Recipe: (You’ll Want) S’mores

At this weekend’s blogger meetup dinner, one of the favorite courses for everyone — vegan, vegetarian, carnivore — was dessert.

And it’s no surprise…you can’t go wrong with this word (well, contraction if you want to get all technical):

S’mores.

You know what s’more is short for, right? Gimme gimme right now I would like some more, please.

And in eating the delicious raw treats — which, by the way, you can make yourself from this recipe – I realized that I created a s’mores recipe for the holiday blogger party and never posted it (I was going to enter it into a contest but never did)!

So, I present:

Simple but Delicious S’mores.

Ingredients:

(amounts are flexible — make as many as you’d like to eat!)

• Wonton Wrappers (I used Nasoya brand)
• Marshmallows (you can substitute a vegan brand)
• Margarine or butter (I used Earth Balance)
• Dark Chocolate (I used organic Whole Foods brand)
• Ladyfinger Cookies

Step 1: Slice and dice. Cut the marshmallows into smaller blobs, and slice the wonton wrappers in half, diagonally (yes, you can try another shape. Read on to see why I rejected anything other than these triangles).

Step 2: Crush and shave. Smash up the ladyfingers into teeny crumbs (I used the food processor) and shave the chocolate using a cheese or microplane grater.

Step 3: Put everything in its place. Yes, it’s worth the extra step and dirty dishes. You’ll want to move quickly so having everything ready to go is key.

Step 4: Put a couple of tablespoons of margarine in a saute pan and set to medium heat. Once the margarine begins to bubble and brown a bit, put two of the wonton wrapper triangles in and let them puff up. Flip over gently, and brown on both sides.

Step 5: Take the wrappers out of the hot margarine and place on paper towels to drain. As soon as you place them down, sprinkle some of your ladyfinger crumbs on top. If you don’t move quickly enough, the crumbs won’t stick. If that happens, keep going…the melty measures you’re taking in the next step will help.

Step 6: Once all of the wonton wrappers are done frying, turn the margarine down to low but LEAVE IT ON the heat! Start loading up your wrappers. Start with a piece of marshmallow, then load some chocolate on top. Dip the back end of a spoon into the warm margarine and gently press it into the chocolate so the marshmallow-chocolate mix starts to melt into the wrapper. Depending on how chocolate-y you like it, you can put chocolate below and on top of the marshmallow, and even add more after the squishing step.

Step 7: Eat. You can let these cool for transport (as I did for the holiday party) or burn your mouth eating them right away (as I did while getting ready for the holiday party).

Now, if you have a keen eye…you noticed that in Step 6, my picture included an unfried, uncut wonton wrapper.

Well, to make an omelette you have to break a few eggs, and to make a good s’more, you have to break a few…um…s’mores. (Less is not s’more?)

Here are the excerpts of the recipe that you didn’t see.

I tried several shapes, some wrapping the wonton wrapper around the marshmallow then baking or frying…

And learned the hard way that marshmallow actually dissolves and disappears when it’s heated through.

Duh. It actually was pretty funny when I pulled the first batch out of the oven and cut one of the s’mores open and found…nothing. Poof! Gone!

The marshmallow is a pretty key piece, so I had to scrap those plans. In the end, the final recipe is quick, pretty easy and really delicious. And since it was a hit at the holiday party, I’m happy to share it here!

What’s your favorite treat from childhood — and do you make it today?