It’s SO summer and what do a girl’s thoughts turn to but…S’mores 🙂 Since going vegan, there are some things I have had to adapt. S’mores, that quintessential summer cookout treat, is one of them. While not a huge marshmallow fan, I do love them melted. The problem is that commercial marshmallows contain gelatin (an animal product) and the chocolate has milk.
One year, I tried to go all Martha Stewart and make my own marshmallows. While they were amazing in hot coco, they just melted off the stick over a campfire and were a ton of sticky work. Since then, vegan marshmallows have become more mainstream. Dandies makes a vegan/ gluten/GMO free version that holds up well to the rigors of S’more making. Milk free chocolate also exists. For baking, Enjoy Life brand makes regular, mini chip and mega chunk options. All of them are great and can either be ordered online or often found in local or whole foods markets.
One rainy summer afternoon, with no campfire in my future, I came up with this recipe to satisfy the craving and it was a family hit. Make up a batch of these and all you will miss is the wood smoke.

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup Earth Balance (or vegan butter substitute of choice)
2 tbsp. ground flax seed
6 tbsp. water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 cup ground up graham crackers (shoot for a mix of finely ground and bigger chunks)
¾ cup chocolate bar chips
¾ cup vegan marshmallows

 

Begin by adding the water to the ground flax seed in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set this aside to let it thicken. Next, cream together the sugars, Earth Balance butter, flax seed/water mix and vanilla until smooth.

Gradually add the flour until combined and then the crumbled graham crackers.

Once you have all the dry ingredients added, stir in the chocolate chips and mini marshmallows (if you like big chunks of marshmallow, leave the mini ones just as they come from the package. If you like smaller bits, cut them up with kitchen scissors or a knife first, as I have done here).

Place the dough by rounded teaspoons onto a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and bake in a 350 deg. F oven for 8-10 mins. Let cool slightly before moving to a cooling rack.

 

Try to keep them from being eaten all at once. Just try:)