July 24, 2013

Healthier S’mores Sandwiches…from Texanerin

Good morning everyone!

As promised, today kicks off a full month of S’mores recipes from great bloggers that were kind enough to guest post here while I am on my book tour. You are in for a treat! (In fact, a LOT of treats!)

First up we have a delicious (and yet healthy) S’mores Sandwich from Texanerin. I was lucky enough to meet Erin last month in Austin, while she was in the US visiting. That’s right – she lives in Germany, though she’s a Texas gal through and through! I know you’ll love her recipe as much as I do…and once you’ve made it through this drooling recipe, head over to her site and enter to win a copy of my cookbook for yourself!

Hi everyone! I’m Erin and blog over at Texanerin Baking where I bake up healthier treats that taste just as delicious as their less healthy counterparts. When I got the opportunity to guest post for Susan, I jumped at the chance!

I got a sneak peek at her new book and honestly… it’s awesome. My favorite part? There’s a gorgeous picture for each and every single recipe! There are loads of recipes in cookbooks that I’d love to make, if only there were a picture. I just feel more confident going into the whole process knowing what the result is supposed to look like. And with this book, Susan has you covered!

So, for my s’mores inspired post, I knew immediately what I wanted to make. I had seen these s’mores cookies from TidyMom only days earlier and I could not get them out of my head. I had to make them!

Only one problem. The marshmallows you can get at the store aren’t exactly my thing. I live in Germany and while we do have marshmallows here, they just aren’t the same as back home in the States. So I whipped up some healthier marshmallows that are completely honey sweetened and free of funky ingredients. They are SO much better than any marshmallows I’ve ever had and well worth the effort!

After I had my marshmallows, I set about making the cookies, which came out wonderfully. But then came the step where I place the marshmallow on the cookie and put it under the broiler. You guys. That doesn’t work. Apparently you can’t do that with homemade marshmallows. It melted within a few seconds into a gooey liquid. I’m normally all about all things gooey but here it wasn’t working for me. And so my s’mores cookies became s’mores cookies sandwiches!

I healthified the cookies, but seriously, you can’t tell. I used all white whole wheat, coconut oil instead of regular butter (make sure to use refined for no coconut taste!) and reduced the amount of fat. I also reduced the sugar and honestly, I couldn’t imagine eating these sandwiches with a bit more sugar. They’d be too sweet for me. If you don’t want to use white whole wheat flour, use all-purpose! Don’t have coconut oil? Then use 3/4 cup butter.

My homemade marshmallows were nice and sticky, so the cookies stuck together amazingly well. I went and got store bought marshmallows just to see if this recipe would work with store bought, and it does, but not nearly as well. What you have to do is turn them inside out so that they become a sticky little ball. But why do that when you can make the homemade ones? 🙂 It’s simple and pretty fun, especially for kids! If neither of those ideas appeal to you, Susan has a great marshmallow frosting recipe in her new cookbook.

One final thing to note: I messed up my chocolate topping and that’s why it doesn’t look nice and smooth. Yours will come out looking much better if you follow the recipe.

Thanks for having me today and I hope you hop on over to visit Texanerin Baking should you find yourself hankering for some healthier baked goodies! I also have a giveaway going on for Susan’s S’mores Cookbook so come on over and check it out. 🙂

Healthier S’mores Sandwiches

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

2/3 cup (150 grams) coconut oil, melted
2/3 cup (82 grams) coconut sugar or dark brown sugar sugar
1/2 cup (86 grams) unrefined sugar or granulated sugar
1/4 cup (80 grams) honey
1 egg
2 1/2 cups (300 grams) white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the coating:

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

To assemble the cookie sandwiches:

2/3 cup chocolate chips
2 teaspoons shortening
9 – 11 1″ x 1″ x 1/4″ marshmallow squares

Directions:

In a large bowl with a spoon or electric mixer, mix together the coconut oil, coconut sugar, unrefined sugar, honey and egg until thoroughly combined. Add the remaining cookie ingredients and stir until well combined.
Cover and refrigerate the dough for 4 hours or freeze for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Prepare the cinnamon sugar coating by mixing together the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl big enough to roll the cookie dough balls in.
Roll the cookies into 1″ balls, roll in the cinnamon sugar, and place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat.
Bake for 8 minutes.
Remove from the oven and cool completely.
Once the cookies are cool, melt the chocolate chips with the shortening in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted.
To assemble the cookies, place the marshmallow square between two cookies. Drizzle or pour the chocolate over each sandwich.
Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Yields 18 – 22 small cookie sandwiches.

Cookie recipe adapted from Chewy Graham Cookies – My Kitchen Addiction who adapted it from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion

For nearly 4 solid weeks, I will have a guest blogger here sharing their own S’mores recipe with you. I hope you’ll share their posts the way that you share mine, and show them some love like you do to me!