August 10 is National S'mores Day! I don't know who comes up with these food holidays, but they sure are fun to celebrate. Most of the time, I don't know about the holidays until the actual day, but this year I'm so prepared for National S'mores Day and have a recipe you can use to celebrate too.
Sure, you could make plain old s'mores with a box of graham crackers, some Hershey's bars, and some toasted marshmallows. They're old school and always a crowd-pleaser. But these days, there are all sorts of ways to deconstruct and reconstruct the three classic elements.
You may remember that I recently made s'mores tartlets, a diminutive two-bite take perfect for mini dessert spreads. After I made the s'mores tartlets, I started thinking about what I could do with the leftover dough I had in the freezer, and I came up with s'mores sandwich cookies.
I simply rolled out the dough, cut out cookies, and baked them. Then I coated the bottoms of half of the cookies with melted chocolate -- some milk, some bittersweet. In place of marshmallows, I used homemade Fluff for the filling. These cookies are definitely gooier and messier than the s'mores tartlets, but they are just as delicious. A plate of them definitely didn't last long.
S'mores Sandwich Cookies
Chewy graham cracker cookies encasing gooey marshmallow creme and chocolate
Print this recipe
Prep Time: 4 hours
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 15 sandwich cookies
Ingredients
Cookies (adapted from 101 Cookbooks)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup mild-flavored honey
5 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Marshmallow Creme (adapted from Marshmallow Madness!)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 ounces milk or bittersweet chocolate chips (or some of each)
Preparation
Cookies
Pulse flour, whole-wheat flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in food processor to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture is consistency of coarse meal. In small bowl, whisk together honey, milk, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and pulse until dough comes together. It will be sticky.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter and pat into 1-inch-thick rectangle.
Using bench scraper, divide rectangle in half. Wrap one half in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight. Double-wrap other half in plastic wrap and freeze for another use (such as s'mores tartlets; you can also use it to make another batch of sandwich cookies).
Once dough is well chilled, line 2 sheet pans with Silpats or parchment paper.
Remove dough from refrigerator, unwrap, and place on lightly floured counter.
Carefully roll out dough to roughly 1/4 inch thick. Using 2-inch biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter, cut out circles. Reroll scraps once and cut more circles. You should get about 30 circles. Arrange circles, evenly spaced, on prepared sheets. Refrigerate circles on sheets for about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using fork, poke 3 rows of holes in each circle.
Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until golden brown and slightly firm, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating halfway through baking.
Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Marshmallow Creme
This can be made ahead of time, while the cookie cutouts are chilling, or after the cookies are baked.
Stir together sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt in small saucepan over high heat. Boil, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches 240 degrees.
Meanwhile, in stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, combine egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip egg whites to soft peaks on medium speed. (You want the egg whites ready by the time the syrup is ready.)
When syrup reaches 240 degrees, turn mixer on low, and drizzle in a little of the syrup a couple of tablespoons at a time. Slowly drizzle in the rest of the syrup with mixer still on low speed. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until marshmallow creme is stiff and glossy, 7 to 9 minutes, beating in the vanilla toward the end.
You can use the creme immediately, but I found it easiest to work with after I refrigerated for it a while and it firmed up.
To assemble the cookies, microwave the chocolate (separately and in separate bowls if you are using 2 different kinds) for about 30 seconds, stirring until melted and smooth.
Spread the bottoms of half of the cookies with chocolate. Place cookies in fridge to firm up chocolate.
Place a small scoop of marshmallow creme on top of each chocolate-coated cookie, then top with remaining cookies to form sandwiches. Serve immediately or store in fridge until ready to serve.
Some notes: You will have lots of leftover marshmallow creme (you can store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks). I recommend having some good sandwich bread and peanut butter on hand. Speaking of peanut butter, I think these s'mores sandwich cookies would be awesome with peanut butter spread on the insides of the top cookies.
How will you be celebrating National S'mores Day?
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