Happy National S’mores Day! Though s’mores originated at children’s campfires, people of all ages enjoy this treat of gooey toasted marshmallows and melted chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers. I’m sharing two recipes for oven s’mores—same great flavor as the campfire treat and a little less messy.
The first recipe I'm sharing appeared in S’more Murders, my 5th Five-Ingredient Mystery. On the “Cinnamon and Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder” blog, my friend Kim McMahon Davis shows how to make these tartlets. Check out her photos and video.
Ingredients (for 24 tartlets)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
2 milk or dark chocolate candy bars, approximately 1.45 ounces each, divided into rectangles (or use a layer of chocolate chips as Kim shows in her video).
12 standard size marshmallows, each cut in half to make two circular pieces
Combine the crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl. Stir in the melted butter and mix until blended. Lightly grease 24 cups (1 ¾–inch diameter) in a mini muffin pan. Divide the crumbs among the cups. Press the crumbs down and around the sides with a tart tamper, a spoon, or your fingers. Bake 4–5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven. Put one chocolate rectangle or chocolate chips to cover the crust in each cup. Put a marshmallow, cut side down, on top of it. Return to the pan to the oven for 3 minutes or until the marshmallows are softened. To brown the marshmallows, put the pan under the broiler for a minute.
Cool the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Carefully lift each tartlet from its cup. If the marshmallows cool too much, making it difficult to remove tartlets from pan, put the pan back into a warm oven for a minute or two to soften the edges. Serve warm immediately or serve at room temperature after the tartlets have cooled down.
Ingredients (for each box of 15 shells)
8 standard-size marshmallows, about 1” high, cut in half into circles
3 ounces milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 package Athens® Graham Cracker Flavor Phyllo Shells
S’MORES TARTLETS
These tartlets have a delicious buttery homemade crust.Ingredients (for 24 tartlets)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
2 milk or dark chocolate candy bars, approximately 1.45 ounces each, divided into rectangles (or use a layer of chocolate chips as Kim shows in her video).
12 standard size marshmallows, each cut in half to make two circular pieces
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.Combine the crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl. Stir in the melted butter and mix until blended. Lightly grease 24 cups (1 ¾–inch diameter) in a mini muffin pan. Divide the crumbs among the cups. Press the crumbs down and around the sides with a tart tamper, a spoon, or your fingers. Bake 4–5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven. Put one chocolate rectangle or chocolate chips to cover the crust in each cup. Put a marshmallow, cut side down, on top of it. Return to the pan to the oven for 3 minutes or until the marshmallows are softened. To brown the marshmallows, put the pan under the broiler for a minute.
Cool the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Carefully lift each tartlet from its cup. If the marshmallows cool too much, making it difficult to remove tartlets from pan, put the pan back into a warm oven for a minute or two to soften the edges. Serve warm immediately or serve at room temperature after the tartlets have cooled down.
S’MORES BITES
This easier and lower-fat version of oven s'mores is made with graham cracker flavor phyllo shells. (I bought them by mistake when I meant to buy the regular phyllo shells!) I adapted the s'mores recipe from the one on the box.Ingredients (for each box of 15 shells)
8 standard-size marshmallows, about 1” high, cut in half into circles
3 ounces milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 package Athens® Graham Cracker Flavor Phyllo Shells
Put 5 chocolate chips in each phyllo shell. Top each with one marshmallow circle and then 3-5 chocolate chips. Put the shells on a baking sheet and broil them until the marshmallows start to turn brown (approximately 30 to 60 seconds depending on the distance from the heat).
THE VERDICT ON THE VERSIONS
Though s’mores bites with phyllo are quick and relatively low cal, I missed the buttery flavor of the s’mores tartlets.
Maya (Mary Ann) Corrigan combines her passion for food and detection in her Five-Ingredient Mysteries featuring café manager Val and her live-wire grandfather, who solve murders in a historic town near the Chesapeake Bay. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes. Visit her website for book news, five-ingredient recipes, mystery trivia, and a free culinary mystery story. Sign up for her newsletter to enter a drawing for a free book. One subscriber receives a free book each time a newsletter comes out.
ABOUT S’MORE MURDERS
Val is hired to cater a re-creation of the Titantic’s final dinner on a yacht in the Chesapeake Bay. The yacht owner, who collects memorabilia related to the disaster, wants her to serve the meal while his guests play a murder-mystery game. But Val soon realizes his game has a serious purpose. He’s fishing for the culprit in a real crime. When one person goes overboard, Val must reel in a killer before s’more murders go down.
S’mores weren’t invented until years after the Titanic sank. To find out how they figure in the plot of S’more Murders, read the first chapter on the Kensington Books website.
Do you enjoy s’mores or murder mystery games? Comment with your e-mail address by August 13 for a chance to win a copy of S’more Murders. This applies to US addresses only. A winner outside the US will receive cozy goodies via e-mail.
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ABOUT S’MORE MURDERS
Val is hired to cater a re-creation of the Titantic’s final dinner on a yacht in the Chesapeake Bay. The yacht owner, who collects memorabilia related to the disaster, wants her to serve the meal while his guests play a murder-mystery game. But Val soon realizes his game has a serious purpose. He’s fishing for the culprit in a real crime. When one person goes overboard, Val must reel in a killer before s’more murders go down.
S’mores weren’t invented until years after the Titanic sank. To find out how they figure in the plot of S’more Murders, read the first chapter on the Kensington Books website.
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