4 Top Tips to Make your S’mores Next Level!
Nothing beats huddling up around the campfire with family, friends all while watching imaginations come to life while you roast marshmallows and make S’mores! We here at Kookist are big believers in what the outdoors and related experiences can teach kids so when you get a chance to combine those elements, we are there for it.
Ways to Make Smores:
- Campfire
- Bonfire
- Grill
- Microwave (nuke ‘em)
- Oven (bake ‘em)
- Indoor wood burning fireplace
- Small stand-alone units or fire pits
In this article we are going to focus on tips that can take cooking S’mores over a live fire to new heights. While the microwave and oven can be convenient and time saving, they don’t provide the experience we look for when having family fun and trying to teach the kiddos a ‘lil something, but by all means give those methods a shot if you are limited on time, space, or fire.
Please make sure you check with your local laws and ordinances before starting a fire and practice fire safety with extreme diligence.
S’Mores Basics – A Kookist How-To
You’re gonna need:
- Long Sticks to safely cook your marshmallows
- A fire (duh!)
- Bag of large white marshmallows
- Flat Chocolate bars that can be easily portioned
- Box of Graham Crackers (plain or honey)
TIP 1: Avoid the Burn
Don’t use open flames to cook your s’mores. Dancing flames, while beautiful and mesmerizing, are simply too unpredictable for properly roasting marshmallows. In fact the error rate skyrockets and more often than not you’ll be left with flaming torches of sugar on the outside and undercooked ‘mallows on the inside. Not to mention the danger of a child waving around a flaming stick presents to others and the environment.
Instead, cool your jets and wait until your fire has begun to die down and you have several hot areas devoid of flames, before you load your sticks. Make sure your sticks are at least 3 feet long – this should provide adequate safety for your little ones and keep them out of harm’s way.
Look for areas of hot embers or glowing coals and take your time!
Load your stick up with 1 (or 2, or 3!) marshmallows and position it above the embers – do not get any closer than 3 inches or so as the heat becomes too much at shorter distances – you want a slow roast.
Work on roasting the Marshmallows all the way around checking periodically for the desired color and texture. – As the marshmallow cooks it becomes crisp and ‘ripens’ to a deep golden brown color. – Try to roast it evenly all the way around by slowly rotating the stick. If you find its cooking too quickly, increase the sticks distance from the heat or look for another, less intense area of embers.
TIP 2: Think outside the (Milk Chocolate) Box
While in the US, Hershey’s milk chocolate bars are synonymous with S’mores, you can use just about anything whose size/shape will work. We’d suggest trying Reeses Thin Cups if you love Peanut butter or consider trying a dark, higher percentage Cacao chocolate option to tamp down the sweetness and give the treat a slightly more refined flavor. An extra serving of antioxidants anyone?!
Once the Marshmallow is cooked to your satisfaction, build the base of the S’more with one small serving of chocolate on top of half a sheet of graham cracker. Position the HOT marshmallow over top of the base, push down with the other half of the cracker, sandwiching the marshmallow in the middle of the pile and slowly remove the stick.
This should keep your fingers clean, leave you with the perfect S’more, and give you a stick that is ready to be reloaded for that person who declined a S’more at first, but now has become quite interested in how they taste. Go ahead – make the next round a double and share!!
TIP 3: Make mine Cinnamon!
We’ve heard rumors of Cinnamon graham crackers being used in place of plain or Honey options and while we haven’t tried that on quite yet, there may be a need for a Kookist family campfire in the near future to give this version a shot.
While untested by our S’morelliers its easy to see how this adaptation would work quite well and even give the treat a bit of a horchata vibe as these flavors are all extremely complimentary of one another.
Typically Cinnamon grahams contain a tad more sugar, particularly as an outside dusting, so we feel that going the cinnamon route might be best done in conjunction with a darker chocolate to balance out the sweetness. But hey, who are we to pour cold water on trying a variety of different s’mores?!
TIP 4: Embrace the Flame
Though not for the faint of heart, a member of the Kookist family shared that she actually cooks the marshmallows properly and then purposely sets them alight immediately before pulling them from the heat and constructing her S’mores. She swears that this manner produces better results as the chocolate melts more evenly thanks to the increased temperature and the finished product is a real beauty.
She notes that while this move should only be attempted by adults and its imperative to slow roast the marshmallow first, the char resulting from a flamed marshmallow heightens the s’mores texture with that delicate crisp and brings a caramelized note to the treat thanks to the fired sugar.
There you have it – perfect fireside S’mores, and lots of ways to mix it up.
DIY S’more Bar anyone?!
