Summer S’mores Cookies with Marshmallow Creme 

Nothing screams summer like s’mores but what if you want that classic camping flavor without a fire, questionable marshmallow ingredients or actually having to go camping? Enter s’mores cookies! Expect melty chocolate, crunchy graham cracker and a gooey center just like traditional s’mores have but you can make a whole batch instead of one at a time!

This summer treat is worth a try whether or not you enjoy actual s’mores. Honestly, I do not love s’mores but I made these cookies for 4th of July one year and was blown away at how much I enjoyed them. Now it’s one of my family’s favorite summer cookie recipes.  I also like these cookies for parties and events because, unlike actual s’mores, they are easy to make ahead and pack. 

Ingredients

One of the main reasons I attempted this recipe in the first place was to achieve that classic summer s’mores flavor using better ingredients. Just because it’s a treat doesn’t mean it has to be made of junk!

Typical marshmallows include GMO ingredients and fake blue dye to make them super bright white (yes, check the label – it’s shocking but true!) and many of the alternatives just don’t taste great. After searching, I found a brand of marshmallow creme that includes only organic ingredients and tastes great. 

Speaking of organic, I also choose organic graham crackers to avoid GMO sugar and wheat and I use KAMUT® White Flour in these cookies to improve their taste and nutritional profile. KAMUT® Brand Wheat is always organic and small batch farmed and works in any recipe that calls for white all-purpose flour. (Learn more about KAMUT® Brand Wheat here.)

Recipe Prep

Although this recipe isn’t complicated, it does involve a few preparation steps to get the best cookies possible. 

To get that melty marshmallow center, line a baking tray with parchment paper and spray a small cookie scoop with nonstick cooking spray. Place 20 scoops of marshmallow creme on the prepared cookie sheet and chill in the freezer while you prep the other special ingredients and make the cookie dough. 

To get graham cracker crumbs, use a food processor or place graham crackers in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin or the smooth side of a meat tenderizer to crush crackers into crumbs. You will want to end up with ¼ cup of fine crumbs and 1 ½ cups of more coarse pieces of graham cracker in varying sizes so I like to do these separately if I remember. For this recipe, I typically use half of a box of graham crackers. At this point, if you didn’t keep your crumbs separated, divide the fine crumbs from the coarse crumbs/pieces of graham crackers and set aside.

To get that authentic s’mores vibe, use chopped milk chocolate bars rather than chocolate chips. You’ll use three 3-ounce chocolate bars in total. Rough chop 2 of the chocolate bars and set aside. It’s okay if the pieces vary in size from a little smaller than a chocolate chip up to double the size of a standard chocolate chip. For the remaining chocolate bar, break or cut into 20 squares and set aside.

Technique

Now that your mix-ins, filling, and topping are all prepped, it’s time to make the cookie dough. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Start by mixing dry ingredients with a whisk or dough hook and set aside.

Next, cream together the butter and both sugars. I tend to use cold butter in most of my cookie recipes but I only recommend this method if you are using a high-power or bowl-lift stand mixer. I love to use cold butter because it means I can make cookies anytime and reduce or eliminate dough chill time. You can absolutely still make this recipe with a tilt-head mixer or even with a large bowl and a hand mixer but use room temperature butter and chill your dough for 30 minutes after scooping and before baking.

When butter and both sugars are creamy and smooth, add eggs, one at a time, and then add the vanilla extract. 

Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients in one or a few batches. Add the flour mixture in a few batches if you are using a hand mixer or a smaller stand mixer.

If you are using a stand mixer, remove the bowl from the mixer and use a wooden spoon or strong spatula to mix in the roughly chopped milk chocolate bars and the coarse graham cracker crumbs. Set up an assembly line with the cookie dough, your tray of marshmallow creme scoops from the freezer, the squares of chocolate bar, and your prepared baking pans. 

Spray a large cookie scoop with nonstick cooking spray and scoop just slightly overfilled scoops of cookie dough.

Flatten the scoop and place one small scoop of marshmallow creme in the center. Attempt to completely cover the marshmallow creme with cookie dough but know that it’s okay if some peeks through. Place up to 8 cookies per tray, evenly spaced.

Top each cookie dough ball with a square of chocolate. If you used room temperature butter, at this point, chill trays in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking.

Bake for approximately 16 minutes or until bottom edges of cookies are just turning golden brown. Rotate and swap trays halfway through bake time. Transfer each cookie sheet to a cooling rack and let cookies cool completely before removing from trays (or at least until they are cool enough to handle and sneak a taste!).

Tips and Storage

These cookies are best eaten the same day or within 2-3 days of baking. I do not recommend freezing. Although these S’mores cookies will taste fine after freezing, the graham cracker will lose some of it’s crunch so the texture is better when these cookies are fresh. If you’re looking for a cookie you can make ahead and freeze, check out almost any of my other cookie recipes. I freeze almost all of my cookies after baking with outstanding results (I think my Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt are even better after freezing!).