My "Campsite S'mores" Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Decadent, delicious, and so fudgy! These malted brown-butter chocolate chip cookies bring you the flavours of a summertime campfire s’mores with pockets of toasty marshmallows, crunchy pecans, and chewy oats.
Last May when the world was only two months into quarantine, many cities had heavy restrictions guarding civilians against leaving their homes for non-necessities. In this turmoil, I did a lot of baking to pass the time.
Having felt defeated that the global pandemic cancelled my summer camping plans, I created my ‘campsite’ cookie recipe: a cookie to recreate the feelings and flavours of a warm summer evening sitting by a campfire grilling up some s’mores with my friends.
I added oats, cinnamon, and honeyed malts to create the flavours of graham crackers. Espresso to capture the bitterness of smoke. Gooey chocolate and toasted marshmallows to bring it all together… it was perfect!
The recipe was an instant hit! Many of my friends on Instagram saw it on my story and immediately asked for the recipe. For the few friends that lived close enough to see me for socially distanced walks, I delivered them as a token of love during trying times.
To me, this recipe brought me and the ones around me lots of warmth during uncertain days. Today, I am sharing this recipe with you ♥
Let’s get started!
Start by browning your butter. Browning your butter helps give your cookies that delicious nutty flavour and extra character!
Over low-medium heat, heat your butter until its milk solids caramelize and turn into an amber-coloured liquid. Remember to stir quickly to prevent burning! Remove your butter from the heat and set it aside to cool at room temperature for twenty minutes.
As your liquid cools, start gathering all your dry ingredients.
When the butter is cooled (but still liquid), cream it with your two sugars, honey, and vanilla until the sugar is thoroughly combined. You’ll know your sugar is thoroughly combined when you don’t see any sugar grains anymore.
Then, add in your eggs. Beat the mixture until it reaches a light yellow colour and soft peaks form. Your mixture should have risen in size.
Gradually add in your dry mixture to your wet mixture. Avoid over-mixing or you will end up with a tough and hard cookie. Tough cookies are a no bueno!
Chop your chocolate and your nuts into chunks. We want irregular pieces that give you a little bit of variety in every bite. It keeps things interesting!
Fold in your add-ins. Look, I know I’ve given you the quantities above… but for the love of all things enjoyable in these unpleasant times - just ignore my quantities. Add whatever amount looks good to you and consider my quantities as suggestions. It’s really a free-for-all.
Line a tray with parchment paper and portion your cookie dough into balls. We are looking for roughly the size of golfballs. An ice cream scoop would be perfect for this task!
Add extra chocolate chips and marshmallows to the surface. This additional step is key in making your cookies as beautiful as they are delicious.
Chill your cookie dough in the freezer for a minimum of twelve hours (and up to two days). The recommended chill period is two days. This is necessary to prevent spreading as it slows down the fat from melting too quickly in the oven. It also allows the cookie dough to marinate its ingredients together and develop a deeper flavour.
After chilling, bake your frozen cookie dough balls at 350 C (662 F) for 8 minutes before taking them out of the oven and slamming the entire tray down on a flat surface 3 to 5 times. Although this is kind of weird, this technique is actually necessary to give your cookies beautiful cracks on the top and remove any unnecessary air pockets.
Then, continue to bake your cookies for another 4 to 6 minutes. The cookies should be golden brown on top and the marshmallows should be perfectly toasted. In total, the cookies should bake for 12 to 14 minutes.
For the optimal cookie consuming experience, let your cookies rest for 10-15 minutes before eating. This will allow the fats to harden slightly and the cookie to hold its shape a lot better.
I hope you enjoy my recipe as much as I enjoyed sharing it!
Bon appetit!
Love, Sammi
"Campsite S'mores" Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie
Ingredients
wet ingredients
|
⅓ cup |
white sugar |
|
½ cup + 2 tbsp |
brown sugar |
|
1 tbsp |
maple syrup or honey |
|
½ cup + 2 tbsp |
unsalted butter (to produce ½ cup of browned butter) |
|
1 |
whole egg (+ 1 egg yolk) |
|
1 splash |
pure vanilla extract |
dry ingredients
|
1¼ cup + 2 tbsp |
all-purpose flour |
|
½ tsp |
baking soda |
|
¾ tsp |
salt |
|
1 tsp |
cinnamon |
|
1 tsp |
hot chocolate mix (I use the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate mix) |
|
2 tsp |
finely ground espresso beans (dark roast coffee works too!) |
|
2 tbsp |
malted milk powder mix (I use Horlicks, but Ovaltine works too) |
|
3 tbsp |
large flaked oats |
add-ins
|
¼ cup |
dark or semi-sweet chocolate (chopped) |
|
2 tbsp |
toasted pecans (chopped) |
|
¼ cup |
mini marshmallows |
Instructions
Over low-medium heat, heat your butter until its milk solids caramelize and turn into an amber-coloured liquid. Remove from the heat and set it aside to cool at room temperature for twenty minutes.
Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl and set aside.
When butter is cooled (but still liquid), cream it with sugars, vanilla, maple syrup until sugar is thoroughly combined.
Add eggs and beat the mixture until soft fluffy peaks are formed.
Gradually fold in your dry mixture. Avoid over-mixing.
Fold in your add-ins.
Portion cookie dough into golfball-sized portions on a lined baking sheet. Add extra chocolate chips and marshmallows to the surface.
Chill cookie dough in the freezer for a minimum of twelve hours and up to two days. (The recommended chill period is two days.)
Bake your frozen cookie dough balls at 350 C (662 F) for 8 minutes. Take it out of the oven and slam the entire tray down on a flat surface 3-5 times.
Continue to bake it for another 4-6 minutes. The cookies should be golden brown on top and the marshmallow should be perfectly toasted. In total, the cookies should bake for 12-14 minutes.
Let rest for 10-15 minutes before eating.
About heartfelt recipes
heartfelt recipes is a category on Sam’s Edit where Sammi shares her favourite recipes and meal prep ideas. Since she was a child, Sammi grew up watching a lot of Food Network and has always been immersed in the diversity of international flavours by living in the multi-cultural city of Toronto. As an adult, she believes that food brings everyone together and often tries to imagine new recipes for her friends and family to enjoy.
