Something like Smores but infinitely better!

May 30, 2019 9:24 AM

What's your favourite substitution for Smores whilst camping? I'm looking for a great camping dessert/ sweet treat that includes some roasting of something over a real fire and is easy and delicious...

I'm from England and I've never really understood the fascination with Smores.
The marshmallow gets all gooey and melty sure.... maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I find the hot marshmallow is never actually hot enough to melt the chocolate in the Smores, and frankly, I find the graham crackers dry and gross.

They're also super messy.

I'm looking for some of your favourite camping sweet treats that can be made ahead or easily whipped up in the dark, in front of a roaring fire.

Here are my parameters:

1 - Not too messy. i.e. I'm not interested in deconstructed smores and making a giant chocolate dip etc

2 - Easy to make in advance or round the campfire - doesn't require too much brain power :)

3 - Not too many ingredients. I like to keep things simple when camping if possible!

4 - Delicious - obviously!

posted by JenThePro to Food & Drink (26 answers total)

Banana boats! Take a banana, slice a slit in it (with the peel still on), stuff in chocolate chips and marshmallows or peanut better or whatever, wrap up in foil, stick in the coals. Let it get all warm and melty, carefully take it out/unwrap it, eat the banana-chocolate goo with a spoon!
posted by leesh at 9:29 AM on May 30, 2019

This recipe for Mess Free Campfire Cones might fit the bill.
posted by burntflowers at 9:31 AM on May 30, 2019

improved smores: replace the graham crackers with actual good options (ginger snaps and or hob-nobs) and consider pulling the chocolate which, as you say, doesnt really melt well in place of lemon curd.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 9:35 AM on May 30, 2019

We used to do “Mexican s'more” (nothing Mexican about them at all). Take a tortilla, spread some peanut butter, sprinkle some chocolate chips and mini marshmallows, fold in half , wrap in tinfoil and then leave near the fire.

(Also for better s’mores I’m a big fan of leaving my graham cracker with the chocolate on it near the fire so it gets meltier.)
posted by raccoon409 at 9:35 AM on May 30, 2019

I like s'mores made with homemade chocolate chip cookies instead of the chocolate+graham cracker. If you wait for the inside of the marshmallow to get good and gooey, and then smush it into the cookie and wait a minute, the chocolate chips on the bottom get melty, but they're way less crumbly than graham crackers and taste much better.
posted by SeedStitch at 9:41 AM on May 30, 2019

Sounds like you need to get yourself a pie iron!

A couple slices of bread, some of your favorite jam, put in the fire and soon you're having a yummy hot pie thing.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:46 AM on May 30, 2019

Crusty loaf of bread torn into pieces, dredged into sweetened condensed milk (optional to roll in flaked coconut). Toast. Eat. Some folks toast and then dredge. It's a little messy, but not too bad.
posted by crush at 9:47 AM on May 30, 2019

Brown bears: Parker House rolls toasted over the fire, then rolled in melted butter and brown sugar

Apple on a stick: what it says on the tin
posted by metasarah at 10:03 AM on May 30, 2019

Oreo smores (oreo cookie with a marshmallow) are way better. Also chocolate digestive biscuits rather than chocolate/graham. But really when it comes down to it, marshmallow charred, eat the top layer, char again, eat that layer and so on and so, beats any S'more.

Echoing Pie Iron-- but we use canned pie fillings and cheap white bread. Spray liberally with baking spray, and butter the outside of the bread. Also good, pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni.

My kids love Octopus dogs Here
posted by Ftsqg at 10:10 AM on May 30, 2019

My friend cores an apple, fills the empty middle with brown sugar and butter (and maybe a pinch of cinnamon?), wraps the whole thing in a lot of tin foil, and puts it in the fire for some amount of time until the apple is cooked (I forget - 20 minutes?) and the brown sugar is melted. The thing gets dumped into a bowl and eaten with a fork or a spoon. Unbelievably wonderful. I'm thinking you could put rum or brandy or something into it as well if you were so inclined.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 10:11 AM on May 30, 2019

Apples and brown cinnamon sugar, baked in tinfoil. You can pre-make this and take it with you. Pecans would also be nice in there. This is the kind of thing that could land in a cup with Baileys Irish Cream, or Amaretto, or just regular cream, or vanilla yogurt, for.that matter.
posted by Oyéah at 10:16 AM on May 30, 2019

I do the same as ThatCanadianGirl, but with pears. When I'm feeling particularly spicy (intended), I'll add a pinch of ground nutmeg or ginger to the sugar/butter/cinnamon batter.

I've never tried the rum or brandy before but now I have an experiment that must be performed in the interest of science.
posted by JJtheJetPlane at 10:50 AM on May 30, 2019

Different country (and time) so a suitable product might or not exist in your area, but perhaps the most prized campfire food for kids when I was growing up was a small self-saucing cake/pudding in a can. (A little single-serving tin can <300ml so almost pocket sized).
You would heat the can over the fire, and open the can when it was "cooked", either being fancy and serve on a plate as intended, or go rough and spooning it right out of the can. As a canned food it was safe to eat even if not heated at all (though less appetizing), so kids couldn't screw it up from a food-safety perspective, just the regular issues of fire/cooking and of course any dangers stemming from the fantastic excuse it gave you to use your pocket-knife or multi-tool to open the can; a not-to-be-underestimated bonus.
posted by anonymisc at 10:54 AM on May 30, 2019

I also came in to recommend banana boats - though those still have the chocolate-marshmallow combination (which may or may not appeal). I also always cook them for a while in the fire, to fully melt the chocolate and also cook the banana.

I also have never made smores by roasting the marshmallow on a stick: we construct the tower, wrap it all in foil and bake it in the fire like a banana boat. But I agree that graham crackers are only enh (and I love cooked bananas).
posted by jb at 10:55 AM on May 30, 2019

If you can get ahold of a dutch oven, there are many variations on this cobbler which has been a favorite of Scouts (and others) for a long, long time.
posted by jquinby at 11:28 AM on May 30, 2019

My mom taught me about marguerites, a s'more variant she learned at Girl Scout camp many decades ago, and which I far prefer to regular s'mores: same marshmallow but sub peanut butter for the chocolate and saltines for the graham crackers. The marshmallow gets hot enough to make the peanut butter squidgy (which then oozes out through the saltine holes but what can you do) and the whole thing is a pleasing crunchy-soft-salty-sweet rather than the sweet-sweet-sweet-too sweet send help of the classic s'more.
posted by little cow make small moo at 11:55 AM on May 30, 2019

You've got some great answers here (banana boats and hand pie/pudgie pies are fantastic) and I'm no camping expert but grilled peaches are a super favorite with my family. In tin foil would work best over a campfire, I think. At home I plop in a bowl with a scoop of the best vanilla ice cream I can find, but for camping maybe a vanilla pudding or yogurt would go nicely? Sprinkle the cut face of the peach with some brown sugar and/or cinnamon. Super yum.
posted by cheese at 12:16 PM on May 30, 2019

The answer is so clearly bush pies. Mmmmmmmmmmm
posted by Cosine at 12:23 PM on May 30, 2019

HOLY SHIT IT'S FRYIN' SAUCER TIME YO

http://www.thefryinsaucercompany.com

When I was a Boy Scout in the Before Times, we made doughnuts/doughnut holes by melting two cans of Crisco in a Dutch oven atop a bed of coals, then spooning in the dough. It was hot, filthy, and wonderful. But my parents got hold of a Fryin' Saucer for their back yard and it's magic: when it comes out, we go through every possible ingredient to be battered and fried, both sweet and savory, as well as every possible ingredient to make MOAR BATTER.

If I could rig up something similar to use over a campfire at my sons' Scout campouts, I would do it in a minute.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:00 PM on May 30, 2019

I've heard that if you dip strawberries in marshmallow fluff and then roast it, it's absolutely heavenly.
posted by christinetheslp at 1:50 PM on May 30, 2019

Cubes of pineapple on skewers, dredged with cinnamon and maple syrup (or dipped in cinnamon sugar) and roasted over the fire.
posted by essexjan at 2:05 PM on May 30, 2019

S'mores made with chocolate covered digestive biscuits are just vastly superior to the "classic" combination of graham crackers and a too-thick chunk of chocolate bar.

I can also personally vouch for the aforementioned banana boats and sturdy white bread dipped in sweetened condensed milk & shredded coconut for toasting.

One kid-favourite that no one has mentioned yet is cake (from an easy mix) baked in the campfire inside oranges.
posted by Secret Sparrow at 2:38 PM on May 30, 2019

I love roasting marshmallows. It helps to have long forks. Pound cake can be toasted over a fire and is nice. Otherwise some nice chocolate truffles are easy to pack, and some brandy or bourbon.
posted by theora55 at 6:12 PM on May 30, 2019

A friend had his daughters use the small 2"x2" Ghirardelli squares -- in the multi-flavor sack, so there's an element of excitement! -- when making s'mores.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:52 AM on May 31, 2019

We make caprese s'mores. We buy those little balls of fresh mozzarella and roast those above the fire on a stick. Then we put them onto a cracker with a nice slice of Roma tomato and a but of fresh basil.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:29 AM on May 31, 2019

But...my favorite thing about s'mores is the contrast between the hot marshmallow and the cold chocolate!

However if you can't get on board with this, Nutella makes a great alternative to the chocolate.

I'm super excited to try the saltine version! Sweet and salty, always best. And VERY intrigued by the caprese s'more!
posted by exceptinsects at 11:18 AM on June 12, 2019