Indoor Oven S’Mores

Our yard is crisp and golden, our electric bill is alarmingly high from the relentless heat, and our happy spring garden has officially died from the end-of-summer sun. Fall weather and food may still be a ways away, but we are officially in a month that ends in “r”, so I’m slowly preparing myself for all things pumpkin, cinnamon, and cooked in a crock pot.

Within the first days of September, I bought a sweater and a 20 pound bag of potatoes from Costco, just willing my world to turn a little cooler and cozier. The aforementioned heat-ridden reminders are loud and clear, reminding me that the days of scarves and harvest-scented candles are still far from me, but happy contrasting visions of robust squashes and walls of Halloween gear at Hobby Lobby are giving me strength to endure the coming weeks.

These easy indoor s’mores are my late summer love song to the impending fall season. I adore the ambience of a crisp, cool evening, huddled around a crackling fire with disfigured clothes hangers stationed over the flames with a large, quickly-blackening marshmallow on the end. But since there is absolutely no way I’m building a fire in our 90+ degree heat, instead I put together an easy, mess and fire free option that still delivers the same crack-level taste of traditional s’mores.

I was happily surprised to realize that I already had every single ingredient for my s’mores concoction on hand. All you need are chocolate chips (dealer’s choice), graham crackers, and whatever marshmallows you have lurking in the back of your pantry. I took small ceramic ramekins and filled each about halfway full with a sweet mixture of milk chocolate and dark chocolate chips, then topped with an overflowing amount of marshmallows. Let these sweet containers of potential sit in a high-heat oven until the tops of the marshmallows are roasted and the chocolate is creamy and melted. I let my mallows reach a respectably brown roasted color, so the world of caramelized marshmallows is at your fingertips with this sweet treat.

Scout even realized something magical was happening in her kitchen and insisted on investigating.

Even more satisfying than the taste was the delicious crunch of the graham crackers breaking through the marshmallow topping, diving deep into the chocolatey abyss of the melted chips. I made myself only a little sick to my stomach, scarfing the contents of my ramekin, realizing with each bite that this was just as good, nay, even better than my s’mores of old. With all of the ingredients contained in a single little dish, I wasn’t subject to the fingers covered in sticky marshmallow that adheres to your skin for days, nor the inevitable melted chocolate under my fingernails or somehow on my face. These are easy, clean, quick, and instantly gratifying.

So if you need me, I’ll be devouring my indoor s’mores, slowly willing Fall to officially start.