I have a little confession to make. I am a little bit of a hoarder. I am hoping later in life/after some traumatic event it doesn’t become a huge issue where I end up on the show, because for now I mainly only hoard one thing: chocolate and sweets. I seem to have a real knack for collecting delicious treats and saving them for a rainy day! So I literally have stashes in my room, around my house and even at work filled with chocolate and candy, just waiting to be eaten later. I guess I always try to have a willpower of steel, and only when I’m really desperate do I crack them open.

In the interest of spring cleaning, I started to go through these stashes, and realized just how much I had. Chocolate from America (I’m talking Hershey’s bars, candy from Dylan’s candy bar, milky ways, Ghirardelli’s chocolate, the list goes on!), Chocolate Coated Macadamias, Malteasers, Easter eggs, the list goes on! They are all completely untouched, which is unbelievable given my obsession with sweet food. I guess it’s a sort of out of sight out of mind thing. So when I finally went through it, I decided enough was enough and I really needed to start either eating or using up my supply. Unless the impeding chocolate shortage is going to happen in the next couple of months, I think there isn’t really a need for my excessive hoarding of chocolate (although that will probably be the saddest day of my life if chocolate does run out, I can’t even think about it).

A few months ago I went to Stanthorpe with my boyfriend, and I bought these American marshmallows from Aldi. Now, in Australia, for all those Americans reading, our marshmallows are about 1/8 the size of yours. So when I found these giant pillows of sugary goodness for sale, I had to buy them, regardless of the price! But despite my best attempts over the weekend to eat all the marshmallows, we only got through half the packet. I kept them in my hoard, because they are made of pure sugar and will always stand the test of time, and they’ve been sitting there waiting for another camp fire. In Queensland, it is always too hot for fires, so this wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. So when I found them in my hoard, I decided that I would try to incorporate them into something delicious to make for the blog!

I stumbled upon a recipe for S’mores cookies, and decided that this would be a perfect one to try! Without giant marshmallows, these cookies were going to be a little hard to make, and so it presented the perfect opportunity for me to give these bad boys a go! I tried S’mores for the first time when I was in America earlier this year. We were in Aspen, and at one of the bars at the ski field you could order a S’mores kit. I’d always wanted to try them because they’re not really a thing in Australia. They were absolutely delicious, and now I am obsessed! What an amazing invention, it’s such a shame they aren’t really a thing here, because I would eat them all the time!

For anyone who isn’t sure what a S’more is, you get a graham cracker (a sort of spiced biscuit), a square of chocolate, and a marshmallow. You put the marshmallow in the fire, and once it is cooked to your liking, you sandwich it with a piece of chocolate in between two biscuits. What you are left with is a glorious, gooey, delicious sandwich that is beyond perfection. So when I saw a recipe that replicated this amazing treat, in a cookie, I was sold! You all know how much I love cookies, so it was an easy sell for me. They were really fun to make, and quite easy all things considered!

S’mores Cookies

Adapted From	Martha Stewart
Preparation Time	15 minutes
Cooking Time	12 minutes
Serves	12 medium sized cookies
Ingredients ·         ¼ cup of rolled oats ·         1 cup of plain flour ·         ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon ·         ¾  teaspoon of baking powder ·         ¼ teaspoon of salt ·         ½ cup of unsalted butter at room temperature ·         ¼ and 1/8 cup of light brown sugar ·         1 small egg ·         ½ block of good quality dark chocolate, broken into smaller squares ·         6 large marshmallows, halved horizontally Method 1.       Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or 180 degrees Celsius 2.       In a medium bowl, mix together the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt, and whisk until combined. Set aside 3.       In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes) 4.       Beat in the egg and scrape down the sides in order to ensure it is fully mixed 5.       With the mixer on low, beat in the flour mixture until just combined. 6.       Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Using two spoons, drop balls of the dough on the baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch apart between each. I got each and rolled them with my hands to ensure they were nice and round 7.       Get your chocolate and press lightly into the top of each cookie. 8.       Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden. You may need to turn the baking sheet half way. Remove the cookies from the oven 9.       Turn on your grill in the oven. Add a halved marshmallow to the top of each cookie. Make sure you work quickly, otherwise they might start melting and slide off! 10.   Place the cookies under the grill for one minute, or until the marshmallows are lightly browned. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool

These cookies were absolutely delicious. The smell of them reminds me of being around a fireplace, so warm and comforting. And the taste was amazing. I was worried they may be too sweet, but because there isn’t that much sugar in the actual biscuits, and because I used dark chocolate, I think this really helped to balance the flavours out. The marshmallows, even when cooled, were soft and gooey, so every time you bit into the biscuit it was like biting into a delicious cloud. And the cookies themselves had a great texture.

I took these biscuits to work and they did not last long! People were going back for seconds because you finished one and it made you want another 4. That’s the thing with S’mores, they are really addictive. I’m not even going to try and pretend that these cookies were healthy, but they were so delicious I don’t even care!

As you might be aware if you have read some of my other blog posts (here and here), I am on a quest to find the perfect cookie. So I have developed a cookie score in order to rank the cookie recipes I try and see which one I prefer the most! Although this one isn’t a traditional chocolate chip cookie, I think that it still fits into the category, because I think even without the marshmallow on top these cookies would still be delicious with chocolate chips through them. So I decided they were worth ranking, to see how they stack up.

Supreme Cookie Awesomeness Score

Simplicity: 6

Gooeyness: 5

Tastiness: 9

Gone Factor: 8

Total Score: 28/40

Even though these cookies were delicious, they aren’t as gooey as some of the other cookies I’ve tried. But I think that’s ok, because you wouldn’t want them to be when they are meant to replicate a graham cracker. So I think although they don’t rank as highly, they were super delicious off my traditional score card and in their own right.

I really wish I had some more of these to get me through today, they were gone so quickly and I could have eaten at least 5 more. Next time I might need to make myself my own separate batch! Good thing I brought them into work, otherwise I would have eaten the lot!

Until next time, happy baking!

Ella xx