Blue Ribbon Group Toasted S’more Cookies
Iowa State Fair Best Cookie Winner
These Toasted S’more Cookies are a delightful twist on the ever-popular and tasty campfire treat. In fact, some say it elevates the s’more into something that belongs in a fancy patisserie. At the same time, these blue ribbon winning cookies are easy to make.
The cookie dough has finely ground graham crackers, of course. The other dough ingredients are classic: butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, and salt. Once baked, you top the cookies with a rich marshmallow meringue and a small bar of chocolate. You dot the top of the cookie with the meringue first, to hold the chocolate bar/block in place.
Then pipe on the top portion. The key ingredients in the meringue are egg whites (at room temperature), marshmallows, sugar, vanilla, corn syrup, and cream of tartar. To finish off the cookies, you use a kitchen torch for the toasted marshmallow look. You’ll feel like a culinary pro. By the way, we have a Jo Chef brand torch and love it.
Recipe credit goes to Terri Treft. She won 1st place with this Toasted S’more Cookies recipe at the Iowa State Fair back in 2016. Her win is quite an accomplishment given one of the Iowa State Fair’s claims to fame. They have the largest competitive food division in the country. They host more individual baking contests than any other fair in the country. So, nice work Terri!
Pro Tips
- You can opt to a make the cookies and frosting ahead of time, then assemble just before serving. The frosting will keep about 2-3 days in the fridge.
- Another tip: we made our cookies small so it made a good size batch: 42 cookies. If you prefer a larger cookie (and therefore, less assembly time), go ahead and bake them bigger. Just adjust the baking time a tish longer and the amount of chocolate you put on each.
Blue Ribbon Foodies! This is a fun recipe you are going to want to make again and again.
And if you’re really into s’more themed treats, be sure to try these double chocolate cookies and these favorite no-bake treats.
Enjoy!
-Cyndi
Toasted S’more Cookies
1 cup softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/8 teaspoon salt
Meringue Topping*
2 large egg whites at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla
42 chocolate blocks, about 4 (1.55 ounce) candy bars
Preheat oven to 325° F. In a large bowl, beat unsalted butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour, graham cracker crumbs and salt. Beat on low speed until stiff dough forms. Scoop by heaping teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. With your thumb, make an indent in the center of each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and place on cooling rack.
Using a double boiler, combine egg whites, sugar, water, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt. Set over simmering water to heat mixture, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves and mixture is very warm to the touch, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, pour into a mixing bowl. Beat on medium high speed forming stiff peaks. In a small bowl, microwave marshmallows 20-30 seconds, or until puffed and starting to melt. Add marshmallows to mixture and reduce speed to low. Add vanilla. Continue beating on low until frosting is completely smooth, about 3-4 minutes.
Place filling into pastry bag (or plastic bag with corner cut off). Place a small circle of frosting on each cookie (about 1/4 teaspoon each). Top with a piece of chocolate, then top with a generous amount of frosting. Let cookies set up about 15 minutes. Using a kitchen torch, toast the marshmallow frosting.
* Pro Tip: The meringue will keep about 2-3 days if you want to make the cookies and topping ahead of time, then assemble just before serving.
