Crushed graham crackers, chocolate chunks, and a melty marshmallow center pack these soft and chewy cookies with flavor, and you don't even have to build a campfire first.
S'MORES BUT BETTER
There are few things that can top the classic combo of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate warmed up by a fire-- but the cookie version just might take the win here.
Not only are there gratuitous amounts of graham cracker crumbs, pools of melted marshmallow, and enough chunks of chocolate to satisfy even the biggest sweet-tooth, but it's all enveloped in a soft and chewy cookie dough that bakes up like a dream.
As a s'mores fanatic, these might just be my favorite cookies ever.
START WITH A SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH BASE
For these cookies, I decided to use my versatile Sugar Cookie Base Dough. I love this dough-- it's soft, chewy, perfectly buttery, and works amazingly with all sorts of mix-ins. You can even make a giant batch and split it up to make all sorts of varieties of cookies.
To s'more-ify the dough (yes, we're going to pretend that's a word) simply mix in crushed graham crackers and chopped up milk chocolate bars. I personally go for Hershey's for the nostalgia factor but you can use whatever chocolate bars you'd like, or even chocolate chips!
The graham crackers aren't extremely obvious when baked into the dough but they give an overall nuttier flavor and cragglier texture to the sugar cookie base, which I love. If you want your sugar cookie dough base to be even nuttier, feel free to brown your melted butter before adding it to the dough mixture. It's a tasty extra step that really boosts the depth of flavor!
Now, 10 times out of 10 I'm going to recommend that you use that sugar cookie base recipe because it is P-E-R-F-E-C-T. But you know what? Cutting corners isn't a crime. If you want to make these S'mores Cookies but you're low on time or energy, go ahead and just swap in store bought cookie dough. No one will be the wiser.
DON'T FORGET THE GOOEY MARSHMALLOW CENTER
So the dough is packed with tons of graham cracker and chocolatey goodness, but what about the most important part-- the marshmallow?
You have a few options. You can, of course, mix in mini marshmallows with the rest of the mix-in ingredients and simply bake from there. But personally, I want my melted marshmallow to ooze out of the center of the cookies just like in the perfect s'mores. So instead of mixing mini marshmallows in, I halve a regular-sized marshmallow and and shape the dough around it, so it's enclosed in the center.
REFRIGERATE FIRST!
If you pop those dough balls straight into the oven, your marshmallow is going to disappear into a sugary mist. If you really want oozy, gooey marshmallow, you've got to let the dough chill in the fridge on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet so that the cookies don't heat up and bake too quickly and cause the marshmallow to disintegrate.
It's also important to keep an eye on your cookies. You want to take them out while they're still light and puffy, and when the marshmallow is just beginning to find its way through the cracks. The marshmallow should be white and fluffy and not yet turning golden.
As long as you let the cookies cool on the warm baking sheet, they will settle into beautiful craggly cookies with bits of marshmallow and melted chocolate oozing through.
WATCH THE HOW-TO VIDEO
S'mores Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hour 24 mins
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 1 batch Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookie dough or store-bought sugar cookie dough
- 6 sheets graham crackers, crushed
- 4 Hershey's milk chocolate bars, chopped
- 12 jet puffed marshmallows, halved
Instructions
- Begin with room temperature sugar cookie dough in a large bowl. Gently fold in the crushed graham crackers and chopped chocolate bars-- reserving a few chunks of chocolate for topping the cookies-- until evenly distributed. Be careful not to over-mix.
- Roll roughly ¼ cup of dough into a smooth ball. Then, create a bowl shape by flattening the top of the ball with your thumbs, and place a marshmallow half inside. Gently reshape the dough ball around the marshmallow and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Refrigerate the dough balls for at least one hour or overnight.
- After the cookies have chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F. Divide the dough balls amongst a few parchment-lined baking sheets so they have plenty of space for spreading-- these are large cookies!
- Bake the cookies until just lightly golden and beginning to ooze marshmallow, about 12-14 minutes. Let cool fully on the baking sheet-- they will de-puff and solidify in the process. As they cool, feel free to press additional chocolate chunks into the tops, if desired, to create picture-perfect cookies.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Cook Time: 14 mins
Kim says
Hate to say it, but my cookies turned out not like the photos. Big, beautiful, and delicious - but the marshmallow melted into the cookies entirely. No ooey gooey puddles of white. My cookies were refrigerated for 2.5 hours prior to baking. The marshmallows in the photo look to be the same size as mine, mine just aren't jet puffed brand. I briefly microwaved some extras and added them on top of each cookie and finished it with my kitchen torch.
Mary says
I had the same problem but had accidentally made a few with a whole marshmallow and that made it look more like the picture. I used both recipes and they are delicious! I also froze mine for about 1 hr.