S'mores from Scratch!

My OCD (a severe aversion to anything perceived to be dirty) does not approve of camping. I've only been twice in my entire life. I was a kid and my need for cleanliness had not yet manifested into a lifelong love of soap and hand sanitizer. However, it still presented itself as a rather traumatic experience, due to the lack of plumbing, central heating, and cable television.

Although, I do have one positive memory: making s'mores around the campfire! It was the first time I had tasted one and boy, was it glorious! Three of my favorite things, all rolled up in one!

The weather has been super nice this summer, so we've been getting a lot of invitations to go camping. After declining yet another, I began to think about all the s'mores we were missing out on! So, at some point way past 10 o'clock last night, I dragged Hubby out of bed and to the grocery store...I was on a mission and no one could stop me! I embarked on a S'more Adventure that would require making everything from scratch: marshmallow, graham cracker, and all~!

So... once I was at the point of no return, I realized that it was way more complicated than I imagined. lol. But being my stubborn self, I pushed on well into the night. It turned out to be a two-part process that extended to the next day! So if you're going to follow in my footsteps and embark on this adventure, make sure you start prepping for these a day in advance!

What to do the night before:

1. Make the "Chocolate Toppers/Garnishes"

Grab some cookie cutters, paper, wax paper, tape, a cookie sheet, a marker, and some chocolate! (Bet you're thinking "what the heck?")

Trace the outline of your cookie cutters on a piece of paper. Use different sizes. I made a sheet of flower outlines!

Tape the outlined paper to a cookie sheet and cover it with wax paper. Secure the wax paper by taping it to the cookie sheet.

Melt some dark chocolate chips and pour into a ziplock bag. Snip the end of the ziplock bag to make a temporary piping bag. Pipe the chocolate onto the wax paper, outlining the cookie cutter shapes that you traced earlier.

Put into fridge to cool & harden overnight. Later, you will be able to easily peel off the chocolate and it will stay in the form of the flowers you just pipped. We will use these as "toppers/garnishes" later.

2. Make the Graham Cracker Dough

Following the Graham Cracker recipe was pretty straight forward. When you pour it out of the food processor, it will be really sticky and will look like this.

Sprinkle with flour. Kneed & shape into a one-inch thick square or rectangle. Chill in the fridge over night.

3. Make the Marshmallow Mixture

I found this great marshmallow recipe and ran with it. It's basically a sugar and unflavored gelatin mixture.

Boiling sugar water is pretty!

This is the gelatin with the boiled sugar water, before mixing. You basically just mix this sugar and gelatin bowl for about 10 minutes. Through this process, it will change both in color and texture.

At some point, the clear liquid mixture will turn white. When it does, this is the time to add coloring, if you want a colorful marshmallow. I opted for blue!

When it's done, after about 10 minutes of whipping, it will have a viscous and smooth texture. Line a pan with wax paper, pour in the marshmallow batter and chill in the fridge overnight.

What to do the next day:

1. Prepare & Bake the Graham Cracker

I recently got a pack of these cute silicone rings, called "dough planners." You put one on each end of your rolling pin and it gives you a perfectly even dough when you roll it out! The rings have different thicknesses that will give you a range of different dough thicknesses, depending on what your needs are. I used the grey ones, which gives you a 1/8 inch cookie dough.

I also purchased a non-stick silicone rolling pin! I've always wanted one to go with my non-stick pastry mat. This way, the dough won't stick to any surface! I was super excited to try out both of these new things! =)

I rolled out the dough and used the same cookie cutters I used last night, varying in size.

Place on a cookie sheet and use a fork to poke a few holes in them.

Bake on the very top rack for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. They turned out really pretty! And they smelled delicious!

After waiting for them to cool, I busted out the chocolate chips once again. You can never have too much chocolate. Or purses. (hmm, perhaps I should start a purse blog as well...)

Melt the dark chocolate chips like before, and put into a zip lock bag. Pipe chocolate onto the cooled graham crackers, in pretty designs. =)

2. Cut the Marshmallow

Grab the marshmallow pan, peel the sheet of marshmallow off of the pan and put onto a plate.

Use the same cookie cutters as before, varying in size, and to cut shapes into the marshmallow.

Grab the "toppers/garnishes" we made the night before and peel them off of the wax paper gently. Place them on top of the marshmallows.

3. Assemble into cute S'mores!

This was perhaps one of my more crazy undertakings, but it was sooo fun! And they're much prettier than anything you can make in the wilderness with nothing but sticks and a giant, burning fire! =) I like things that are clean...and aesthetically pleasing. lol.

Give these a try! They're pretty and delicious. The best part: you don't have to go camping to make them!