31 days of Halloween! Day5- Recipe: S'More Storytelling Snacks!

Crunchings and munchings are a very important part of the storytelling experience, but you want to make sure that you have the right snack for the right setting! We like to think of that as your "snacking niche" ; ) . Today I'm posting our favorite takes on

... S'Mores!

Probably the quintessential snack for October storytelling is s'mores. S'Mores can be made a lot of different ways, talking with friends we heard a lot of interesting variations. I'm going to share a few easy favorites: traditional s'mores, s'mores bars, s'mores crunch, and s'mores bark; but would love to hear more variations on this bonfire weather and storytelling treat.

Common must-have ingredients & some variations
~> Chocolate > Hershey's milk chocolate bar is the traditional campfire s'mores chocolate, but we've used a variety of chocolate bars. A favorite is dark chocolate (like Ghirardelli's caramel or Lindt's with orange peel) OR Nutella.
~> Marshmallows > Jet Puffed or Campfire are traditional campfire fare, but there are lots of options out there and home-made marshmallows on a dark chocolate bar are amazing! (I'll post a marshmallow recipe soon).
~> Cookie / Cracker > graham crackers (Honey Maid) are the traditional bed for the s'more but, again, there are lots of options: cinnamon grahams, granola bars, cookies (chocolate chip, chocolate, peanut butter, or waffle cookies etc.  : ) , and even home made graham crackers (link recipe).

Bonfire/ Traditional S'Mores: 

Chocolate Bars (Hershey's ~1.5 oz. size broken in halves)
Marshmallows (regular size)
Graham Crackers (Honey Maid- 1 full cracker per s'more)

1) Build a fire. 2) Prep your graham crackers and chocolate so you can immediately put the s'more together while the marshmallow is still hot (half of the graham cracker first, then the chocolate, with the other half of the graham cracker ready to go on top of the roasted marshmallow). 3) Roast marshmallow on a stick or tong to your preference, but at least melt-y. 4) Assemble and eat!

Simple Oven or Microwave S'Mores in Traditional-style for Indoors:

Chocolate Bars (Hershey's ~1.5 oz. size broken into ~ square halves)
Marshmallows (regular size)
Graham Crackers (Honey Maid- 1 full cracker per s'more)
Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Put graham crackers on a baking sheet (easier clean-up if you line it with aluminum foil). Place one square of chocolate onto each graham cracker, and put 1 marshmallow on top.
Watching closely, bake for ~3-6 minutes. Remove from oven when the marshmallow melts just a bit and put the second half of the graham cracker on top to complete your s'more!

Microwave: Put half a graham cracker on a microwave safe plate. Place a marshmallow on top of the graham cracker. Put it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Immediately put the chocolate and then the other half of the graham cracker on top of the marshmallow, completing your s'more!


Some variations on the traditional s'more that we love:
waffle (Belgian) cookies with Nutella and a roasted marshmallow;
peanut butter cookies with semi-sweet chocolate and a roasted marshmallow;
and traditional graham with dark chocolate orange and a roasted marshmallow.

S'Mores Bars

Ingredients 

2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

1tsp vanilla

1 egg

3 cups crushed graham crackers, ~18 regular crackers

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

12 oz. chocolate chips or ~ 8 regular chocolate bars

3 1/4 cups chopped or miniature marshmallows

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg and beat mixture. Mix in crushed graham crackers, flour, and salt. Save 1 cup of this crust mixture, spreading the rest across greased 13x9" baking pan. Spread the chocolate evenly over the crust; spread the marshmallows fairly evenly over the top. Scatter the saved cup of crust mixture over the top and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden-brown. Cool on rack and cut into bars.

Makes ~ 24.

S'Mores Crunch 

Ingredients 

8 cups of graham cereal (Cinnamon Grahams, Golden Grahams, etc.)

5-6 cups of chopped or miniature marshmallows

1 3/4 cups chocolate chips

1/4 cup light corn syrup

5 Tbsp butter or margarine

1 tsp vanilla

Grease (butter/margarine) 13x9 pan. Use large bowl to microwave 5 cups of the marshmallows, chocolate chips, corn syrup, and butter/margarine uncovered for 2 to 3 1/2  minutes (until melted), stirring every minute.
Stir vanilla into the mixture.
Pour mixture immediately into cereal and toss well to mix.
Use a greased (buttered) spoon back to press the mixture evenly into the 13x9 pan. If you'd like more marshmallows, scatter ~1 cup across the top. Allow to cool (~1hour) and cut.
Makes ~24

S'Mores Bark

Ingredients 

2 1/4 cups graham cracker, crushed (~20 graham crackers)

3 Tbsp dark brown sugar

1/4 cup powdered milk

1/4 tsp coarse salt

3/4 cup butter, melted

~> all chocolates used are baking chocolates, chip or bar form

8 oz. milk chocolate, chips or chopped

4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chips or chopped

4 oz. dark chocolate, chips or chopped 

2 tsp light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup heavy cream

2+ cups chopped or mini marshmallows

1 cup lightly salted nuts (3/4 cup whole, 1/4 chopped)

*optional 4 oz. white chocolate

*optional candy sprinkles or candy corn

Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease a 13x9" baking pan.

Mix together in large bowl graham crumbles, brown sugar, powdered milk, and salt. Melt butter, add to mixture and thoroughly mix. Press evenly into bottom of pan.

Bake 10-12 minutes until golden-brown. Set aside to cool completely.

Mix chocolate (all except the optional white chocolate), cream, vanilla, and corn syrup and melt together on low-heat in pyrex-type bowl or double boiler, stir frequently. After completely mixed allow to cool ~ 10 minutes. Mix in marshmallows and nuts.

Pour and spread the chocolate mixture over your prepared crust, making sure to spread out the marshmallows and nuts. Scatter the chopped nuts across the top. *At this point you can add candy sprinkles or candy corn (peanuts with candy corn is a fun combination) and melt and drizzle the optional white chocolate across the top.

Refrigerate until set (~5 hours). Cut or break into irregular shapes and serve!
 ~> Sometimes I put a drizzle coat (web) of the chocolates on the reverse side of the crust after I break the pieces up for serving.

Enjoy! 

DeWyk