With a caramelized graham crunch in the base of these buttery shortbread, these truly taste like a s’mores but even better! The crunchy yet tender base topped with toasted marshmallows, melty chocolate and extra graham cracker crumbles on top make these the best s’mores cookie I’ve ever had.

One of my all-time favorite dessert flavors is s’mores–but the standard combination of storebought graham crackers, Hershey’s milk chocolate and a Jet-Puffed marshmallow leaves me a little cold. I need more salt, more flavor, more crunch!

These cookies were inspired by a component in my friend Josh’s incredible ice cream: a graham crunch he had adapted from Caffe Panna (a renowned ice cream spot in NYC). With just a few ingredients, it’s salty, sweet, crunchy and rich. It absolutely transforms everything it touches, from ice cream to these cookies!

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.)

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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5 from 1 vote

Campfire Crunch Cookies with a graham-studded shortbread, chocolate and toasted marshmallow!

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

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 10

Servings cookies

Author Erika Kwee

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.