Our new home has an incredible backyard! When the sun is shining the kids, their friends and I spend lots of time in the pool. When the sun goes down, the summer fun doesn’t end - we have a great stone fire pit that has been getting as much use as the pool. I love sitting around a crackling fire with friends on a summer evening, sharing stories and catching up. It beats sitting inside watching TV any day!
Needles to say we have had many marshmallow roasts (Griffin’s favourite) over the hot coals of a soothing fire. There is an ongoing quest to roast the perfect marshmallow, golden brown from top to bottom and all around with a warm soft center. Caitrin is pretty good and can toast a mean mallow, but is yet to beat the king; I have much more campfire experience. We all have a good laugh when a near perfect marshmallow falls off the fork/stick into the fire or lingers over hot coals for just a fraction too long and bursts into flames. The best nights are when everyone, adults included, get into roasting and there are sticky fingers all around the campfire. Good times! Unfortunately we have grown tired of the basic S’more (hard to believe I know!) So the kids and I have been experimenting a little to come up with some flavoured s’more combinations. We broke the s’more down to its basic elements and started switching things up.
The Cookie
We all agree graham crackers are good, but ginger snaps, digestive biscuits, chocolate chip cookies, wafer cookies and oatmeal cookies have all been kid approved around my campfires.
The Marshmallow
Obviously a key element, with the large white ones being the best. However, colourful mini marshmallows and flavoured home made marshmallows work well. We have also tried switching things up by replacing the marshmallow with banana and pineapple, which roasted really well over the fire.
The Chocolate
My favourite part, mainly because I love everything about chocolate, but also because there are so many options! The standard milk chocolate bar is now just satisfactory for our s’mores after having tried; peanut butter cups, chocolate mint patties, chocolate hazelnut spread, white chocolate, flavoured chocolates, and filled chocolates (especially caramel!).
The next time you gather around the fire with your friends and family see what s’more combinations you can come up with and share them with me, please!
Peanut Butter Banana S’more
Makes 1 S’more
Prep time: 5 Minutes
Total time: 10 minutes
1 large marshmallow
2 Compliments Peanut Butter Cookies [1]
1 chocolate peanut butter cup
2 thin slices of ripe banana
- Light a campfire and let the large logs burn down to glowing coals. Skewer the marshmallows on long sticks or forks and toast golden brown.
- Set a peanut butter cup on one of the peanut butter cookies, top with the sliced banana, toasted marshmallow and cap off with the other cookie.
- Enjoy!
Nutritional Analysis per Serving:
Energy: 240 kcal
Protein: 5 g
Fat: 11 g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 5 mg
Carbohydrates: 31 g
Fibre: 1 g
Sodium: 150 mg
Potassium: 40 mg
If you don’t have a "fire pit" don’t worry, a chiminea or bbq will work just fine for toasting marshmallows!
The next time you gather around the fire with your friends and family see what s’more combinations you can come up with and share them with me, please!
Happy Cooking!
Chef Ryan Skelton