S’mores Toffee Cookies
-
What does this food offer in terms of nutrients and physical nourishment?
Protein (some from egg)
Carbohydrates (flour, sugar, chocolate, marshmallows)
Fat (butter)
-
What does this food offer in terms of mental satisfaction through flavor, texture, and experience?
Chewy
Sweet
Buttery
Bitter (chocolate)
Crispy
With summer in full swing and the 4th of July in my rearview, I’ve had such a craving s’mores! It seems like everyone I know has been on social media sharing the delicious campfire dessert. Since the fire pit at my building is closed temporarily, I wanted to bring the gooey, chocolatey goodness inside.
Unfortunately, my local grocery store was out of gluten free graham crackers so I had to get creative. This recipe uses vanilla and coconut sugar to mimic molasses, the traditionally used sweetener that gives graham crackers their toasty signature flavor. Brown sugar can be used as well in a 1:1 substitution.
My initial goal was for the mini marshmallows to be melted and fluffy when the cookies were finished baking. Instead, the marshmallows completely melted, got slightly burnt, and turned into the most magically crunchy, sticky toffee. They are even better than I could have imagined. I hope you give them a try! They’re perfect for a random Wednesday afternoon, social-distancing BBQ, and just about anything in between.
A note on “healthy” ingredient substitutes and dessert “alternatives”
I hesitated slightly when making these to share because I worried that you might expect a healthy dessert alternative from me and wouldn’t approve because these contain a whole stick of butter. Here’s the thing — and the reason why I put healthy and alternative in quotations — our diets are supposed to be enjoyable and exciting! And guys, I love butter and I love chewy cookies.
Everything we put in our mouth doesn’t have to be a health promoting superfood with anti-cancer benefits and the power to reverse-age you ten years. We shouldn’t feel like we have to have alternatives for all of our favorite things for the sake of being (read: feeling) healthier.
Also, a lot of the “healthified” recipes you see on social media and in cookbooks still contain fat and sugar, just in less obvious forms. For example, cookie recipes without oil and butter probably seem healthier to the untrained eye. But their bases are usually nut butter or tahini (sesame seed butter), both of which are sources of fat. Honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar and regular sugar are all broken down into glucose and used the same way in the body. From a food science perspective, baked good recipes need an almost exact ratio of ingredients like sugar and fat to be successful in flavor and texture. It’s okay to use maple syrup as a sweetener or peanut butter for a fat in recipes — I often do! — but I don’t want you to do it because you’re afraid to use the “regular” ingredient.
Instead of worrying about whether a recipe has fat or sugar, look at what type the recipe uses and try thinking about how that ingredient makes your body feel. For example, I personally can’t bake with coconut oil or coconut oil-based vegan butters — they make me feel sick — but dairy butter has never bothered me (and I think it tastes amazing!).
Allergens: Wheat/gluten, egg, dairy
Servings: 12 cookies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25-30 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup raw sugar (white should work fine too)
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup chocolate chunks
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients and sugar.
Gradually add in dry ingredients (except marshmallows and chocolate) until there are no more clumps.
Carefully fold in marshmallows and chocolate. Try to evenly distribute them in the dough.
Using two spoons, separate dough into 12 balls and arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet 2 inches apart. The cookies will spread, so make sure they’re well separated or you’ll end up with a giant cookie!
Place baking sheet in freezer for 5 minutes. This helps the dough keep shape while baking.
Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
Enjoy!
