Dark Chocolate S’mores Cookies with Smoked Sea Salt

Spring has sprung in Duluth, though we’re not quite out of the woods for snowstorms yet (we often get blizzards in April!). Still, I’m already dreaming of summer – sunshine, green grass, sandy beaches, long wooded walks, and s’mores around the campfire. I love a perfectly toasted marshmallow (or even a burnt one, I’m not that picky). On its own it’s delicious enough, but add some melty chocolate and graham crackers and I’m in heaven! Since it’s not quite campfire season, I decided to create these dark chocolate s’mores cookies to tide me over until summer. And oh boy, are they good!

These cookies are rich and fudgy with chocolate chunks, graham cracker pieces, and mini marshmallows, then topped with a toasted marshmallow and just a sprinkle of smoked sea salt to really give them that smoky campfire flavor. Seriously you guys, these cookies are to die for.

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The Chocolate

I wanted a deep, dark chocolate cookie as a base for all of the delicious mix-ins, so I added a couple of ingredients that make chocolate taste even more chocolatey – almond extract and espresso powder. I almost always use one or both of these in my chocolate recipes, because without them even the best chocolate dessert can taste a little flat. If you’re someone that hates the taste of either almond or espresso, don’t fret – you really can’t taste either one in the finished product. They just enhance the chocolate and give it a more dense, complex flavor. (And if you truly can’t handle the thought of these flavors in your cookie, just leave them out).

I also used Dutch cocoa powder. Dutch cocoa powder (or “cocoa processed with alkali”, as it’s often labeled) is cocoa that has been processed to lower its acidity. It results in a deeper, darker chocolate flavor. I used Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder, mainly because it’s the easiest to find where I live (and the most affordable – Dutch cocoa can be expensive), but any Dutch cocoa will do. Side note: Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa used to be a mix of natural and Dutch cocoa powders, but it looks like they’ve recently changed it? The one I just bought is all Dutch cocoa. Anyhoo…

Dutch cocoa can also react differently with leaveners than “natural” cocoa (i.e., the regular cocoa powder you’ll find in most grocery stores). I won’t go into the details here, since it didn’t seem to affect this recipe at all (I tried it with both) – I think you’d need to worry about that more in cakes than in cookies. If you don’t have Dutch cocoa or would rather use natural cocoa, go for it – the flavor just won’t be quite as fudgy.

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The “Wow” Factor

In addition to the obvious mix-ins for a s’mores cookie – chocolate, marshmallows, and graham cracker chunks – I decided these cookies needed a little extra something to put them over the top. Enter smoked sea salt and a toasty marshmallow topping! (Insert “oohs” and “ahhs” here) A light sprinkle of smoky sea salt and half of a large marshmallow pressed into the top add a definite wow factor to these cookies. Again, you can’t taste the smoked sea salt all that strongly, it just adds to the complexity of the overall flavor. If you don’t have it, just leave it out (then again, this could be a perfect excuse to buy some!).

But whatever you do, don’t leave out the marshmallow on top – after all, what’s a s’more without the toasty mallow?! Plus it ends up perfectly toasted and puffy, and makes this cookie totally irresistible. Trust me, one bite and you’ll be singing “kumbaya”.

So bake up a batch of your own Dark Chocolate S’mores Cookies and let me know how they turn out for you. If you’re as ready for summer campfires as I am, they’ll totally hit the spot.

Enjoy!

Updated 4/14/20: I added 1/4c more flour to the recipe, as I was hearing from folks that the cookies were spreading out a lot. The extra flour will help with that. Happy Baking!