Welcome to this month’s Secret Recipe Club Reveal day! I was lucky to be assigned Heather from Join Us, Pull Up a Chair, a mom who loves cooking and baking with her children, sharing her passion and training the next generation in the kitchen arts. Nothing warms my heart more ~ you guys know how much I love sharing traditions with the next generation!
Heather has a wonderful blog, originally formed as a way to help her keep track of the recipes she found and collected. I can relate – I look to my own blog now when people ask me to bake or cook for them because I can’t remember a single recipe LOL. The only way I can cook ad hoc these days is throwing together a quick dinner or a dish I’ve made 1000 times. Otherwise, it’s back to my computer to find the recipe.
When you head over to Heather’s blog (which you absolutely want to do!) you will be thrilled at the variety of recipes – so many it will be difficult to choose which one you are going to make first! I had a challenge on my hands as I wandered happily through her recipes. I kept getting distracted by the savory recipes and I will definitely will be back! But today is Chocolate Monday so I stayed with her sweets and as soon as I saw the recipe for S’More Cookies, I was hooked. 🙂
To make them gluten-free, I substituted my favorite gluten-free flour blend and used almond meal in place of the graham crackers and I think they are just as good. Even if you don’t have to worry about gluten, you may want to give the almond meal a try. It adds such a lovely nutty flavor and a bit of texture that is lovely. It is one of my favorite GF substitutions. If you have little ones who cannot have tree nuts, you can use a gluten-free graham crackers instead of the almond meal.
Leave plenty of room on the baking sheet to allow for spreading
Heather’s original recipe calls for flattening the rounds of dough and wrapping it around marshmallows tucked in the center. I was rushing to get these done – The Artist wanted his lunch – so I just mixed the marshmallows right into the dough. I think they came out beautifully but found the trick was to pack the dough firmly into the scoop.
L: Results of firmly packed scoop of dough; M: Somewhat packed scoop of dough; R: Loosely packed scoop of dough
Take a look at the results of my first batch of cookies where I was lackadaisical while scooping the dough. The cookies are lopsided and the marshmallows melted onto the parchment. They are still delicious and the caramelized sugar is fun and crunchy! But when I took more time and really packed the dough into the scoop, it made a big difference. If you want, you can press a mini marshmallow onto the top of each cookie and you will get a puddle of melted sugar right in the center – also a fun idea!
You are going to be drooling over these magical cookies – made with the classic ingredients of S’Mores, chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers (or almond meal). The only thing missing is the smell of a campfire!
Thank you Heather for a wonderful recipe and the perfect summertime treat!
Jane’s Tips and Hints:
This recipe requires a minimum of 2 hours chilling time after making the cookie dough and forming the cookies. Make sure you plan for that!
Gluten-Free Tips:
You can find the recipe for my favorite gluten-free flour blend here. I keep a bucket of it on my counter and can whip up a treat for The Artist any time he needs something to make a day brighter.
- 1-3/4 cup flour or gluten-free flour blend
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup (12 tbsp) butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- Pinch kosher or fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 1 cup almond meal or hazelnut meal or crushed graham crackers (gluten-free if needed)
- 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.* In a small bowl, whisk together the flour (or gluten-free flour blend), baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix the butter, brown and white sugars, and salt. Beat on medium speed until creamed together, lightened and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer off and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and the beater paddle. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until evenly blended. Scrape the bowl again.
- Add the flour mixture and almond meal, mix until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and marshmallows and quickly beat to incorporate them. If your mixer is struggling with the heavy dough, then finish folding them in by hand. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to be sure all the dry ingredients have been incorporated, especially the center bottom where they tend to hide!
- Use a 2-tbsp ice cream scoop to form the dough into small balls. Compact the dough tightly in the scoop, pressing it firmly against the side of the bowl before transferring the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2-inches apart. They will spread a bit but you need room in case a marshmallow is at the outer edge - as the sugar melts it spreads a lot.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, spinning halfway through, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and leave them on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes to finish cooking in the center.
- Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. If you can’t control yourself and have to eat one while they are still warm, be careful, the melted marshmallows are super hot!
- * Parchment paper or a Silpat on the baking sheet is absolutely required because the marshmallows tend to melt as they bake and can be impossible to scrape off an uncovered baking sheet. If you are using the same pan repeatedly to bake off all the cookies at one time, the sugar will burn onto the pan, making getting pretty and round cookies nearly impossible.
Create a New Tradition Today!
Here are more recipes from The Secret Recipe Club just for you!
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Thank You!
Julie
Love this recipe and nice to include a gluten free option. Visiting from SRC C!
Jane Bonacci
Thank you Julie! All of the recipes since mid-2012 (when I was diagnosed) have a gluten-free option and the photos are of the GF versions I made. These were fantastic cookies! I’m having fun being in Group C and discovering all the wonderful new-to-me blogs!! 🙂
Margaret
Those look soooooo good. Love s’mores anway. But in a cookie. YES!
Jane Bonacci
Thanks Margaret – this a true treat, and a cookie everyone will love! 🙂
Jess Knight
I’ve made S’more cookies before and they are so delish! Love your pictures of the results of different scooping techniques, too. Crazy how something so small can make such a difference! Happy to bake with you in Group C!
Jane Bonacci
It was amazing to see the difference Jess, it sure surprised me. Glad the photos were helpful. I’ve loving being in group C – another wonderful group of incredibly talented people! 🙂
Heather @ Join Us, Pull up a Chair
Thank you for the sweet words Jane! These cookies are really good. I’m going to have to try them using almond flour now, I bet they’re delicious.
Jane Bonacci
Ah, it was my pleasure. I wish I could have used the graham crackers, that would have been perfect! Wonderful cookies 🙂
Kirstin
Yum! sounds wonderful!!!
Jane Bonacci
Thank you Kirstin – they were great!! 🙂
Sara
Smores ANYTHING is super delicious. Fun SRC pick.
Jane Bonacci
It sure caught my eye when I saw it too Sara. Such a fun cookie! 🙂
chelsy
I have been craving smores lately and these are just what I need! I have memories of camping out with my cousins in my backyard and having a bonfire to make smores. It was the best!
Jane Bonacci
I love those memories Chelsy. Mine were from Girl Scout camp and I can still smell the wood smoke from the fire, see the faces illuminated in the firelight, and camp songs run through my mind. Great times!
sarah k @ the pajama chef
mmm, these look fabulous jane. what a great recipe and a great pick for SRC!
Jane Bonacci
Thank you Sarah. These would be perfect for summer picnics and BBQs – all the flavor and make-ahead ease! 🙂
Stephanie
These cookies look so great. Anything s’mores inspired is great in my book. Wonderful SRC post.
Jane Bonacci
Thank you Stephanie ~ They are great, sweet, a little nutty, and addicting! 🙂