homemade smores

Graham crackers


4 T (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 egg
T sugar
T honey (Some graham crackers use half honey and half molasses. You might consider trying that as a variation.)
1/2 t baking soda
2 t water
3/4 t salt
1 1/2 C graham flour (If you can't get a hold of graham flour, there are plenty of graham cracker recipes that use regular whole wheat flour)
3/4 C all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine the butter, egg and sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Stir in the honey and blend. Dissolve the baking soda in the water and add to the butter mixture. Add the salt, graham flour, and all-purpose flour to the mixture and blend thoroughly. The dough should hold together and be manageable. If it is too "tacky" add a little more graham flour. Liberally dust a surface with graham flour and roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. For convenience in handling, cut the rolled dough into three or four sections that will fit on your cookie sheet. To make my life easier, I lined my cookie sheets with parchment paper and rolled the dough directly on the cookie sheets. That way I didn't need to worry about the dough breaking when I lifted it onto a cookie sheet. With a knife, score the dough, without cutting through, into 2 1/2 inch squares. Since your graham crackers are not store-bought, they don't have to be square. Use your cookie cutters to make them any shape you want. Prick each square a few times with the tines of a fork. Using a spatula, place the sections of scored cracker dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. I didn't have to do this since I rolled right on the cookie sheet:) Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on racks. They weren't quite crispy when I removed them. However, they hardened up as soon as they cooled.

Homemade Marshmallows

3 envelopes of Knox gelatin unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cups light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Line 9 x 9-inch pan with plastic wrap and lightly oil it. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for about 10 mnutes. Meanwhile, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Pour the boiling syrup into soaked gelatin and turn on the mixer, using the whisk attachment, to high speed. Add the salt and beat for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, add in the vanilla extract beat to incorporate. Scrape marshmallow into the prepared pan and spread evenly (Lightly greasing your hands and the spatula helps a lot here). Take another piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap and press lightly on top of the marshmallow, creating a seal. Let mixture sit for a few hours, or overnight, until cooled and firmly set. In a shallow dish, combine equal parts cornstarch and confectioners' sugar. Remove marshmallow from pan and cut into equal pieces with scissors (the best tool for the job) or a chef's knife. Dredge each piece of marshmallow in confectioners' sugar mixture. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 40 large marshmallows, depending on the size you choose to cut them.

Melt 2 10 ounce packages of semi sweet chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave until smooth.