From-Scratch S’mores with Homemade Marshmallows and Hand-Rolled Graham Crackers

As committed as I am to home-cooked family meals, I’ve learned the hard way that some recipes are beyond my scratch-cooking skills.

At least on weekdays.

From-Scratch S’mores—made with Homemade Marshmallows and Hand-Rolled Graham Crackers—are definitely not workday desserts.

But weekends and vacation are another matter. Over the July 4 holiday I found myself relaxing with family and friends in a beautiful and remote wooded place—with tenuous Internet access.

Away from the Tweetstream with time and corn syrup on hand, I decided to assay Homemade Marshmallows, the current foodie confection du jour.

Years ago I tried—and failed—to make marshmallows. I’m still not sure why the recipe never—literally—gelled: I made the marshmallows on a humid day. The candy thermometer’s casing was cracked. Whatever. They were a disaster.

So I was tickled when these Homemade Marshmallows, below, not only held their shape but tasted far superior to their Kraft commercial counterparts.

Stripping Graham Crackers of their puritanical past
Hand-Rolled Graham Crackers were a revelation.

The Reverend Sylvester Graham, an early health food advocate, originally developed these familiar rectangular cookies in the 19th century.

The Reverend believed his Graham Crackers suppressed unhealthy carnal impulses. Perhaps why the grainy treats remain a childhood staple to this day?

Nabisco claims to include honey in their Grahams. Chaw. I don’t taste it.

But you will fully savor this fragrant sweetener—along with butter, vanilla and toasty wheaty flavor notes—in Hand-Rolled Graham Crackers.

Now you’ll really understand why they’re called S’mores.
These robust Hand-Rolled Graham Crackers are yummy all by themselves. But go ahead and sandwich them with Homemade Marshmallows and Hershey’s Chocolate Bars—sorry we couldn’t find locally-sourced alkaloids to Dutch-process cocoa. Just kidding!!

The combined taste sensation will make you (cough) beg for s’more.

Homemade Marshmallows

An adaptation of Maida Heatter’s recipe, these Marshmallows should be made 24 hours in advance to allow the confection to dry and solidify.

1 tablespoon Crisco
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 cup cold water
3 tablespoons (3 envelopes) unflavored gelatin
2 cups sugar
¾ cup light corn syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1. Using the Crisco, liberally grease a 9” x 13” x 2” pan. Dust with 2-3 tablespoons of the confectioner’s sugar. In the photo below, you’ll see I used a portion of a jellyroll pan—a vacation kitchen improvisation.
2. Pour ½ cup water into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle gelatin over the water. Set aside to soften.
3. In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, heat remaining ½ cup water, sugar, corn syrup and salt over a medium-low flame. Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil.
4. Cover the mixture and let it boil for 3 minutes to melt any remaining sugar on the pan’s sides.
5. Uncover pan, hook candy thermometer onto pan edge, turn up flame and let syrup boil without stirring until it reaches 240 degrees. Immediately remove syrup from flame.
6. While beating constantly with an electric mixer on medium speed, pour the syrup into the gelatin mixture in a steady stream. Warning: Handle hot syrup with care as it can burn you badly if spattered.
7. Turn mixer speed to high and beat marshmallow mix for 15 minutes. Add vanilla and continue to beat until mixture is cool and forms fluffy mounds—about 5 more minutes. To speed the cooling process you can set the mixing bowl in a bowl or freezer box filled with ice cubes and continue to beat until fully cooled, see photo below.
8. Scrape mixture into prepared pan and smooth top. Set aside to cool for 12 hours or longer.






9. When ready to cut, sprinkle top of solidified marshmallow with confectioner’s sugar. Grease a sharp knife and a spatula with Crisco and press them into confectioner’s sugar to coat them. Cut marshmallow into 1-1½” strips. With the spatula, carefully scoop and transfer strips to a surface heavily dusted with confectioner’s sugar. Roll strips’ sticky sides in the confectioner’s sugar. Press knife into additional confectioner’s sugar to coat as needed. Cut each marshmallow strip into 1-1½” squares, rolling individual marshmallows in more confectioner’s sugar to coat. Store marshmallows in airtight container until ready to use.

Makes 1 pound of marshmallows—about 12-20.

Hand-Rolled Graham Crackers

This recipe was adapted from 101 Cookbooks.

2 1/2 cups plus whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons half-and-half or milk
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons Demerara sugar for topping (optional)
Extra butter for greasing pan

1. In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
2. Cut softened butter into flour mixture. Blend with a pastry cutter or your fingers until butter is incorporated and mixture has a coarse, mealy consistency.
3. In a large measuring cup or mixing bowl, blend remaining ingredients. Note: Measurements in the photo below represent a doubled recipe.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and blend with a whisk or wooden spoon. The mixture will be a little sticky.
5. Between two sheets of wax paper, roll dough into rectangle about ¼” thick. Place on cookie sheet and chill in fridge or freezer until firm.





6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Grease a cookie sheet with butter.
8. Remove dough from fridge or freezer. Graham Crackers may be cut into any shape using your favorite cookie cutters. If you prefer the traditional shape, use a ruler and knife to mark, measure and cut 6”x 3” rectangles. Lightly score each large rectangle into four smaller rectangles. With a fork, prick each rectangle to form dotted rows, see photos below.
9. Using spatula, carefully transfer Graham Crackers to prepared cookie sheet. Note: If dough becomes unmanageably soft, slide the wax paper-supported dough back onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place the sheet in the freezer for a few minutes until the dough firms up.
10. When transferring cut Graham Crackers to cookie sheet for baking, place the crackers 2” apart—do not crowd as the crackers rise and spread as they bake.
11. Sprinkle tops of Graham Crackers with Demerara sugar, if desired.
12. Place cookie sheet in fridge or freezer to chill until completely firm.






13. When crackers are firmly chilled, remove cookie sheet from fridge or freezer and slide into oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes.






14. Remove sheet from oven. Allow Graham Crackers to cool on sheet for 3-4 minutes, and then carefully remove to cake rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Note: These Graham Crackers are large and hearty. Each cracker, halved, yields two generous servings.

Makes 6-8 large Graham Crackers.

S’more assembly
Toast marshmallow. Warning: Homemade Marshmallows are soft and must be toasted with care lest the precious pillows plummet into the campfire. Sandwich marshmallow and a slab of Hershey’s Chocolate Bar between two Graham Crackers.

Photos courtesy of Ellie Sokolow.