Marshmallow-Stuffed S’Mores Cookies

This photo is from Katie at Veggie and the Beast because my “gooey center” photos turned out terribly! See the links below for the rest of her beautiful pics

It can be challenging to bake with marshmallows, since they often dissolve or spread into a crispy wafer. That’s why many s’more-inspired recipes use marshmallow cream instead of real mallows, or stick to using marshmallows as a topping. Stuffing marshmallows into cookies sounded like a challenge… until Katie from Veggie and the Beast taught me how.

Turns out that the trick is to use gelatin-free marshmallows. These mallows hold their shape while baking, giving you a nice, gooey bite in the middle of your cookie. Gelatin-free mallows are often sold as “vegan marshmallows” so you’re likely to find them at stores that cater to a vegan clientele. I got mine at Whole Foods, and read that Trader Joe’s also sells vegan mallows these days.

These cookies bake up beautifully, and it’s fun to watch people’s reactions when they realize there’s a marshmallow stuffed inside. The base dough tastes a lot like a graham cracker on its own, plus you mix bits of graham cracker into the dough. Add chocolate chips and the marshmallow centers… and you really get that s’more effect.

Note that this dough has to chill for a bit before you bake it, so make sure you plan ahead!

Original recipe:  Veggie and the Beast. I’ve rewritten things a bit and added commentary. The original bloggers’ pics of the mallow center are way better than mine, so you should take a peek!

Yield: ~20 cookies 

Suggested equipment: Mixer

Total Time: ~1.75 hours

Cook Time: ~13 minutes 

Ingredients

• 2½ cups flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or any other type you prefer)
• ¾ cup crushed graham crackers (broken into small pieces, not crumbs)
• 10-11 large gelatin-free marshmallows, cut in half (I bought a brand called Dandies)

Directions

Make your dough 

1. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a small bowl, then set the bowl aside
2. Use your mixer to cream the butter for a couple minutes
3. Add your brown sugar to the mixer bowl, and mix until it’s light and fluffy
4. Add your honey and mix it all again
5. Beat your eggs into the mixture
6. Add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low, until just combined
7. Fold in your chocolate chips and graham cracker pieces with a wooden spoon
8. Refrigerate your dough for at least an hour

Assemble and bake your cookies 

1. Preheat your oven to 350F
2. Scoop your cookie “bottoms” onto a lined cookie sheet. You’ll want to scoop about a tablespoon of dough for each “bottom” (see pics!)
3. Place half a marshmallow on top of each cookie “bottom”
4. Top each marshmallow-dough stack with another tablespoon of dough
5. One stack at a time, pinch the dough around each mallow so it’s entirely encased in the dough. Then, flatten the entire stack a bit (this prevents the mallows from rising to the cookie top as the cookies bake)
6. Bake your cookies for about 10-13 minutes, until the sides are golden. As with many types of cookies, the centers won’t look fully baked when you take these out
7. Let the cookies cool on their sheets for a couple minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack

As you might expect, these are awesome when they’re right out of the oven. I brought them to work the next day and they were still awesome, even though the centers had firmed up a bit! You can always throw your cookie in the microwave for a few seconds if you want to replicate that fresh outta the oven gooey effect.

 

Adding in the honey

Dough is almost ready!

Mixing in the chips and crackers

Mallows ready go to

Place a half mallow on top of each dough “bottom”

Each stack will look like this

Then, squash the stacks down a bit to flatten them

Right out of the oven