When I was young, my family often took long trips to my grandparents’ house. They had a barn, but didn’t have a farm. It was just a wide open space where I could run around to my heart’s content and never really got bored.
Almost every night, the grown-ups would gather lawn chairs and set them in a circle around the fire pit in the middle of the backyard.
We’d get out the bug spray and the s’mores-making supplies and spend hours telling (well, I mostly listened) to family stories, eating s’mores and watching the fire dance. Sometimes, my grandma would throw in the aluminum wrappers from a Hershey’s bar. We’d watch the flames change colors for a bit. You can’t do that with the current chocolate bar wrappers.
Both of my sons are in Boy Scouts. My youngest son learned how to make a s’mores variation that we used when his older brother went to a weekend-long camp.
The traditional s’mores recipe is graham crackers, chocolate and roasted marshmallows. We learned from one group that using Fudge Stripe cookies or something similar is tasty and easy to put together.
According to Food and Wine Magazine, precursors of s’mores have been around since at least the Victorian era, but it wasn’t until 1927 when the first official recipe came out.
The first official recipe for a s’more came out in the 1927 Girl Scout guidebook “Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts.”
The book, like many scouting guidebooks, was meant to give advice on how to be a Girl Scout. It’s lasting legacy was the “Some More.”
Originally intending to feed 16 hungry scouts, the recipe was later credited to a troop leader named Loretta Scott Crew. It calls for 16 graham crackers, eight bars of plain chocolate and 16 marshmallows. Next, it says to toast the marshmallows to a “crispy, gooey state.” Then, put the marshmallow on top of a chocolate bar and in between two graham crackers.
It’s unclear when the name was shortened to simply “s’more,” but Girl Scout publications referred to the treat as “Some More” until at least 1971.
Ice cream cone s’mores
During another camp, we learned about ice-cream cone s’mores.
This version calls for large waffle cones, mini marshmallows, whatever flavor chips you want and sprinkles. You want the items that can melt in your ice cream cone, so try not to add hot fudge or whipped cream until after you unwrap your s’more.
First, get a piece of aluminum foil big enough to completely wrap the cone in. Second, make sure the fire is low heat, with just coals. We used a charcoal grill that had grey charcoal.
Stuff the waffle cone with marshmallows at the bottom. Pack them in tight. Then add the chips and the sprinkles. After thoroughly stuffing the cone, wrap it completely in foil and put in over the fire coals, preferably open side elevated.
Wait for about five minutes, turning it about halfway through. Carefully pull the wrapped cone out of the fire using tongs. Serve at whatever temperature you can stand peeling the foil off the cone.
I made one out of marshmallows, chocolate chips, pecan pieces and mint chips once in the fall. We’ve also cooked these in a microwave in the house, just watching it as it cooked.
We had some messy cones due to things melting and spilling out of the top, but overall, it was a clean and neat way to enjoy the s’mores.
S’mores spread
At a bonfire I covered right before the pandemic shut everything down, my youngest son and I were delighted to find a s’mores spread. Much like a charcuterie board, the s’mores spread offered a lot of opportunities to change up the traditional s’mores recipe. At this particular event, we picked out what we wanted. A volunteer put the items into a cup and handed it to us with a marshmallow on a stick for us to take over to the fire. Some of the ingredients we found there included Reese’s peanut butter cups, Andes mints, dark chocolate, candied bacon, waffle cookies, chocolate chip cookies, salted caramel and nutella.
The possibilities are endless.
Popcorn s’mores
The following recipe is one that allows you to enjoy the taste of s’mores even when you don’t have a fire. I like using dark chocolate chips, although my kids are more of a milk chocolate fan.
SIMPLE POPCORN S’MORES
Yield: 10 Cups
Ingredients
10 cups freshly popped popcorn
1 package (10 1/2 oz.) miniature marshmallows
2 cups graham crackers broken into small pieces
1/2 cup milk chocolate, melted
Directions
■ Combine popcorn, graham crackers and marshmallows together on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
■ Drizzle with melted chocolate and allow to cool.
■ To serve: Use a spoon to get the mixture off the baking sheet and into a bowl. Serve cool or at room temperature.
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