Cooking with Teenagers: Popcorn S'mores Treats

 

While Matt and Will were in Peru, Syd and I invented this recipe to answer the age-old question of What Sugar Can We Eat Without A Trip To The Grocery Store?

We had all the ingredients to make s'mores, but we didn't want s'mores. Syd wanted Rice Krispy Treats, but all the cereal we had was a half-empty box of stale Corn Flakes (and here's me just now realizing that I'm 99% sure that half-empty box of stale Corn Flakes is still in the cabinet... hold on for a sec while I go toss it to the chickens).

We dug around our cabinets, considering and then rejecting Rice Krispy alternatives. Uncooked Ramen noodles? Hard pass. Broken graham crackers? Golden Grahams Treats are delicious, but... pass. 

Popcorn to the rescue! 

Syd and I experimented with substituting popcorn for the Rice Krispies called for in our favorite Rice Krispy Treats recipe, and it. Was. DELICIOUS! To tell the truth, I actually prefer the popcorn! It makes a larger batch of treats that aren't as sweet, and since popcorn is a whole grain I feel like it adds some fiber and nutrients. 

Because by this time I had talked myself around to being in the mood for s'mores, we also chopped graham crackers and frozen Hershey bars and added them to the batch along with mini marshmallows. And that's how we created the perfect treat!

Here's how to make your own delicious Popcorn S'mores Treats:

You will need:

• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• 1 bag marshmallows
• 1 stick salted butter
• dash of vanilla
• mini marshmallows
• chopped graham crackers
• chopped frozen Hershey bars

1. Make popcorn using your favorite method. Our $4.50 Goodwill air popper of indeterminate age is still going strong! It's like this one but with an amber lid, and it is an immortal beast of an appliance.

One-half cup of popcorn kernels makes so much popcorn that we have to divide it into two bowls for mixing the remaining ingredients and then pour it into an giant half-sheet pan to set.

2. Make the marshmallow sauce. Melt a stick of butter on medium-low on the stove, and add a dash of vanilla. When the butter is melted, turn the burner to low and stir in an entire bag of marshmallows until they're completely melted:

3. Stir everything together. Pour the marshmallow sauce over the popcorn and stir it with a rubber spatula. As you stir, gradually mix in the other add-ins, saving the chopped frozen Hershey bars until the marshmallow sauce has cooled a little. That, plus starting with frozen Hershey bars, will keep most of the chocolate from melting into the sauce.

4. Refrigerate. Syd doesn't like storing any of our Rice Krispy-adjacent treats at room temperature, because she likes them super firm and crispy. We actually keep these popcorn s'mores treats in the half-sheet pan in the refrigerator, and just cut a piece as we want it.

I think these would also taste delicious with a variety of other mix-ins. The kids would never let me get away with making a batch with dried fruits and nuts with the mini marshmallows and chocolate, but to me that sounds SOOO good!