Hot chocolate cupcakes are filled with a delicious marshmallow filling and topped with more marshmallow and chocolate frosting - making them a festive cupcake everyone will love!
Mix cake mix, instant pudding, eggs, water, and canola oil with stand or hand mixer.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and push a large marshmallow into the center of each cupcake.
Put cupcakes back in oven and bake for 2 minutes until marshmallows melt.
Push marshmallows down into cake so it will melt and fill center and empty spaces around cupcake.
Let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Make frosting while they are cooling.
Fill marshmallow indentation with mini chocolate chips, then add frosting over chocolate chips.
Cut large marshmallows in half and place half a marshmallow on top of each cupcake. Drizzle with frosting, then garnish with peppermint crunch or holiday sprinkles.
Cut holiday straws into thirds and place one piece of straw in each cupcake.
Frosting
Mix powdered sugar, cocoa powder, water, and vanilla until smooth.
Notes
Watch the oven when you put the cupcakes back in with the marshmallow. You really only want to cook them for two minutes to let the marshmallow melt but not start browning. You’re not making cookie s’mores after all.Turn these into Valentine’s Day cupcakes with pink cupcake wrappers, Valentine’s Day straws, and/or Valentine’s Day sprinkles of some sort. They’re delicious and decadent.Make sure the cupcakes have time to cool before adding the chocolate glaze. Otherwise the glaze will just pool and melt off the hot cupcakes.Pat the cupcake tins down gently on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles in the cupcake batter before putting in the oven. This helps them cook more evenly.Use a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop (also called a large cookie scoop) to scoop the batter into your cupcake wrappers. This helps ensure all of the cupcakes are the same size and will cook evenly. Otherwise, use a measuring cup to fill them about 3/4 full.