Summer’s official treat is the s’more and chocolate s’mores will be your new favorite grilled dessert. What is it about two graham crackers sandwiching a slightly charred, soft marshmallow and square of melty chocolate that makes most of us swoon? We always want some more of chocolate smores! Whether eating outdoors on balmy summer nights or camping in the woods, there’s a reason s’mores are a classic summer dessert. You could buy your marshmallows and grahams, but we have a hunch once you try chocolate s’mores with hints of orange and sweet Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Mission Dried Figs, you’ll be hooked! Think of them as s’mores for adults. You’ll find recipes for the graham crackers and the marshmallows below, but feel free to simplify by using store-bought. If you prefer dark chocolate or can’t find orange-flavored chocolate, use what you like. We’ve included instructions for making the chocolate s’mores under the broiler or if you’re in the woods, over a campfire.

Chocolate Orange Fig S’mores

Chocolate smores from scratch: homemade chocolate grahams and honey marshmallows sandwich sweet mission dried figs for craveable chocolate s'mores.

Nutrition

Servings s’mores

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cinnamon Graham Crackers

1 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup graham flour or whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick butter softened
2 tbsp unsulfured molasses
2 tbsp water or brewed coffee, cold
sanding sugar for sprinkling

For the Honey Vanilla Marshmallows

cornstarch for dusting
1 cup water cold, divided
3 tbsp unflavored granulated gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup honey orange blossom preferred
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla paste
confectioner's sugar for dusting

For the Figs

1 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1 ounce orange liqueur
7 ounces Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Figs

To Assemble the S’mores:

12 squares orange flavored dark chocolate

Instructions

To Make the Graham Crackers

Heat oven to 325F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioner’s sugar, two flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Add the softened butter and mix with clean hands or a wooden spoon until the butter is completely worked into the flour.
Stir the molasses and water together very well and pour into the flour mixture.
Mix with a wooden spoon until you have a sticky, soft dough.
Liberally flour a work surface with all purpose flour, place the dough on the floured surface, and sprinkle a generous amount of flour on top of the dough. Knead a few times with your hands until the dough is relatively smooth. Note: dough will be soft.
Divide the dough in half and place each half on a sheet of parchment paper. Roll each half, flouring as necessary, into a rough rectangle approximately 1/8” thick.
Use a pizza cutter to cut an even rectangle about 12” x 9”. Prick each sheet of dough all over with a fork. Evenly sprinkle on some sanding sugar and roll lightly with the rolling pin so it adheres.
You may reroll the scraps from each rectangle to make a few extra crackers if you like.
Move each rectangle of dough, parchment and all, onto a sheet pan.
Bake one pan at a time for 15-17 minutes until the crackers look dry and are starting to color around the edges.
Remove from the oven and use a pizza cutter to cut each rectangle of dough into 12 crackers (4 by 3).
Allow the crackers to cool on the parchment for 5 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Crackers will crisp as they cool.
Store in a self-sealing bag at room temperature for up to 5 days.

To Make the Marshmallows

Spray a half sheet pan liberally with pan spray. Evenly sift on a thick layer of cornstarch across the bottom and the sides of the pan. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, place ½ cup of the cold water and the granulated gelatin.
Stir to combine and set aside.
In a 3 quart saucepan, combine the rest of the cold water, the sugar, salt, honey and corn syrup.
Bring to a boil, put the lid on the pan, and allow to boil for a minute. Note: Because of the impurities in the honey, the syrup will expand quite a bit more than you think it will, so use a pan that seems much larger than you think necessary.
Remove the lid and cook the syrup to 240F. Check the temperature by using a clip-on candy thermometer or testing frequently with an instant read thermometer.
Once the syrup reaches 240F, immediately turn the mixer on low speed and pour all the syrup into the bowl, letting it run down the inside of the bowl rather than pouring it onto the whisk.
Slowly turn up the speed to medium and then high speed and whip until the marshmallow has tripled in volume and is very thick and shiny, about 10 minutes. Add the vanilla and continue to whip for a minute to incorporate.
Spray a silicone spatula with pan spray and scrape the marshmallow onto the prepared sheet pan. Spray the back of an offset spatula with pan spray and use that to spread the marshmallow evenly in the pan.
Sift a liberal amount of confectioners’ sugar evenly over the marshmallow (enough so you cannot see any shiny marshmallow under the thick coating of sugar.
Let the marshmallow sit out at room temperature, uncovered, for 12 hours.
Cut around the edges of the marshmallow and turn it out onto a clean work surface. Brush off the excess sugar and cornstarch, and put it in a large self-sealing bag.
Use a pizza cutter to slice the finished marshmallow into 1 ½” squares.
Place a few cut marshmallows at a time into the bag and shake to coat the cut sides with the cornstarch/confectioners’ sugar mixture. Store in the bag at room temperature for up to a week.

To Poach the Figs

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except the figs.
Bring to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes.
Add the whole dried figs, bring the mixture back to a boil and then reduce the heat, cover the pan, and maintain a high simmer for 30 minutes.
Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to come to room temperature.
Store the figs in the refrigerator in the poaching syrup for up to two weeks.

To Assemble the S’Mores

Slice figs into thin slices. You will want 3-4 slices per s’more.
On a sheet pan, place 12 chocolate graham crackers. Layer on 1 square of chocolate and 1 marshmallow per cracker.
Place under the broiler, about 6” from the coil, and broil until the marshmallows are light golden brown on top, have gotten puffy, and the hard edges have softened as they melt.
Remove from the broiler and place 3-4 slices of poached fig on top of each marshmallow. Top with a second chocolate graham cracker and serve warm.
You can also make the s’mores in the traditional way by toasting the marshmallows on sticks held over a fire, placing the toasted marshmallow on one graham cracker topped with a square of chocolate and then using another graham cracker to sandwich the marshmallow. Pull out the stick and enjoy!

Notes

Recipe and photo by Jenni Field