method. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl of a stand mixer (if using a stand mixer) at medium speed until light and fluffy with an electric mixer (electric hand mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment).
Next, add in the eggs, one at a time. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl half way through.
Once the eggs are well combined, fold in the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, and ground almonds) alternately with the milk into the creamed wet ingredients. Start and end with the almond and flour mixture. Finally, add the vanilla followed by the chocolate chips. Mix until well combined.
Pour the cupcake batter into prepared cupcake liners or muffin cup (with an ice cream scoop). These paper liners should be placed in cupcake tins so that they do not lose their shape. The cupcake batter is filled into the cupcake cases to about ¾ full and baked.
Once baked, let the cupcakes rest in the cupcake pan for a few minutes. Transfer and place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool further.

Making the ganache

While waiting for the cupcakes, prepare the ganache. Chop chocolate into small pieces. Place in a heatproof bowl and set aside.
Place the cream in a separate medium bowl (heatproof). Double boil until the cream turns hot (you will see tiny bubbles forming around the cream in the bowl).
Pour the hot cream into the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for about one minute and then stir slowly until the chocolate is all melted and smooth.
Let the ganache cool completely before using on the cupcakes.

Decorating the moist chocolate cupcakes

Here is how to do it, step by step:

Once the cupcakes were baked, cool cupcakes completely to room temperature before decorating.

A chocolate cupcake in white muffin casing. — Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes

Once the cupcakes were completely cooled, cover each cupcake with a smooth layer of ganache.

Next is the decorating part. Pour the mini marshmallows into a small bowl and chose the pink ones for the first layer on the cupcakes. While the ganache was still soft, attach the marshmallows all around the diameter of the cupcakes.

Next, take some white marshmallows and arrange them all around the inside of the pink marshmallows circle.

2 rows of pink and white mini marshmallows.

And then the final layer of mini marshmallows is in pink. Arrange the marshmallows in the center of the cupcake such that they are well distributed on the cupcake and there is no apparent gap that could be seen in between each marshmallow.

A chocolate cupcake decorated with pink and white mini marshmallows.

Next were the chocolate chips. To make sure these chips stayed in place on each of the marshmallows, use ganache as the 'glue'. Fill the remaining ganache into a piping bag and snip the tip of the piping bag for a tiny hole. Attach the chocolate chips with tiny dots of ganache on the middle and center marshmallow circles.

A cupcake decorated with mini white and pink marshmallows and chocolate chips.

And completes the chocolate marshmallow cupcakes.

I made 2 versions of this delicious cupcake design, using the pink and white layers in different combinations as can be seen below. You can make them in any combination you like.

4 cupcakes on a plate. — Chocolate marshmallow cupcakes with ganache (chocolate frosting) and mini marshmallows - Perfect for chocolate lovers

Notes

Brown Sugar

As you can see in the recipe card below, I used brown sugar instead of normal granulated sugar (castor sugar) in this cupcake recipe. The use of brown sugar gives these cupcakes a deeper molasses-like taste.
To add to that, I also use ground almonds and this gives the cupcakes a slightly nutty flavor. Together, these ingredients yield wonderfully rich and deliciously nutty and chocolaty chocolate chip cupcakes.

Ground almonds

I used store-bought ground almonds for this recipe. If you don't have ground almonds, you can easily make them on your own by grinding or processing almonds into fine powder.

Chocolate chips

I used dark chocolate chips in the cupcakes. They complemented the dark chocolate cupcake batter very well. Having said that, you have an option to replace these with bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate or even white chocolate chips.
Or you can even leave the chocolate chips totally out of your cupcakes. This will not alter the texture of your cupcakes.

Marshmallows

These marshmallow cupcakes are decorated with mini marshmallows in white and pink. I alternated these colors to create a consistent pattern for my cupcakes.
These cupcakes are best made with mini marshmallows instead of the regular size marshmallows.

Vanilla Extract

I chose to flavor my cupcakes with vanilla.
If you prefer your cupcakes with an almond flavor instead, replace the vanilla extract with almond extract.

Moist and fluffy texture

These marshmallow cupcakes are made using the creaming method, where the butter and sugar are creamed first before other ingredients are added. When creaming these 2 ingredients, make sure you do it until they turn light and fluffy. For the recipe amount below, this should take about 2 minutes. This step is very important to make sure your cupcakes turn really soft and fluffy.
To ensure the texture is moist, you need to keep a tab on the baking time. Baking these cupcakes too long will cause the texture to be dry. Check the cupcakes for doneness at least 5 minutes before the baking time is up. Insert a toothpick in the center of one cupcake. If there is no wet batter sticking to the toothpick, the cupcakes are baked and can be removed from the oven.
And when you cool these cupcakes, keep them covered with a kitchen cloth. This will help the cupcakes retain their moisture as they cool down.

Storing the cupcakes

These marshmallow cupcakes can last for a good 4 to 5 days at room temperature. Make sure to keep them covered and away from moisture.
If you wish to keep them longer, refrigerate them in an airtight container. Bring back to room temperature before serving.

Like this recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out

Recipe (Printable)

Here is the full printable version of my chocolate marshmallow cupcakes recipe:

Almond Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcakes

These almond chocolate marshmallow cupcakes are pleasantly intense with chocolate and combines so perfectly well with the ground almonds and marshmallows. They taste so good, its hard to stop with just one cupcake!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Marshmallow Cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Decorating Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 10 cupcakes

Author: Priya Maha

Metric - US Customary