Tired of traditional s'mores? Campers reveal ways to level them up.
S'mores are a staple of most Michigan camping trips and bonfires. It's hard to beat the traditional recipe of chocolate and a roasted marshmallow between two graham crackers.
However, campers are innovative and frequently switch up the tried-and-true construction with fun twists and share their creations on social media.
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Here are some variations to try during your next campfire.
Ditch the graham crackers
A quick way to shake up a s'more is to start with the outside and replace the graham crackers with cookies or other snacks. Treats campers are using instead include:
Chocolate covered pretzel crisps
Keebler Club crackers
Girl Scout Lemonades or Thin Mint cookies
Fudge Stripes cookies
Grasshopper cookies
Pop-Tarts
Bread, biscuits or bagels and roast ingredients in a pie iron
Homemade chocolate chip cookies
Oreos
Macarons
Swap the chocolate
In some suggested creations, traditional plain chocolate is out. It's replaced with well-known substitutions like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but there are other popular picks, too:
Ghirardelli chocolate squares, especially raspberry or caramel
Nutella
York Peppermint Patties
Whipped chocolate frosting
Mix up the marshmallows
Grocery stores are full of new takes on a traditional marshmallow. They can be flavored, coated and even stuffed and many work well on a s'more. Consider these substitutions for a plain marshmallow:
Strawberry marshmallows
Chocolate stuffed marshmallows
Peeps
Marshmallow fluff
Waffle cones, peanut butter and more
One of the most popular s'more variations is stuffing the traditional ingredients into a waffle ice cream cone, wrapping in foil and putting it in the fire to melt. One camper suggested using Nestle's Hot Fudge Sundae Morsels & More to stuff the cone.
You can also make a s'more more mobile by putting a toasted marshmallow and chocolate chips into a 1 oz. bag of Teddy Grahams, stirring together and eating with a spoon.
A few more variations to consider:
Adding peanut butter, banana, watermelon or bacon to a traditional s'more
Putting a chocolate stuffed marshmallow between two Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Chocolate stuffed marshmallow and Ghirardelli raspberry chocolate square between graham crackers
Cream cheese, strawberry jam and marshmallow between graham crackers
Smear whipped chocolate frosting on graham cracker, top it with sliced strawberries, cover with roasted strawberry marshmallow and graham cracker
This is just a start to all the possible s'more creations that can make a campfire even sweeter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: S'more recipe ideas: Change campfire tradition with cookies, cracker