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Warning: If you consider yourself a s’mores traditionalist, this article is not for you. It is for the culinary adventurous that want to sink their teeth into an ooey-gooey mass of marshmallow madness.
Yes, I’m talking about gourmet s’mores here, and no ordinary fluff will do. So all you fearless foodies out there, grab your campfire fork and gather around.
Here’s a quick look at 10 s’mores makeovers that are sure to leave your family and friends lining up for more.
1. Toasted Coconut and Almond
Looking for a bit of nutty nirvana? Try pairing a toasted coconut marshmallow with a dark chocolate almond bar such as these from Perugina, and a honey graham cracker.
If you are feeling really ambitious, you may want to make your own toasted coconut marshmallows and graham crackers.
2. Mint Chocolate
Prefer the fresh taste of mint? Why not whip up a batch of homemade candy cane marshmallows, and pair them with chocolate graham crackers and dark chocolate?
You may also opt to make your own crème de menthe marshmallows, or buy them online or from the grocery store if they are stocked in your area. I’d suggest that you try making your own.
Based on my experience, these fluffy clouds of sugary goodness are surprisingly easy and inexpensive to make at home, in whatever flavor you desire. The only downside is that it traditionally takes several hours for the gooey mixture to set properly.
I’d recommend using Lorann Hard Candy Flavoring Oil in Creme De Menthe as many (if not all) common store-bought varieties are imitation (sort of like vanilla).
Since this is an undiluted natural product, a one-ounce bottle will last quite along time. Be sure to adjust for taste with any recipes that you may use it in, as many assume that you are using the diluted or imitation flavorings that are less intense.
3. Caramel
Let’s not forget caramel in our s’mores makeover madness. In order to make a caramel s’more, you’ll need to grab a Caramello bar, graham crackers, and chocolate marshmallows.
If you can’t find Caramello candy bars locally, they are available on Amazon.
Also, a Rolo will work in a pinch. Just be careful when you bite into it because the caramel has a way of oozing beyond the graham cracker edges.
4. Cherry
Are cherries more your passion? If so, you may want to consider creating s’mores out of cherry marshmallows, chocolate graham crackers, and cordial cherries.
If you want the cherry flavor without going with a cherry marshmallow, there is another option. You could stuff a regular or a chocolate marshmallow with a maraschino cherry and use it instead. Our homemade recipe is delicious, and it’s free of dyes and preservatives.
Be sure to use caution when you bite into this one, as the cherry juice tends to get extremely hot.
5. Peanut Butter
Do you love the taste of peanut butter and chocolate? Well then, this batch of s’mores is for you.
In order to make a batch of peanut butter s’mores, you’ll need to buy a bag of peanut butter candy melts or chips, and chocolate versions of everything else.
The peanut butter melts may be purchased through a confectioner or candy making supply shop (Michael’s craft store usually has a good selection) or even through Amazon.
6. Lemon
Looking for a batch of s’mores with pucker power? Look no further than one made with lemon marshmallows, honey graham crackers, and chocolate. In my experience, white chocolate pairs wonderfully with lemon.
Homemade lemon-flavored marshmallows may be made by adding a VERY small drop of food grade lemon oil (be warned: this is powerful stuff) and a teaspoon of citric acid to your basic recipe. A smear of homemade lemon curd on one of the crackers would also be delightful.
If you do purchase the lemon oil, a small bottle will go a long way in creating natural cleaners or for using as a natural medicine. And the extra citric acid can be used to coat homemade sweet and tart candied citrus peel.
7. Coffee
Want a jolt of java with your s’mores? Try pairing coffee-flavored marshmallows and chocolate graham crackers with some dark chocolate, or a mocha bar from Scharffen Berger.
Just in case you have never had a mocha bar before, this one is a 62% cocoa bar that has ground up coffee beans added to the mix. It melts just like ordinary chocolate, with a boost of caffeinated coffee flavor.
8. Strawberry
If you adore chocolate-covered strawberries, you’ll love my version of strawberry s’mores. In order to make these, you’ll need strawberry Charleston Chews, chocolate graham crackers, and strawberry marshmallows.
Strawberry Charleston Chews are available through Amazon or most candy wholesalers. It may be tougher to find them on a regular basis at your typical retail store.
Some strawberry marshmallow recipes call for the use of dried strawberries, which can be purchased online from Amazon, or you can make your own with a food dehydrator (every home needs one of these, IMHO).
9. Cinnamon and Sugar
Do you long for the taste of cinnamon and sugar toast, but with a twist? We love our simple cinnamon s’mores, but we also have been obsessed with creating this batch of cinnamon and sugar s’mores.
In order to create these, you’ll need a bag or homemade batch of cinnamon marshmallows, cinnamon graham crackers, and a gourmet chocolate bar like this one from L’Amourette Chocolat.
L’Amourette makes a dark chocolate bar infused with cinnamon and cayenne (among many other flavors) that gives this batch of s’mores an unmistakable and irresistible flavor.
10. Tropical Macadamia Nut
What do you get when you combine pineapple marshmallows, macadamia nuts covered in chocolate, and coconut?
Why, a batch of tropical macadamia nut s’mores of course! Bring a taste of Hawaii to the bonfire with this delicious combination.
Pineapple marshmallows can be found online, or you can make your own. Most recipes involve creating a standard base mixture and adding reduced pineapple juice or pineapple flavoring to the mix.
As far as the coconut goes, you may opt to fold the shredded version into the mixture while it is still gooey, or coat them in sweetened dessicated coconut after slicing.
Tasty Twists on a Classic
Which flavorful riff on a tasty campfire classic will you choose? Try something new on camping trips and at holiday barbecues this season, and make your own unique flavor combinations, based on the above suggestions.
Let your favorite flavors be your guide, or be inspired by a unique marshmallow variety found at the local gourmet grocery. There are so many delicious things that you can create beyond the standard version that you learned to make at camp when you were a kid!
So go forth, and enjoy. Don’t forget to share your favorites with us in the comments below. And for another tasty homemade dessert, try our recipe for S’mores Bars – no campfire required.
Product photos via Amazon. Uncredited photos: Shutterstock. With additional writing and editing by Allison Sidhu.
About Lynne Jaques
Lynne is a stay-at-home mother of two boys. As a former US military officer and the spouse of an active duty US military member, Lynne enjoys traveling the world (although not the moving part!) and finding new cuisine and methods of preparing food. She also has the habit of using parenthesis way too much!
These were some of the best ideas of smores that I have ever come by. We do the same old same old smores every year at our trailer and this year we were trying to find some things to spice it up a little but but couldn’t think of much, so I will definitely be bringing this list with us next year and letting the kids have fun 🙂
Anyone with a sweet tooth would enjoy all of these creations! Thanks for sharing this 🙂
My favorite flavor would probably be caramel, I find that it goes well with the gooey-ness of the marshmallow very well!
Such beautiful photos, you’re making me crave a camping trip despite this frigid autumn air…
These are really creative ideas for s’mores! I’ve never thought about pairing them with fruits–I’ve always been a traditionalist (one big, half-eaten charred marshmallow on hershey’s milk chocolate between two stale graham crackers…mmm, memories 😉 ) but I’m definitely a fan of these twists!
These are neat ideas! I’m determined to try to find Caramello chocolate bars now so I can attempt the caramel s’mores recipe. In the past, I’ve made s’mores with Nutella. If you’re curious, the Nutella is spread onto both graham crackers, then the roasted marshmallow is put in between the two crackers. While this doesn’t sound like an ingenious idea, it’s very delicious and very simple to make. I also noted that you took the toasted coconut marshmallow recipe from the Barefoot Contessa and I nearly flipped. I love Ina Garten, so ‘ll have to try that recipe, too. 🙂 Nice work!
I’ve always been fascinated by s’mores and how you make them as a non American. I will definitely be telling my friends that there are other ways to make s’mores more contemporary and as a chocoholic, there will be triple decker ones with chocolate in each layer.
I think the mint chocolate one will go down well and also the coffee flavored one, but an sure I can discover other combinations, chocolate based of course. Maybe some orange chocolate?
The caramel s’more shown here is mouth watering. Why do you have to do that to us? It looks so tasty. I’m stuck to a low carb diet for the rest of my life for my own survival, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t jump at the chance to try one of those every so often. Thanks for sharing this article.
Now I can’t wait for summer time again! These recipes sound so delicious, especially the cherry s’mores and the toasted coconut s’mores. I have tried to get creative with s’mores before, but they never worked out too well. I have tried using different kinds of candy bars like Mr. good bars and peanut butter cups. They were alright, but these look so much better.
As a seasoned camper, I can tell you from experience that the thinner chocolate bars work better. The marshmallow should be hot enough to soften the chocolate, but not melt it. That’s the key to a perfect smores. The last thing you want is a chocolate soup sandwich dripping everywhere.
I think there is always room to be adventurous with food and s’mores is no exception! It just gives me an excuse to make s’mores more often. The ones on my ‘must try’ list are the toasted marshmallow, caramel and coffee. I get so excited when I find more ways to combine my favorite foods.
Kindly do tell this is not just restricted to camping trips alone?…because am thinking of doing something in the kitchen in this regard…spice things up a little bit…caramel, coffee, chocolate, peanut butter…the thoughts in my head…a light bulb just got on 😉
Yummy and more yummy, this post has me craving chocolate or just smores so bad now. I think a mint combo one would be really good. I am a big fan of chocolate minty things.
I can;t believe you have so many varieties of marshmallow! Here in the UK, we just have the regular pink and white variety and mini-mallows for hot chocolate drinks. I’m really intrigued by strawberry marshmallows – do they actually taste anything like the real thing?
These look and sound so delicious! My daughter has never had a s’more before, so I am super excited to try some for her! Okay, maybe more for me. But she can be my excuse LOL.
Thanks for sharing!
This page just made me so hungry. I never really knew that there were other ways to make s’mores that looked and tasted so good. I tried the mint chocolate variation and it was very delicious. My friends also loved it when I made it for them over the weekend.
As a fan of traditional s’mores, this article opened up my eyes to more possibilities! I will be going on a camping trip in the near future, so I will make sure to bring some cherries! The caramel variation had my mouth drooling. To be honest, I am about to head to the grocery store to buy some chocolate and marshmallows.
I LOVE this! My favourite thing is taking existing staples & altering them according to taste. My favourite one you suggested? Cherries. I’d love to use cherries in a can. I think the syrup would accompany the texture of the smore.
For years we would bring an eclectic mix of chocolates with our ‘s’mores kit’ when we went camping or to a friend’s cabin. I would bring really dark high cacao chocolate & the kids would bring Snickers, Rolos, & Almond Joys. It gave the s’mores a really interesting twist. Then a friend of mine turned me on to gourmet marshmallows which I’ll be utilizing this summer.
Wow, I don’t even really like s’mores very much and these look good even to me. I wouldn’t have thought about adding so many different items and flavors. I’d considered trying flavored marshmallows, but this post goes all out. My daughter will love this. She loves s’mores and most of these flavors and additions will appeal to her.
This is definitely a great idea for dressing up a common campfire treat. Nicely done.
I love switching out ingredients, and these are some fantastic ideas. I especially love the coconut, mint chocolate, and caramel varieties. I’m not locked into using graham crackers, so I might use the chocolate graham crackers, or simply swap them out for solid chocolate cookies, such as the ones I use for semi-homemade ice cream sandwiches. If I used chocolate cookies, I would definitely consider going with the cherry or strawberry filling. I have a feeling this is going to be a sweet Summer, thanks for the suggestions.
The peanut butter s’mores sound the best to me as a lover of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups. I enjoy experimenting with various combinations, but I haven’t quite gone through the lengths of experimentation as you have. I’ll definitely take this knowledge with me the next time I go camping, thank you! 🙂
Oh, man! My mouth is definitely watering after reading these. It’s taking every muscle to avoid going online shopping or the store to sink my teeth into these goodies sooner!
I’ve actually never had s’mores! It’s not a ‘thing’ around where I live, mostly because marshmallows in general aren’t a big deal around here. But the though of all those cookies, marshmallows and all that chocolate with maybe some caramel – somebody stop me! There was recently an ‘American week’ event at one of the supermarket chains, and I seriously regret not getting a bag of marshmallows for a sleepover I went to. At least we had pizza…
I never thought about coffee flavored marshmallow treats. The last time I made anything like this was when I went to summer camp as a kid. I already have a sweet tooth and this article is giving me so many ideas. Rolos? Yes please.
Oh no, i remember these. Reminds me of girl scouts and camping. We would make them out side by the fire at night.I guess because of the marshmallows and toasting them. I like them brown and my friend always like them black.
You’ve got so many different combos here for this. The last one looks like it would be my favorite. What I am wondering is do they make healthy marshmallows? I never thought to make your own and they even have vegan recipes. I had just always thought of this as junk food.
I would probably use a dark chocolate or carob. Trader Joe’s has really healthy chocolate. She said a “Rolo”, Oh no low. I have not had that in an eon. I’ve given up these kind of things. It costs a little more money to buy healthier chocolates but there is less guilt. Too many chemicals for me.
I love these ideas! They take the classic camp-fire food and turn it up into something new and different. My favorite idea is the mint chocolate one; I’m a huge fan of it and would bet anything it tastes great on a s’more. There’s enough ideas here to keep everyone happy no matter what their tastes in sweets are, and anyone who thinks you can’t teach an old food new tricks (that was a terrible comparison, I’m so sorry) will be proven wrong when they see all the neat ideas layed out here. I don’t go out much, but next time I have a fire going I’m certainly going to give a few of these a shot. Thanks for sharing!
Darn, I LOVE s’mores. They remind me of childhood summers, sitting around the campfire with my pappy and my six brothers. We used to have so much fun. Makes me want to bring my own kids camping- once I try make some smores of course.
I think they’d love the peanut butter s’mores. I would be more partial to the cinammon, myself.
I am not going to lie, all of these variations sound delicious. That toasted coconut version sounds the best, though. I need to try it ASAP. And since I’m a huge fan of cinnamon and chocolate together, that’s another must-try. Thanks for all of the ideas!
The mint one makes my mouth water…YUM. I’m thinking a lazy way would be Andes mints! They melt so fast that it would be ooey gooey and so messy and delicious. The coconut also makes me drool, though. Maybe I’ll just run to the store really fast. Thanks for the post and the weight I’m going to gain!
My sweet tooth is tingling!!!!!! Ugh, I find the caramel idea to be the best. I think it would fit perfectly with the whole texture and feel. The oddest to me would probably be the strawberry. It just seems out of place, but I love strawberries and would love to see how it is altogether. I like all these ideas however and look forward to trying the upgraded versions lol.
All of these look so yummy! I love smores. Does anyone else like their marshmallow burnt or is that just me? As far as the mint ones, I was thinking you could use an Andes chocolate mint? I think that would be delicious! Also I’ve never even thought about putting lemon with chocolate. Is that a popular combination?
Those photos ignite such a great memory of my first “real” s’more experience! I can just smell it. So melty and up close and personal – with a little bit of charred marshmallow. The addition of caramel interests me the most… I definitely gotta try that. I have never been camping (YET), however I did enjoy a backyard-campfire-marshmallow-session. We went totally traditional, but I did want to add something different but I was told my first time must be plain! My family would usually just toast marshmallows atop some chocolate and graham crackers in the toaster oven… I was impressed when I was 5. The flavor of real smokiness was missing, indeed. The funny thing about s’mores is I don’t even like marshmallows!
My head is spinning with all of these different varieties. I have never heard of these flavors of marshmallows so I will definitely be trying them. I think I only seen the cinnamon in the store. But I would love to try the lemon and cherry kinds since I love lemons and I am curious to how fruit tastes with marshmallows.
The mint and peanut butter ones sound amazing. However, I’m not a huge fan of fruit and chocolate so I think I’ll pass on some of these recipes. However, the rest of them make me want to plan a camping trip for the sole purpose of making s’mores.
When I’m at home, I actually like throwing just a little bit of vanilla ice cream in the middle of it all. The mixture of warm and cold is breathtaking.
Oh my gosh some of these sound so amazing! Here in Australia we don’t have graham crackers and smores is one of those things I really miss. I wish it would get popular down here, because some of these recipes sound really really good! Especially the caramel and the strawberry ones, strawberry would be a nice cool twist on a hot summer night!
I believe I’ve died and gone to blissful s’more heaven. Never in my wildest dreams would I’ve imagined there would be so many decedent and deliciously sweet ways to make s’mores. I consider myself to be a food connoisseur who’s willing to try almost anything once. And taking all the variations into careful consideration, I would have to say, the peanut butter and caramel recipes have skyrocketed to the top of my list. Thank you for the wonderful and creative recipe ideas.
Wow, so many great ideas for smores! It’s tradition for my family to eat s’mores when we go camping, it’s just part of our fun, but I have never thought to deter from the original idea. The s’mores you have mentioned sound so delicious, I think we will have to try some on our next trip. I love the fact that the s’mores you mention are still not difficult to make. There are some that I bet you could mix together, or have a double sized layered s’more with one part caramel, and second part peanut butter. You have opened my eyes and now I have to try some new ideas!
This was a perfect read since we have a camping trip coming up and always take ingredients for s’mores! One of the tricks we have been using for quite some time is to vary greatly from the tied-and-true classic graham cracker. Many other flavors can be brought in by changing out the cookie – some of our favorites include the Girl Scout cookie classics Samoas, Tagalongs, and Thin Mints. With all of these options, a separate piece of chocolate is not necessary, so it’s one less thing to pack if you’re camping! If you like a more classic flavor but are packing light, go for Fudge Stripes and marshmallows!
And here I was, thinking the traditional dessert sandwich is the only variation and that I should stick with it for the rest of my life. I never knew you can add so many different twists and flavorings to s’mores! This almost makes me think that if you have a summer-time BBQ party, you can turn this gooey dessert idea into a bar; with different toppings and taste options for people to choose from so they can make their own non-traditional (or traditional if they are like me) s’mores. How fun would that be, right?
A S’more’s bar! That’s actually a great idea. I might try it out this Christmas with my brother’s kids, I think this would be a great activity for them. I would love making my own variation and posting it on Instagram.
So very delicious, I absolutely love s’mores! I didn’t even think that you could use other ingredients to make them. The caramel ones I can’t even begin to talk about they just sound too good. I don’t care what time of year it is, I’ll make s’mores!
I love s’mores! I didn’t even think you could make them with other ingredients. The caramel one sounds too good. I don’t care what time of year it is, I’ll make s’mores!
I didn’t even know they made chocolate covered macadamia nuts, I know what I’m looking for for the next few minutes, I wonder how cheap I could get them on Amazon. I’ve never been a fan of s’mores as most are made with Hershey bars (ugh), so I might give these gourmet variations a try, especially the caramel. And, on a semi-unrelated note, I’m dying to try this out with Nutella.
S’mores are my favorite! Having some this evening, actually.
There’s nothing better than s’mores as a dessert in the summertime! These recipes are a great way to combine nostalgia with my gourmet tastes. I’ve been wondering what to use the coconut marshmallows I’ve seen in the grocery store for, so I especially like this idea. Also, using Rolos to get a caramel version is genius!
Well this just makes me angry at myself for having thought of putting caramel on s’mores before. Why had I not thought of that? It would be so easy to do too, so thank you for bringing that to mind. I also really like the mint chocolate idea, and that would work to spice things up a little bit, which is always nice. Summer is almost gone, but maybe we can squeeze one more s’more cookout in there for the caramel’s sake. Thanks again for sharing.