These cookies are a super fun twist on the classic smores. They are deliciously chewy chocolate chip cookies packed with marshmallows and topped with a graham cracker crumble. These cookies are as much fun to make as they are to eat, get all the nostalgic flavors you get from a smores, with no fire pit necessary.
Graham Crumble and Cookie Ingredients
I have loved marshmallows for as long as I can remember. I did not do much camping when i was younger, but somehow always managed to always have smores. weather we were toasting marshmallows over the stove or in from of the fire place in the living room, my mom always made sure to include that special treat during summer. So naturally I had to figure out a way to add those melty sweet flavors of smores in freshly baked cookies.
Creaming Method
I have tried many variations of smores cookies. One thing that was always hard was adding marshmallows to the cookie dough. I don’t know if you have ever baked with marshmallows, but they are basically sugar and gelatin, so when cooked to a certain temperature, they melt and usually turn into a gloopy sugary mess. Not what I envisioned for my perfect campfire cookie. I’ve tried freezing the marshmallows before adding them to the dough. While this helped, there were many variables, and they did not come out the same every time. A lot of the times, they still melted in the oven and were a little hard and chewy. I have also tried adding the marshmallows at the end of the baking process, which is ok, nut they also tended to fall off the cookie, and I didn’t get yummy marshmallow bites throughout the cookies like I wanted. Stumped that nothing was working, I stumbled across VEGAN MARSHMALLOWS!! They keep their shape while baking, they don’t melt into a goopy mess, and there’s no prep work involved. You just simply open the bag and pour into the dough! Finally, I found it, the perfect marshmallow variation to bake with!
Mix in chocolate chips and mini marshmallows by hand
The next item I needed to figure out was how I wanted to add the graham crackers. I found that cookies that added graham cracker crumbs in the cookie dough itself always felt somewhat dryer, I noticed that graham crackers act like a sponge and soak up some of the moisture in cakes and cookies. I wanted the amazing flavor that graham crackers give you without the dryness, so I decided to make a crumble with them. It comes together real quick and makes for the perfect topping.
Roll in graham cracker crumble and bake
One last secret I have to make perfectly soft chewy cookies is using two types of flours. I use a combination of all-purpose flour and bread flour. The higher gluten content in bread flour helps to create a chewier cookie. I like to use a combination of both flours, but a higher ratio of all-purpose flour to bread flour. Using this ratio produces the cookie we all know and love but with the chewiness you would expect to get from a bakery. While these cookies would be fine if you only have all-purpose flour, they are truly great with the addition of bread flour, and it’s an ingredient I personally wouldn’t skip.
Place more chocolate chips on top after baking
Makes approximately 30 cookies
Ingredients
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter (softned)
3/4 cups Brown Sugar
3/4 cups Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Bread Flour
1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 whole Eggs
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup Mini Vegan Marshmallows
1 tsp Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste
Graham Cracker Crumble
6 tbsp Butter (melted)
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 cup Flour
1/4 tsp salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 ° F
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
Start by making the graham cracker crumble. Place 6-7 graham crackers in a food processor and blend until pulverized. If you do not have a food processor, place graham crackers in a plastic bag and crush into crumbs using a heavy pot or rolling pin. Place graham crackers, flour, brown sugar, salt, vanilla, and butter in a small bowl and mix all ingredients until combined. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To make the cookie dough start by adding two sticks of softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer, followed by both sugars, salt, baking soda, and vanilla. With the paddle attachment start creaming everything together. Cream for about 5 to 7 minutes until the mixture is doubled in volume and light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping the bowl after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add both flours and mix until just combined. Be careful not to overmix your cookie dough as it will result in tough cookies. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula and remove from the mixer. Add in your chocolate chips and mini marshmallows to the cookie dough. Fold into the dough using a rubber spatula making sure to evenly incorporate throughout.
Take the graham cracker crumble out of the fridge and break apart with your fingers so it is in very small crumbles and set aside. Now is time to start portioning out the cookie dough. I use a number 24 ice cream scoop which comes to about 2 1/2 tbsp per scoop. This will give you around 30 cookies. This is the perfect cookie size in my opinion, but feel free to make them as big or small as you want, just keep in mind that baking times will vary. After you scoop the dough roll each ball in your hand to create even round balls. Roll each dough ball into the graham cracker crumble and place on prepared cookie sheet. Leave about 2 inches between each portioned cookie dough to prevent merging and endure even baking.
The cookies are ready to bake, refrigeration is not necessary for this cookie dough, it is best when baked right away. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. When cookies are light golden brown remove from oven. Cookies will be very soft and slightly underbaked and that is ok, the residual heat will continue baking the cookies out of the oven. Be careful not to overbake your cookies as this will result in hard crunchy cookies.
This last step is totally optional, but sort of like the finishing touch for these cookies. While the cookies are still hot from the oven, quickly place chocolate chips on the tops of each individual cookie. You want to do this while the cookies are still warm so the chocolate chips melt into the cookies and don’t fall off when the cookies cool. This step is both esthetically pleasing and delicious.
Campfire Cookies are best served warm while the marshmallows and chocolate chips are still melty. This will give you the ultimate smores effect. But they also store well in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Enjoy with or without a fire pit. A glass of milk is always a plus though!
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