I enjoy the whole experience of camping – the dirt, the making-do, the campfire cooking, the sunshine and breeze, the stars and the trees – but I love s’mores. So much that I have a whole board on Pinterest devoted to the s’mores trio of ingredients. Though I already kicked off camping season over Memorial Day weekend, devouring more s’mores than I probably should have, I was craving that gooey comfort food again last week.
After digging through the best s’mores recipes Pinterest had to tempt me with, I landed on these S’mores Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod. I needed to use up some graham crackers left open from the camping trip, as well as some mini marshmallows that were starting to stick together. I even had an open bag of mini chocolate chips for Maria’s cute mini approach to this recipe.
Who needs the whole campfire? Bake the goodness of summer inside with these nostalgic S’mores Cookies.
S’mores Cookies Recipe:1 cup graham cracker crumbs1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp1/2 cup brown sugar1/3 cup granulated sugar1 large egg1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 cup mini chocolate chips1/2 cup Jet Puffed Mallow Bitsextra graham cracker crumbs
Substitutions/Ingredient Notes:
- Graham cracker crumbs: Even though I had a box of ground graham cracker crumbs, I hand crushed crackers that were left open from a camping trip and needed to be enjoyed before they went stale. I left some courser chunks but most of it ended up finely ground. It took less than one sleeve of graham crackers crushed to make one cup of crumbs.
- Whole wheat flour: As always, I subbed in a little whole wheat flour for all white flour. In this recipe, I used one cup of regular flour and 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour. Keep in mind that a lot of graham cracker dust becomes more dry ingredient, so the dough will be crumbly.
- Eggless: With only enough eggs left for one more breakfast tomorrow morning, I wanted to substitute eggs with an alternative in my cookie recipe. Instead of an egg, I mashed a little more than 1/2 a banana into a 1/4 cup measure. The dough still seemed really crumbly after adding the banana and vanilla so I added a couple scoops of peanut butter made with honey. Because what’s even better than the trinity of chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker? Throwing peanut butter in the mix – like by swapping out Hershey’s for Reese’s in a traditional s’more. Or add a peanut buttery binder to a crumbly s’more cookie dough.
- Mini marshmallows: Not sure what exactly Mallow Bits are, but I used good ol’ mini marshmallows that needed to be used up.
- In the original recipe, she presses Hershey chocolate bars, graham cracker pieces and Mallow Bits onto the balls of cookie dough before baking. I skipped this step. Actually, I tried stuffing a few cookies by forming balls of dough around extra marshmallows, but most of them popped open in the oven and made a sticky, carmelized mess.
Directions to Make S’mores Cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper, or use a baking stone like I did. Also, because my ancient oven runs so hot, I turned the temp down to about 325.
- In one bowl, whisk together graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda and salt.
- In another mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars about 3 minutes till creamy and smooth. This is where you would mix in egg and vanilla, but I substituted mashed banana and a bit of peanut butter to get the consistency without the eggs.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients from Step 2 into the mixing bowl from Step 3. Mix until just combined.
- Stir in the marshmallow bits and mini chocolate chips.
- Roll teaspoonfuls of cookie dough into a ball, and try not to eat more than you put on the pan. I rolled each ball in a dish of extra graham cracker crumbs for a little dusting.
- Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet about an inch apart. I baked these about 5 minutes then pressed them down a bit with the bottom of a small glass dipped in graham cracker crumbs before baking a final minute or two. Let them cool and set on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before transferring. These cookies were so gooey they fell apart on a wire wrack, so I had to coat it with wax paper.
Warning: These cookies are very hot out of the oven and the melted marshmallows will burn your mouth. You may be able to eat real s’mores immediately, and I know we all love fresh cookies right out of the oven, but please learn from my mistakes, and give these a few minutes to cool before you try to touch or eat them! They’ll be just as gooey after cooling, and they’ll still taste just as much like the classic s’more you’re craving.
Want to take these cookies on the go? See my easy, cheap life-hack for shipping cookies in the mail!
