Give Us S’mores, Please!

Your Minnesota Northwoods vacation isn’t complete without the ooey-gooey goodness of a marshmallow roasted over an evening fire and sandwiched between two graham crackers and chocolate. S’mores are a favorite of ours up north and we are sharing our secrets to building the perfect s’more.

The essentials to make the perfect Minnesota Northwoods’ s’more:

1. The Perfect Fire
Build a hot fire with good logs and feed it with twigs and small branches. Once the fire is nice and hot, let it die down a little to expose the perfect marshmallow roasting coals.

2. The Perfect Fixin’s
We prepare our s’more fixings before roasting our marshmallows so we can warm up the graham cracker and chocolate while we roast our marshmallow. You can do this by putting the graham crackers and chocolate within reach of the fire’s heat on the fire grate or on a rock at the fire’s edge.

3. The Perfect Marshmallow
Avoid the flames and cook your marshmallow over the fire’s hot coals to get it perfectly roasted. Slowly rotate your marshmallow to evenly cook it. You know your marshmallow is ready when it turns golden brown and begins to droop. This step may take a few minutes so be patient, it is worth the wait!
For a blackened outer shell, heat your marshmallow over the hot coals for a couple minutes before putting your marshmallow in the flames. This allows your marshmallow to cook before blackening, creating a gooey center.

4. The Perfect Assembly
Carefully sandwich your marshmallow between your two graham crackers and chocolate. Let it cool for a minute so you don’t burn your mouth. And then take a bite of your perfect, ooey gooey s’more. The messier the better!

Take your s’mores to the next level

We like trying different ingredients to make new s’more variations. Feel free to mix and match ingredients to find what combinations you love best. We have yet to make a s’more that wasn’t worth sticky fingers. Here are some of our favorites:

Graham cracker substitutes:

• Flour tortillas
• Cookies – chocolate chip, peanut butter, gingerbread, chocolate
• Ritz crackers

Chocolate filling substitutes:

• Thin mints or Andes mints
• Reeses
• Nutella
• Hershey’s Cookies’n’Cream
• Ghirardelli filled chocolate squares

A couple of our favorite recipes

Assemble as you would a standard s’more to enjoy this chocolate lover’s s’more paradise.

Spread peanut butter on one side of your tortilla half. Place chocolate on the peanut buttered side. Roast marshmallows following Minnesota Northwoods’ perfect s’more directions. Transfer the marshmallows to the tortilla, burrito it, and enjoy! *Tip: For maximum gooeyness, set the prepared tortilla in reach of the fire’s heat to soften the tortilla and melt the chocolate while you roast your marshmallows.