giant stuffed s’mores cookies
S’MORES FOR ALL!
Well, 12 of you. Sorry.
If Florida didn’t suck (at least around me) I’d call the present bonfire season, where friends gather about a cackling flame with marshmallows hanging precariously off skewers, some destined for a charred hooray and others only a slight singe. I think I’ve once made s’mores around a proper campfire, sometime in highschool. The memory is vague, but there, probably someone’s birthday party and more towards Christmas than summer. I think all of us piled into the person’s dad’s truck bed and rolled around the neighborhood belting Christmas carols.
Strangely, I was quite a social kid in school. Not sure what happened after I hit 20.
S’mores cookies made huge. The parents. One must use a generous amount of dough to fit an entire jumbo mallow in the center of a cookie, and I wanted a big fluffy middle, so Giant Stuffed S’mores Cookies were wrought. Ridiculously fun to make, especially if you’ve got tiny gremlins who like to get their hands dirty, and a joy to eat too. Of course, no lack of chocolate in these guys – heavy on the milk chocolate, with a dusting of dark for those who like a little bitter with their sweet.
Please Sir, Can I Have S’more?
The cookie dough is your classic combo of shit. Butter, sugar, eggs, all that. The only advice I’ll hit you with is to monitor the flour level. Sometimes you might need more, sometimes less, depending on which god you pissed off that day. I offer a range of 2 1/4-2 1/3 cup. Start with less, and add more a tablespoon at a time as you go.
Start by creaming the butter and sugars, then whip in the eggs and vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients until just combined, and swish in the chocolate chips until distributed.
Spoon out around 1/3 cup of dough and lay in your palm. Flatten the center somewhat and stick a big marshmallow in there. Fold the dough around the mallow until reasonable covered (no need to be a stickler here, you just want it mostly surrounded) and roll into a ball. Set on a parchment lined baking sheet. I recommend you don’t put more than 5 dough balls on the sheet to prevent them from oozing into one another when baked.
Set the baking sheets in the freezer for 15 minutes. This is quite useful for the formula I use, which is an adaptation of the pan-banging method from The New York Times. The result is a cookie wrinklier than your grandmother’s jowls and chewier than any other you’ll bake in your life.
Bang Bang Into the Room
If your freezer is small like mine, you can set one baking sheet in at a time and the second when the first batch of cookies is baking. This will add a bit more prep time, but not much.
Bake the cookies for 9 minutes. Remove from the oven and slap the baking sheet vigorously against the edge of the counter 3-4 times. Bake again for 3 more minutes, and repeat the banging. 3 more minutes, one more set of bangs. Sorry if you startle your dog. Maybe warm him first. And perhaps don’t do the banging if you have a sleeping newborn. That would probably suck.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for awhile, then move to a wire rack. Be sure to nibble on one while it’s warm and tender, and enjoy that marshmallow pull as you break a cookie in half. Seriously the best part.
Leftover cookies do keep well, but try not to stack them or else the marshmallows will hug one another and never let go. Be sure they’re fully cooled as well before bagging or boxing them up. I love to freeze the cookies since I have a weird knack for frozen cookies. Anyone else?
Oh, and if you’re craving s’mores out the wazoo, give the Campfire S’mores Brownies a try, too.
What’s your favorite s’mores memory?
Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
giant stuffed s’mores cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks salted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4-2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup mill chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 12 jumbo marshmallows
- flaky salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars for 2-3 minutes until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. Add 2 1/4 cups flour, baking soda, and salt until just combined. If the dough seems especially sticky, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time. Fold in the milk and dark chocolate chips.
- Scoop 1/3 cup-sized mound of dough into your palm and gently flatten to make a dent in the center. Press the marshmallow into the dent and fold the dough around it. It's okay if the mallow isn't fully covered. Roll the dough into a ball and set on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Do not set more than 5 dough balls on your baking sheets. You may need to work in batches.
- Place the baking sheets in the freezer for 15 minutes. Remove and bake for 9 minutes. Tap the baking sheets firmly on the edge of the counter until the centers flatten. Bake 3 more minutes, and repeat the tapping. Bake a final 3 minutes until the edges are golden and set, and perform a final tap on the counter. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Eat some warm, and let the rest cool completely.
