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Campfire Crunch Cookies

by erika 7 Comments

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This post was done in partnership with Reynolds Kitchens®; all thoughts and opinions are my own. I’m excited to be working with a sponsor whose product I’ve been using for years in my kitchen. Thank you for supporting The Pancake Princess and the sponsors who keep the bake offs coming!

Hi friends! I’m excited to be participating in a Cookie Countdown hosted by Reynolds Kitchens® Parchment Paper with SmartGrid® to celebrate a huge year of baking. With the Cookie Countdown, Reynolds Kitchens will be sharing a new cookie recipe every day for 21 days on Facebook. I’d love to see you guys join in! If you make my cookies (or any others), make sure to tag me and @reynoldsbrands on Facebook or Instagram!

graham crunch

The story behind these cookies comes from earlier this summer, when I tried my friend Josh’s incredible vanilla ice cream recipe and swirled in the graham crunch he recommended from Caffe Panna. The ice cream was fantastic, but I couldn’t stop fixating on the graham crunch. Salty, sweet, crunchy, rich, it was everything I wanted from a dessert.

For a twist on my usual holiday cookie baking, I decided to swirl it into my favorite sugar cookie base (from the best sugar cookie bake off), milk bar-style. To me, mint chocolate reminds me of the classic holiday combination of peppermint and chocolate. So I made these holiday campfire crunch cookies with all the s’mores components! (Of course, if you don’t like mint chocolate, you can use regular chocolate chunks.)

cookie dough with cookie cutter

I love that the graham crumb gives an irresistibly craggy texture but the sugar cookie base remains soft and melt-in-your-mouth. I rolled and cut these out directly on Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper as the nonstick surface allows for smooth, mess-free rolling. Though the dough is somewhat lumpy, it’s fairly forgiving so you shouldn’t need to flour the surface. Just place another piece of parchment over the top if it’s sticking too much as you’re rolling it out.

These cookies have minimal spread, so the gridlines on Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper with SmartGrid make it super easy not only to cut the parchment paper to perfectly fit your baking sheet, but also to evenly space out the cookies when baking. Plus! It’s reusable (up to 3 times per batch of cookies) and compostable, so clean up is easy and guilt-free when you can just drop your parchment paper in the compost. (Make sure your compost is going to an industrial facility that can process parchment paper.)

Hope you love and don’t forget to tag @thepancakeprincess and @reynoldsbrands on Facebook or Instagram if you make these cookies!

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Shortbread cookies studded with buttery graham crunch, chocolate and topped with a toasted marshmallow!

Ingredients

Graham crumb

  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 6 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 pack graham crackers (71 grams)
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Cookies

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened (113 grams)
  • 1/2 cup sugar (99 grams)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1.5 tbsp milk* (see note)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour (195 grams)
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chunks or chopped Andes mints
  • 1/2 cup graham crumb
  • 12 marshmallows, ripped in half
  • Reynolds Kitchens® Parchment Paper with SmartGrid®

Instructions

Make the graham crumb:

  • Before you start the graham crumb, set out a stick of cold butter from the fridge to soften slightly for the cookies. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
  • Dice the 4 tbsp of butter (can be cold or softened–cutting it into small pieces helps it melt faster) and combine with the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
  • While the butter and sugar melt, crush half a pack of graham crackers into crumbs. I like to do this inside the sleeve it comes in so I don't have to dirty another plastic bag. Simply grasp an unopened sleeve of graham crackers and break it down the midline. Then use a rolling pin to gently (gently so you don't explode the bag open!) crush half the graham crackers into rough crumbs (use your fingers to squish any pieces larger than a pea.)
  • Once the butter/sugar mixture starts to bubble, let it cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the sugar has melted and the mixture is very foamy and almost stretchy looking.
  • Remove butter/sugar mixture from heat and immediately stir in the graham cracker crumbs and salt until evenly incorporated. Pour crumbs onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer crumbs to another bowl to cool. Increase the oven temperature to 350 F.

Make the cookies:

  • While the graham crumbs are baking, cut the slightly softened butter into 1/2-inch chunks. Use an electric stand or hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together for about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally, until very light and fluffy.
  • Add the vanilla and milk and cream for another 1-2 minutes until well incorporated.
  • To save on bowls, I like to add the dry ingredients directly at this point. Evenly sprinkle the baking powder, salt and flour over the butter mixture and beat in the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in the chocolate and 1/2 cup of graham crumbs (reserve the extra graham crumb for garnishing later).
  • Cut a piece of parchment paper using the SmartGrid® to help cut straight lines to fit your desired cookie sheet and divide dough in half.
  • Working with half the dough at a time (leaving the other half covered with a towel in the mixing bowl), roll out the dough to about 1/4-1/2-inch thick on the parchment paper cut to fit the cookie sheet you plan to bake on. If the dough is too sticky, place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough.
  • Use a ~2-3" biscuit or cookie cutter (or just the rim of a cup) to stamp out about 12 cookies, re-rolling the dough as needed. Transfer the parchment sheet to your cookie sheet and space the cookies out evenly. Bake at 350 F for 8-10 minutes or until set on top. Repeat the rolling and cutting out with the other half of the dough.
  • Cookies will look pale and puffed after the initial bake minutes (this is fine as they'll brown further under the broiler). Place half a marshmallow on top of each cookie and broil for an additional ~2 minutes at 400 degrees, until just golden brown–watch carefully to make sure the marshmallow doesn't burn.
  • While the marshmallow is still soft, slide a chunk of chocolate into the center of the marshmallow and sprinkle with reserved graham crumb. Enjoy!

Notes

This recipe is adapted from my favorite sugar cookie base, In Katrina’s Kitchen.
*This cookie base is half of Katrina’s recipe with milk subbed for the egg. If you double the recipe, I highly recommend omitting the milk and using 1 large egg instead for a slightly richer dough with better rise.

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Atoosa

    January 15, 2021 at 10:47 am

    Could I use my creme brulee torch on the marshmallows instead? And if so would I need to leave the cookies to bake for an extra minute?

    Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Denise

    December 16, 2020 at 6:35 pm

    Can I make the dough in advance and let it sit in the fridge for 2 days before rolling it out and continuing with rest of the steps?

    Reply
    • erika

      December 17, 2020 at 3:14 pm

      Hi Denise–yes, you can definitely make and chill the dough in advance!

      Reply
  3. Rebecca Taylor

    December 4, 2020 at 12:07 am

    Yum I love all things s’mores! Can’t wait to try these out.

    Reply
  4. jn

    December 3, 2020 at 11:36 pm

    How much milk did you use in place of the egg in the sugar cookie recipe? Do you think a flax egg would work? I want to substitute the egg because of an egg allergy. Thanks!

    Reply
    • erika

      December 4, 2020 at 1:31 am

      I used 1.5 tbsp of milk as stated in the recipe! You could try half a flax egg but the recipe works fine with just milk!

      Reply
  5. Christina

    December 3, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    Me, When I discovered this 1 minute ago:

    “WHAT”

    “CAMPFIRE COOKIES”

    “?!!!!”

    Reply

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Best lemon poppy seed muffin bake off is live!! Li Best lemon poppy seed muffin bake off is live!! Link in profile and tap the photo to see all the participating recipes/bloggers 🎊🎊

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And excitingly there is a bonus recipe at the end! I love lemon poppy so much that when a certain blogger I love (ahem @ful.filled) reached out with her intriguing looking recipe after the fact, I immediately tried it and reported my thoughts at the end of the post 💕
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New year, new profile pic surrounded by cookies ✨

For those of you who like to plan, here’s a very tentative guide to what I’m envisioning for this year’s bake offs (if the world doesn’t blow up). Thank you, as always, for your constant enthusiasm and support for the bake offs! 💕💕💕 

🍪Jan: lemon poppy muffins, Levain choc/pb cookies?
🍪 Feb: cream cheese kolaches, loft house copycat cookies, flourless chocolate cake?
🍪 March: carrot cake
🍪 April: liege waffles??
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Photo credit: @juliejulez.jpg 👹💕
{HOUSTON GIVEAWAY} Hi friends! If you’ve been f {HOUSTON GIVEAWAY}

Hi friends! If you’ve been following me for a little bit, hopefully you know how obsessed I am with @happyearthcompost and their mission to make composting more accessible and easy for the Houston community! Here is just a sneak peek of all the eggshells and lemon peels from the lemon poppy seed muffin bake off that are going straight into my Happy Earth compost bucket instead of the trash 🎊

I’m thrilled to be partnering with @happyearthcompost to do a giveaway for one lucky winner! Here are the deets:

🌱 you will win 2 free months of monthly pick ups from @happyearthcompost! You’ll get a little counter top bin (pictured here) and a larger bucket to keep outside (in the second pic)
🌱 must be located in Houston or Bryan/College Station to win
🌱 to enter, just make sure you’re following me and @happyearthcompost and tag a friend in the comments! Each comment is a separate entry
🌱 giveaway will close this Saturday (1/16) at midnight! GOOD LUCK!!!
Thankful for another year of bake offs with you gu Thankful for another year of bake offs with you guys! Loving the appreciation for the coffee cake, blueberry muffin, pecan pie, gingerbread and Levain cookie bake offs (more Levain to come in 2021 hopefully!) 🎊💕

While on vacation, I’ve scraped a lot of recipes for future bake offs (thanks to your help) and I feel refreshed and ready to get back to baking ASAP! On the list for 2021 bake offs: carrot cake, oatmeal cookies, copycat lofthouse cookies, Levain chocolate pb cookies, shortbread, lemon poppyseed muffins, etc. Let me know if there’s anything else you’re dying to see in the comments!

THANK YOU for all of your support, your kind comments, your reviewing of different recipes and your spreading of joy through baked goods this past year. Thanks to my tasters for their critical tasting and hilarious comments. Can’t wait to do it all over again next year 💕
Gingerbread bake off is up! Commence all the ginge Gingerbread bake off is up! Commence all the gingerbread baking!! 🎄🎄🎄

Tap the pic to see all participating recipes and tell me which one looks the best or which recipes you’re most excited to try!! You really can’t go wrong with any of them 🎊🎊🎊 and if you’re planning on baking any other holiday cookies this weekend, gimme the deets on what you’re making! I need more inspo for my cookie boxes 🍪🍪🍪 #pancakeprincessbakeoff
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