Tabletop S’mores and a Homemade Graham Cracker Recipe
Sneak Preview: These tabletop s’mores ideas will help you make your own tabletop marshmallow roaster using Sterno to set up a beautiful, delicious, and interesting tray with homemade graham crackers.
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Invite your friends, kids, or grandkids, to celebrate a special occasion with a tableside s’more party. Let them help you make graham crackers from scratch in your kitchen if you’re brave. (I’ll share my “Ziplock-bag-trick” to make it easier.)
Follow the directions to make a simple DIY marshmallow toaster. Finally, you’ll find ideas for different fillings you can add to your toasty marshmallows to make the whole event memorable.
Making S’mores is a fun dessert and activity for a relaxed, sit-down meal or a party where people linger around the food.
Kids love it too. Adult supervision is required, of course.
How to make a DIY table-top grill:
You can buy a miniature table-top grill at the store–if you can find one, for 30$ and up. But it’s easy to make them yourself. It’s nice to have more than one if you are serving more than four people.
I first tried using a soup mug and an old apple corer.
If you don’t have the same, you can make a table-top grill with a clay pot, hardware cloth (available at a hardware store by the inch or foot), and a can of Sterno.
How to make a table-side s’mores grill or marshmallow roaster:
- Invert pot and trace shape of 4-inch clay pot onto a sturdy piece of hardware cloth.
- Cut hardware cloth with wire snippers and trim if necessary to barely fit inside. You need to be able to remove and replace the wire easily to change the Sterno.
- Use a can of Sterno to provide the heat. (In case you’re wondering, Sterno is a formulation of denatured alcohol, water, and gel. Commercially sold table-side marshmallow roasters use the same.
- Sterno comes in more than one size. Buy one that will sit on the bottom of the pot with at least 1-2 inches of clearance from the top.
S’more bar ideas to get you started:
Graham crackers: I like to make my own honey wheat graham crackers (see recipe below), but the store-bought crackers are good, too. I recommend including a variety. The homemade chocolate crackers are most popular and fabulous with various spreads.
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Chocolate: Use your favorite chocolate bar, but milk chocolate is traditional. Gently melt in a microwave oven, Spread it thin (see the picture of the s’more above) on wax paper, and chill. Cut the chocolate in squares about the same size as the crackers. A variety of different chocolate makes the tray interesting.
Marshmallows: If you are a candy maker, trying making your own in different flavors just as maple, coffee, or orange. I’m not a candy maker, so I can’t recommend a recipe. Store-bought marshmallows work fine, too.
Roasting Sticks: Wooden or metal k-bob sticks.
Spreads: Sweetened cream cheese and peanut butter are easy. My favorite is cookies and cream frosting. If your party includes kids, they might enjoy a plain buttercream frosting with colored sprinkles or chocolate chips.
You don’t have to make your own graham crackers but doing so will make your graham cracker bar a more memorable event. Making them yourself means you can experiment with the spices. It also means you can roll them out thinner–more like a wafer.
My Ziplock-bag-trick for rolling out graham crackers for s’mores:
Using zippered plastic bags is much easier than the traditional method of rolling out the dough on a floured cutting board and transferring each cracker to a cookie sheet.
The chocolate wafers are my favorite. Cinnamon is delicious, too.
Did you enjoy this recipe? If so, leave a rating 🤩 inside the recipe below. No comment required. If you have any questions or suggestions, email me privately: Paula at saladinajar.com. Hope to see you again soon! Paula
Homemade Graham Cracker Recipe for Tabletop S’mores
Ingredients
- 1-1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon - optional
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter - chilled
- ⅓ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Sift flours, cinnamon if using, soda and salt together.
- Mix butter and sugars together. Add honey, egg and vanilla and continue to mix.
- Add dry ingredients in three batches, mixing just until ingredients are combined and come together in a ball.
- Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Place each dough ball inside of lightly floured gallon-sized zippered plastic bag. If dough is very soft, refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.
- Remove from refrigerator and use a rolling pin to roll dough out inside plastic bag until evenly distributed and the same thickness everywhere. If wrinkles develop, use your hand to smooth out bag.
- Place plastic bag in the freezer and leave until hard. Dough will keep in the freezer for several weeks.
- When ready to bake, use scissors to barely trim edges from 3 sides of the bag. Carefully pull plastic from one side (the ugliest side). Place ugly side down on parchment paper or a silicone mat. Peel other side of plastic from dough.
- Use large knife or pizza cutter to make 16 equally sized squares. Make 4 holes in each wafer with a wooden k-bob skewer. Sprinkle with sparkling or sanding sugar. If making cinnamon grahams, add a bit of cinnamon to granulated sugar and sprinkle crackers.
- Bake at 350˚F for 13 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and re-cut the squares in the same place as previously cut.
Paula Rhodes, author
I’m a retired home economist, wife, mother, grandmother, and creator of Saladinajar.com. I believe you don’t have to be a chef to find joy in creating homemade food worth sharing. Here you’ll find time-saving tips, troubleshooting advice, and confidence-inspiring recipes to make life in the kitchen more fun, appetizing, and satisfying.