Gourmet S'Mores, Take 1

First, you need to find a good recipe for some really tasty homemade graham crackers. There are several variations of this, some of which involve graham flour. This is the version I have chosen, since I love a good textured cracker.

My recipe of choice comes via a Google search, and this website. I chose this particular recipe because it allowed me to use my mixer, instead of my itty bitty food processor. I really need a bigger one. Eventually. For now, this is the recipe I'll be using. This will be next.

Anyway, on to the recipe. To make these graham crackers, you will need:

Homemade Graham Crackers

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat graham flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together the flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add the cold butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the honey, water and vanilla. Mix until the dough comes together in a ball.

Between two sheets of waxed paper, roll the dough 1/2-inch thick. Chill for 1 hour, until firm. Lightly flour the dough and roll 1/8-inch thick. With a sharp knife or cookie cutter (a pizza cutter also works great), cut into 2-inch squares. Arrange the crackers on parchment lined cookie sheets. With a fork, prick several holes in each cracker. You can sprinkle with some sugar crystals if you like.

Bake at 350 F. for 15 minutes, until lightly browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan.

RECIPE NOTE: These turned out fairly well, but the dough was stickier than I would have liked. They were pretty soft while they were still warm, but got nice and crispy as they cooled. They had a good flavor and texture, and tasted good with the chocolate and marshmallows. Great on their own, too.


Now, for the marshmallows. This is the first time I have ever made anything even remotely close to this. I am using the recipe from Chef Thomas Keller, via Cooking For Engineers, also the product of a Google search. I love that site. It's just a really fun place for recipe breakdowns. I also have placed The French Laundry Cookbook on hold at my library, and I can't wait until it comes in. It looks like it's full of all sorts of goodies.



So here is the recipe for these very tasty looking marshmallows. I will post the link again to Cooking For Engineers, as he has the best breakdown of how to make a great marshmallow.

RECIPE NOTE: These turned out really great. The instructions from Cooking For Engineers were perfect, and helped me in a few tricky parts. I've never made anything like these before, and they turned out perfectly. They taste great and are fun to make. The kids enjoyed helping, although I think they liked licking the bowl much better. I did have trouble getting these out, and ended up with a few crusty spots from the buttered side of the pan, so I think next time I will use a greased piece of plastic wrap to line the pan instead.


Last, but not least, the Chocolate Bark. I didn't need any help on this one thankfully, and it came together very nicely. Simply melt several squares of chocolate over very low heat until melted. Then spread on a piece of waxed paper on a baking sheet. Melt a little bit of white chocolate, and drizzle it over the chocolate. Swirl it around until it looks pretty. Your chocolate should be roughly 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick, depending on how chocolatey you like your S'mores. I think I am closer to the 1/8-inch thickness for this attempt.




As a whole, the flavor is really good. I might try a thicker bit of chocolate next time, since with both pieces of graham cracker, the chocolate didn't come through quite enough. But, for a homemade treat, it turned out great. I will definitely bring a pan of marshmallows to the next bonfire I attend and try them out roasted. I am drooling in anticipation!