Bite Size S'mores

What could be better than homemade graham crackers, chocolate truffles and homemade marshmallow cream? NOTHING!

I have recently had the pleasure of working with Jamie Cantor of Platine Cookies. Eli has sampled most of her desserts and the one he just can't stop talking about are her little s'more bites. He has been begging me to make something similar.

I remember reading a recipe for graham crackers in Nancy Silverton's Pastries. As most everything from that book has been good, I choose to make her graham crackers. This dough is a mother to work with. It is very, very wet and super sticky. After rolling out part of the dough, I had trouble. I decided that it would be best to roll the rest of the dough onto parchment sheets and freeze until they got firm. When I took them out of the freezer I immediately cut them into small rounds and then rerolled the scraps and froze those. And repeated it until all the dough was gone. The last of the scraps I baked off and then threw in the Cuisinart and made crumbs. They will be used for the next cheesecake I make.

These baked quickly. They were a little more crispy than I would have liked, but the taste was oh-so good. I baked these for around 10 minutes, which I found was a bit too long. Next time, I will adjust.

For the chocolate layer, I made the truffles from Sherry Yard, Desserts by the Yard and they were easy and perfect. I froze them and then when ready to use put them atop the little graham crackers.

Lastly, I made an easy marshmallow frosting from the Martha Stewart website. Not nearly as good as the marshmallow from the last Daring Bakers challenge, but the MS marshmallow frosting was way less steps. I needed something quick and easy.

I do need some lessons in piping. My piping leaves much to be desired. Hence, my kids didn't care. They were simply happy that these were finally assembled and complete. All that was left to do was to to torch them and eat them....

Graham Crackers

Pastries from the La Brea Bakery

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp. Unbleached pastry flour or unbleached flour
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tsp. Baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. Kosher salt
• 7 tbsp. Unsalted butter, cut into cubes and frozen
• 1/2 cup mild flavored honey
• 5 tbsp. Whole milk
• 2 tbsp. Pure vanilla extract

Topping

• 3 tbsp. Sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda & salt. Pulse or mix on low. Add the butter and pulse on and off until it is the consistency of coarse meal.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the honey, milk & vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and pulse until the dough barely comes together. It will be soft and sticky.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat the dough into a rectangle, 1” thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm; about 2 hours or overnight.

4. Prepare the topping, combine sugar and cinnamon and set a side.

5. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the fridge. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into along rectangle 1/8” thick. The dough will be sticky. Cut the dough to your desired size. Gather scraps together and re-roll. Place on parchment and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and chill until firm, 30-45 minutes. Repeat with other half of dough.

6. Adjust oven racks to upper and middle and turn oven on to 350*.

7. bake for 25 minutes until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets half way through.

Chocolate truffles

Desserts by the yard by Sherry Yard

Ingredients

• 8 oz. Bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. Unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp. Jack Daniels or whiskey

Directions

I adapted these for the kids. I omitted the whiskey and didn’t roll them as I wanted

To make s’mores. I also omitted the coating as I was going to coat them in marshmallow cream.

Make the truffles:

1. Place the bittersweet chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate and butter. Let sit for one minute. Using a rubber spatula, stir slowly from the center out. Be careful not to add too much air, about 2 minutes.

2. Add liqueur if using it. Allow the ganache to cool until it is firm. 4 hours in a 65* room or two hours in the refrigerator.

3. Once the ganache is firm, it can be formed into truffle balls. Using a piping bag, a mini ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, and make 1” blobs. If the truffles begin to warm, refrigerate for 10-15 minutes until firm.