Quarantine S'mores

No time like the present to enjoy some nostalgic campfire snacks.

Homemade Marshmallows

Don't underestimate the power of a homemade marshmallow. It may seem like the manufactured puffy white clouds are the only way to go, but they are not. Homemade marshmallows don't get all the credit they deserve. The ingredients are limited and most pantries should have everything in stock. The only thing that is crucial is a candy or food thermometer to measure the temperature of the sugar mixture. And with that you can make your own marshmallows. This means of course that you can personalize the flavors. Once you have made the originals at least once, try experimenting with the flavors. You could make very vanilla marshmallows, lemon, almond, peppermint and many more.

Try it making these before you deem the process too difficult!

Ingredients

Marshmallows (homemade or store bought)

Graham Crackers

Chocolate

Tools

Oven (or some cooking appliance)

Tin Foil (or other barrier for the cookie sheet)

Cookie sheet

Directions

Preheat oven to broil.

Place a piece of tinfoil on a cookie sheet. Then place one gram cracker half per person on the tinfoil and a marshmallow on top of each graham half.

Before putting the marshmallows in the oven prepare the other half of each graham cracker by placing a piece of chocolate on each cracker.

Once the oven is preheated, put the cookie sheet with the marshmallows in the oven. Stay by the oven, turn on the oven light and do not leave the oven's side. Watch carefully as the marshmallows will cook very, very, very fast. Depending on the size of the marshmallow it may need to cook for 20-60 seconds. When the marshmallows have a nice light brown color on top remove the sheet from the oven.

Take the graham crackers with chocolate and place them on top of the marshmallows on the cookie sheet. Once all of the marshmallows have their tops halves use a spatula to remove the s'mores from the cookie sheet and onto plates.

Enjoy immediately as they are warm and cook more as needed!

Substitutes

If you find your pantry not stocked with the classic s'more materials, no fear, you can still enjoy a delicious treat.

Chocolate

If you don't have chocolate bars, you can melt chocolate chips with a very small amount, about 1/4 tsp, of margarine or coconut oil. This will allow the chocolate to stay slightly softer after it melts and cools. It will also be more malleable on the graham crackers. Depending on how much chocolate you are melting, the oil amount will vary; but, generally I have found that 1/4 tsp oil to 1/4 cup chocolate chips should work well. But if you don't have any form of margarine don't worry, it will be fine without. If you don't have chocolate chips then use a hazelnut spread, like Nutella. If you don't have a single form of chocolate anywhere in your home then either omit the chocolate altogether- the s'mores will still be delicious- or experiment with other spreadables like nut butters, jam, or honey.

Marshmallows

It might seem impossible to have a s'more without the marshmallow but it is most definitely not. S'mores don't have rules so substitute anything sugary and delicious you like or have around. Maybe you have some vanilla or chocolate ice cream in the fridge, then you won't need the oven at all, to make an ice cream sandwich s'more. Or maybe you have another form of marshmallows like mini mallows or marshmallow fluff. I have personally never tried roasting marshmallow fluff but since the recipe doesn't involve sticking the marshmallow on a stick it might work. Be creative and use what you have on hand. Don't forget you can always make homemade marshmallows as well. They are delicious and relatively simple to make, they only have to rest a little before you can cut. So making your own might not be ideal for eating them the moment you decide to create them.

Graham Crackers

This is a bit more of a sticky situation then the other ingredients as sweet crackers are usually hard to come by. But there is still hope. You could try using a different type of cracker such as Ritz, vanilla wafers, or whatever type of neutral cracker you have in your home. Just be aware of the thickness of the cracker when putting it in the oven as it may burn faster than a graham cracker. You could most definitely use cookies as the graham cracker replacement, doing this will make it even more of a treat! Try whatever you think could work and you never know you might even find something more delicious than the classic grahams.

You never know, maybe discovering the ability to make s'mores inside may become your new winter go to dessert!

Try this recipe and let me know how you liked it!

Enjoy!

Photo from Unsplash