Chocolate S’mores Cookies from Arielle Clementine
Photo Courtesy of Arielle Clementine
It seems only fitting that we kick off this 12 Days of Holiday Cookies season with the
same lovely friend that helped kick it off last year ––
Arielle Clementine. A lot has happened in her household over the last 12 months. There has been much Henry-inspired kitty love (oh that kid kills me , he is so cute!), glorious
food adventures,
special meals prepared, and the newest addition and her littlest sous chef, sweet baby George. Arielle, doesn’t get the chance to post often, but when she does something magical happens. I love following the activities of this beautiful family and everything Arielle does just seems to give off pure joy. Be sure to check out her
blog for more of her cooking adventures and thank you Arielle for sharing this delicious recipe.
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My two-and-a-half year old son Henry and I are regulars at Central Market. At every visit we have rituals that Henry, a fellow who loves routines, insists we follow. We stop by the fresh juices so Henry can slide the bottles in and out of the ice chips. We walk through the bulk foods section and Henry helpfully points out the gummies and the rock candy. And near the end of our trip, as we walk through the bakery, Henry suggests that we get a cookie from the cookie bar. By that point I’m usually worn down or hungry enough that a cookie sounds like an exceptionally good idea. We both always go for the s’mores cookie. It’s a chocolate cookie loaded with puddles of gooey marshmallows, semisweet chocolate chips, and crunchy-chewy cornflakes. They are straight up delicious. So delicious that I finally decided to figure out a recipe for them so I could make them for my friends and family this Christmas. I used Martha Stewart’s recipe for milk-chocolate cookies as the base, swapping out the chocolate and adding gently crushed cornflakes (they give the cookies a fantastic texture). The marshmallows presented a bit of a challenge. Just tossing in whole mini marshmallows yielded cookies with mostly intact marshmallows that became irritably crunchy and unpleasantly chewy as the cookies cooled. I tried cutting larger marshmallows into quarters, hoping that it might yield the gooey marshmallow puddles I was looking for. It was closer to what I wanted but still tiresomely chewy. And then, eureka! The s’mores cookie of my dreams, like the Central Market cookie but softer, lighter, with a pleasant chew, and those delightful marshmallow puddles, came when I decided to toss the marshmallows into a sieve and run them briefly under cold water to wash off the cornstarch coating that keeps them whole when baked. That extra step takes very little effort but makes the cookie so much more delicious. I hope you’ll give them a try, and that they give you a few moments of marshmallow-y chocolate happiness during this busy season!
adapted from Milk-Chocolate Cookies from Martha Stewart’s Cookies
makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup gently crushed cornflakes
1 cup mini marshmallows, rinsed (see instructions below)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
2. Melt half of the chocolate chips (3/4 cup) with the butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water; let cool slightly.
3. Put chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Toss in the remaining 3/4 cups chocolate chips and the cornflakes and mix in on low, then turn off the mixer. Put the mini marshmallows in a small sieve and run them briefly under cold water, tossing them softly with your hands to remove their powdery cornstarch coating. Add the rinsed marshmallows to the mixing bowl and turn the mixer back to low for a few seconds until they’re incorporated.
4. Using a 1 1/2 inch portion scoop, drop dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. You really do need the parchment paper- the marshmallows are seriously sticky! Bake until the edges are set and the marshmallows have melted, about 15-17 minutes. The cookies will still be quite soft in the center, but they’ll firm up as they cool. Let cool completely on the pans (the marshmallow makes them difficult to remove while the cookies are hot, but they’ll pop right off when cool). Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.
