Ultimate S'mores Cookies

two ways...

I know it’s Orange & Brown Food Season. I know we’re a few days out from Thanksgiving. I know you want stuff with pecans and pumpkin and that kind of uh… stuff! Well, I’m counter-programming.

At every Friendsgiving, every cookie party, you know what goes first before the pumpkin pie and the shortbreads? Chocolate chip cookies. I speak from firsthand experience! They’re just less of a commitment after a plate full of starch, they’re uncontroversial, and you don’t need a plate and a fork to eat them. I hate to say this! So listen, stick them between the pies at Thanksgiving, and be a hero — or save them for your cookie swaps in December, and be a hero. Obviously, these are extremely souped up chocolate chip cookies.

The problem with s’mores cookies? The marshmallows always freak out. They explode and splooge out the sides, or they disintegrate and evaporate, turning into a sugary puddle. I had read somewhere that one way to prevent this freakout from happening in the oven, bakers should use vegan marshmallows. And, well, it worked! I imagine that it has to do something with the lack gelatin, which is what sets regular marshmallows.

If you can’t find vegan marshmallows, or you want to take this recipe all the way to its peak-evolution-final-form, you can make your own marshmallow. It’s not as hard as it seems! You just need gelatin, a digital/candy thermometer, and a stand mixer. Once the cookies are cooling, we pipe on a dollop of mallow, smear it and toast it with a kitchen torch.

The thing that makes these s’mores cookies — and not simply chocolate chip cookies with marshmallows — is the graham cracker butter ripple running through each cookie. These cookies really didn’t taste like actual s’mores until I added it. The good news is we’re adding ground graham crackers straight into the dough (with some whole wheat flour), so we need to use the food processor anyway.

If you don’t have a food processor to make the graham cracker butter, you can crush them very finely in a plastic zipper bag with a rolling pin and use a hand mixer to beat it together. It won’t be the same but it’ll be close.

Ultimate S’mores Cookies

Makes 16 cookies

Ingredients