I got inspired to bake these whole wheat s’more cookies after seeing Moonrise Kingdom on opening weekend and getting all happy-nostalgic for summer camp.
I’m a total sucker for anything set in the 1960s or related to the New England coast, so I was completely sold on the movie after seeing the trailer in May. Set on a New England island around a “Khaki Scout” summer camp, the movie involves two 12-year-olds who make a pact to run away together and the scout troop that searches for them. There’s budding romance, intrigue, quirky art direction that’s a Wes Anderson signature, and a kick-ass soundtrack. The movie kept me grooving for days to this particular Francoise Hardy song that was stuck in my head.
The movie also made me reminisce about summer camp. Growing up in Massachusetts, I went to mostly day camps during the summer, but in 7th-grade our entire class got to go to a week-long sleepaway camp on Cape Cod. We did everything one should do at summer camp: swimming, orienteering, obstacle courses, tug-of-war. We survived a bike trip through a rain storm to an oceanographic institute. We got thrown into mud pits by camp counselors. We freaked out over slow dancing with the opposite sex at the end-of-camp dance.
Flash forward to 2012. I wanted to make s’more cookies, because it was summer and because you’re never too old to enjoy s’mores in any form.
I initially attempted a recipe out of Bon Appetit for whole wheat s’more cookies. Even after reading all the negative reviews, I decided to push on, making adjustments that commenters suggested. The result was still a total bust. The cookies were way too floury, puffy, and bland.
And so I tried again. I still wanted to bake the cookies with whole wheat flour, and decided to make some adjustments on a whole wheat chocolate chip cookie recipe from Kim Boyce’sGood to the Grain.
To be clear, these are whole wheat cookies that taste way better than anything you’ll find prepackaged in a health food store. In fact, you’d hardly know these are made with wheat flour instead of regular. What the wheat flour does is add a subtle, nutty biscuit/graham cracker flavor, which goes great for the s’mores theme.
Chocolate chips and mini marshmallows get mixed into the batter. The marshmallows do melt down, so you end up with a toffee-like flavor reminiscent of the flavor in Rice Krispies treats, which I love. Two childhood favorites for the price of one; not bad!
If you would prefer the marshmallows to be intact and gooey, use large marshamllows instead of the mini ones. Snip the large marshmallows in half with kitchen sheers, and instead of mixing them into the cookie dough, place them on top of the cookies about 1/3 of the way into baking. They’ll end up looking closer to roasted campfire marshmallows.
I also topped off the cookies with broken bits of Hershey’s milk chocolate bars, but you can always substitute your favorite chocolate bar.
If you’re eating these at home, I highly suggest having them with an ice-cold glass of milk. And if you’re going somewhere fun for the weekend, you can pack these portable babies along. They’ll make perfect snacks for when you’re picnicking in the park, barbecuing, hiking, or maybe even camping on a picturesque island off the coast of New England.
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Whole Wheat S’More Cookies
Makes about 30
- 3 cups whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- 2 bars Hershey’s milk chocolate, broken into squares
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- With a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on low speed until just blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture and mix at low speed just until the dry ingredients are well incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottoms of the bowl. Mix in the chocolate chips and marshmallows.
- Scoop rounded tablespoon-fulls of cookie dough and form them into balls with your hands. Line the cookies on a baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Lightly flatten the dough with your hands and press a whole Hershey square or broken square bits into the dough.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown on top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool before eating.
Adapted from the Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies in Kim Boyce’s Good to the Grain
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Other s’more recipes to try:
- S’mores Ice Cream from Bonnie the Baker
- Chocolate-Covered S’mores Pops from Love from the Oven
- S’More Brownies from Joy the Baker
- S’mores Truffles from The Comfort of Cooking
- Peanut Butter Cocoa Krispies S’mores Bars from Averie Cooks