The recipe for these S’mores Cookies has been marinating in my brain, mainly because these cookies from Target have been taunting me by the checkout every time I’ve been to Target this summer. They look like the iconic Lofthouse cookie, but s’mores flavored! What could be better. But I have restrained myself! I know that they would not be as good as what I can make myself. So I took the concept and made it myself. By returning to my favorite old standby cookie, and doing yet another variation.
Now, to a layman, these cookies may look “comically large.” But we in the business like to call these “bakery style.” As in… you wouldn’t be mad if you spent $6 on a single one of these cookies at a bakery, because it’s large enough to feed a family of five. (Just kidding… more like 2 people, but still)
If I were to make these again, I would make them smaller. That was my bad – I forgot how much these cookies spread. They’re still delicious though, and very chewy despite being thing. And while they are a bit over-large and misshapen (see below), I would argue… aren’t s’mores themselves a bit of a mess? Has there ever been a neat s’more? Has anyone in history ever eaten a s’more and not needed to wash their hands and face afterwards? So I think these cookies just capture the essence of s’mores.
Now lets walk through the components here. The cookies are an old reliable recipe. A solid chocolate cookie base.
The marshmallow frosting is a buttercream with less sugar and a container of marshmallow fluff. The key to getting a marshmallow frosting that’s not just a gross sugar-y concoction is 1) butter, 2) vanilla, and 3) salt. Butter cuts the straight sugar of the marshmallow and adds creaminess, the vanilla adds some extra depth of flavor, and the salt also helps cut the sweetness.
The graham cracker topping is essentially a graham cracker crust that was baked into crumbs without being compressed. I do a lot of things in life halfheartedly, but I rarely bake halfheartedly. So yes, you could just use plain old crushed graham crackers for the top, but it’s more tasty to doctor them up a bit! You’re already going through the trouble of making these cookies, why be halfhearted with the topping?
It’s amazing to me how much the s’mores flavor belongs to Summer and Fall. I have never once craved a s’more in the middle of winter, or even in spring. I start wanting them around mid summer, and that continues into fall whenever I smell a campfire. So it’s about time I made some s’mores this year, since this summer has been a summer that truly feels like summer. In the way that it does when you’re a kid. Maybe because my job is a joke, so I’ve been filling my days with whatever I want to entertain myself. And since now I’ve got a bike, and I live in the Midwest again, I’ve been enjoying the outdoors to the fullest extent. I’m certainly not complaining!
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PinIngredients
For the chocolate cookies:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp glucose or corn syrup
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2/3 cups milk powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
For the marshmallow frosting:
- 1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 7 ounce jar of marshmallow fluff
For the graham cracker crumb:
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker, crushed into crumbs
- 1/4 cup milk powder
- 2 tbs sugar
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 4 tbs butter (melted) or as needed
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
Bake the cookies:
- Combine the butter, sugar and glucose in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides, add in the eggs and vanilla and beat for 7-8 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and add in the flour, cocoa powder, milk powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together – no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Using a 2 3/4 oz. ice cream scoop (1/3 cup measure) portion out the dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet – you should get 15-20 large balls of dough. Pat the tops of the cookie balls flat – wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. Do not bake the cookies from room temp – they will not bake properly!
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the chilled dough at least 4 inches apart on the baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes – the cookies will puff, crackle and spread. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before frosting.
Prepare the graham crust crumb:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Toss the graham crumbs, milk powder, sugar, and salt with your hands in a medium bowl to evenly distribute your dry ingredients.
- Whisk the butter and heavy cream together. add to the dry ingredients and toss again to evenly distribute. The butter will act as glue, adhering to the dry ingredients and turning the mixture into a bunch of small clusters. The mixture should hold its shape if squeezed tightly in the palm of your hand. If it is not moist enough to do so, melt an additional 14 to 25 g (1 to 1½ tablespoons) butter and mix it in.
- Loosely spread out the crumb on a baking sheet lined with parchment, and bake for 10 minutes.
Make the Frosting:
- In a large bowl, add the butter. Beat with an electric mixer on highs until light and fluffy, at least 2 minutes. It will go from bright yellow to a more pale yellow after beating.
- Continue beating and add the powdered sugar a little at a time until fully incorporated.
- Add the salt and vanilla and beat for another minute to fully dissolve the salt.
- Finally, scrape the contents of the marshmallow fluff from the jar into the bowl as best as you can. It’s super sticky! Beat everything together until nice and fluffy, and the frosting is no longer sticky. It should be fluffy and spreadable.
Assemble:
Once all of your components are cool, spread a generous amount of marshmallow frosting on each cookie, and dip into the graham cracker crumb to coat the top.