Final Post: End of Summer Series
We’re about a week a half away from true fall and deep in the midst of what I’m calling “Baking Shoulder Season”. The stretch of time when it feels like summer is definitely over, but it’s not yet technically fall. Moving away from frozen, raw, or no-bake treats and heading back towards a warm oven. Saying goodbye to the bounty of juicy summer fruit and greeting the crispy likes of apples and pears. Similarly, we’re packing up the shorts and flips flops and pulling out the thick socks and sweaters. And so, as we move out of this transitional time, I bring you to the end of my End of Summer Series with these Healthier S’mores Cookies. A soft and gooey cookie that perfectly encapsulates this seasonal shift. It’s cool enough to turn on the oven without potentially breaking a sweat, but longer days still remind us it’s the end of summer. This cookie is warm and cozy, but reminiscent of those fun and whimsical flavors of summer.These cookies unify two of my favorite things in life, s’mores and cookies. And probably my favorite s’mores-ification (yes, that’s a technical term) to date. They are soft and chewy, packed with glorious puddles of melty dark chocolate chunks and pockets of lightly toasted marshmallows. These cookies are a true vision of the term “ooey gooey”. It’s the kind of dessert mash-up that really makes you think it might just be better than the originals. But I’ll leave that decision up to you.
And before we get to the recipe, let’s quickly chat about chocolate choices. Ideally, you should use a dark chocolate bar chopped into chunks. I tried this recipe using Beyond Good’s Pure Dark Chocolate, which is 80% cacao, and it felt a little too dark for this cookie. There is not a crazy amount of sugar in the actual cookie dough and although it was still delicious with the super dark chocolate, I much preferred the batches made using Hu’s Simple Dark Chocolate (70% cacao) chopped into large chunks. But, use any chocolate that sounds good to you! To really give these cookies that melty goodness I pressed a few extra chunks of chocolate into the top of each cookie dough ball. And while you can certainly use chocolate chips for this recipe, it will result with less gooey cookies. Chocolate chips tend to hold their shape more during the baking process. For the marshmallows, I only pressed them into the top of each ball to limit the amount of refined sugar used in the recipe. However, if you want to go big on the chocolate + marshmallow situation, stir in an extra 1/4 cup of marshmallows into the batter as well as pressing a few into the tops of the dough. And of course, a sprinkling of flakey sea salt is always a good idea.
These cookies are made “healthier” with a lower sugar content than you’re typical cookie recipe. The cookie dough is sweetened with better-for-you coconut sugar. These are made with no refined flours or oils, and a minimal amount of refined sugar (from the marshmallows only). They are gluten/grain/dairy free and nut free as well! That’s being said, these are so yummy I have a feeling even the most suspicious of taster would not guess they are secretly healthier. They are just that good and, baker be warned, more than a little addicting. And just the perfect way to send off summer with a delicious cookie flourish.
gluten free, grain free, dairy free, nut free
If you make this recipe, please feel free to leave a review or rating down below. And I’d LOVE to see your creation! Please tag me on Instagram @freshlydafna and use #freshlydafna.
Healthier S'mores Cookies
These S'mores Cookies might even be better than regular s'mores. It's melty chocolate and ooey marshmallow but contained in a soft and chewy cookie! Made with only 12 ingredients and in one bowl!
gluten free, grain free, dairy free, nut-free
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 2/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup avocado oil sub olive or coconut oil (melted and cooled)
- 1/4 cup tahini, well stirred before measuring sub other thin nut/seed butter of choice
- 1 egg large
- 1 tsp vanilla
Dry Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cassava flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Additions
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks see post notes
- 1/4-1/2 cup mini marshmallows
Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl if mixing by hand, whisk together the wet ingredients until thick and well incorporated.
Add in the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed, ensuring not to over mix.
Stir in the chocolate chunks. Optional: For gooey-er cookies add 1/4 cup mini marshmallows and stir until thoroughly disbursed.
Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, preferably 2 hours.
While dough is chilling, heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or a silpat.
Using an cookie scoop, I used a 40 mm (about 1.5 tbsp), place dough balls at least 2 inches apartment on the baking sheet.
Press in 2-3 mini marshmallows into the top of each dough ball and a few more pieces of chocolate chunks if you like.
Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown and edges are starting to crisp. Bake for 10-11 minutes if you like a firmer cookie.
Let cookies cool on baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 day. Then move to freezer for longer storage.
Recipe Notes
Nut/Seed Butter Notes: For best results, before adding the tahini, make sure to mix it well in the jar before measuring. The tahini should be thin and drippy. Do not use the compacted paste at the bottom of the jar. And if subbing for another nut/seed butter, choose one that's similarly thin like a natural almond butter that has a good amount of oil at the top. My favorite tahini for baking is the 365 brand from Whole Foods.
Chocolate Addition: To get glorious pools of chocolate in your cookie similar to that of a traditional s'more, chop up your favorite dark chocolate bar. While chocolate chips would absolutely work in this recipe, they will be less melty than chocolate chunks.
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