Autumn S'mores

S'mores are great pretty much any time. So why only make them in the summer? Well here's my solution... autumn-flavor inspired s'mores. I have already posted my recipes for Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Graham Crackers & Homemade Maple Marshmallows. Well, all you have to do is put them all together and add in some white chocolate. There's just something so satisfying about an ooey-gooey toasted marshmallow, melted chocolate, and the spicy-sweet graham crackers. Just go make these right now, you can thank me later! Enjoy :)

Autumn S'mores

For the Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Graham Crackers:

2 ½C + 2T AP Flour

1C Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly Packed

1t Baking Soda

1t Pumpkin Pie Spice

¾t Sea Salt

7T Unsalted Butter, Cut into 1inch Cubes & Frozen

1/3C Honey

5T Milk

2T Vanilla

For the Graham Cracker Topping:

2T Granulated Sugar

2t Pumpkin Pie Spice  

For the Homemade Maple Marshmallows:

3 Packets of Unflavored Gelatin

½C Water, Ice Cold

2C Pure Maple Syrup

Pinch of Cream of Tartar

Confectioners’ Sugar, For Dusting

For the Autumn S’mores:

Prepared Pumpkin Pie Spice Graham Crackers

Prepared Maple Marshmallows

Gourmet White Chocolate Squares

Directions:

1. To Make the Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Graham Crackers: Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer and mix on low until the ingredients are incorporated, or you can cut the ingredients together with a pastry blender (just make sure they are very well incorporated).  Add in the butter and mix on low until a consistency of a coarse meal is obtained. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add this to the flour mixture and mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Lay out the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, and then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1inch thick. Wrap it, and then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Prepare the topping by combining the sugar and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl and set it aside. Once the dough has chilled, now you have to roll it out. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8inch thick. Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4 inches wide. Cut the strip every 4 ½inches to make 4 crackers. Place the crackers on parchment-lined baking sheets and chill until firm for about 30-45 minutes in the refrigerator. Repeat the same process with the second batch of dough. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees while the dough chills. To decorate the cookies, mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker (being careful not to cut through the dough).  Using a toothpick or skewer, prick the dough to form two dotted rows. Bake for 15-25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch (rotating the baking sheets halfway through). Let the cookies cool before making the Autumn S’mores.

2. To Make the Homemade Maple Marshmallows: Oil bottom and sides of a 13x9 rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar. In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over ½C cold water, and let stand to soften. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook maple syrup and a pinch of salt over medium-high heat until a candy or digital thermometer registers 225°F, about 5-10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour the maple syrup over the gelatin mixture and a pinch of cream of tartar. With standing or a hand-held electric mixer, beat the mixture on low speed for about 12-15 minutes, starting at a low speed and working up to a high speed. Pour the maple marshmallow mixture into the prepared baking pan and don’t fret if you don’t get it all out (learning from my mess of a first round). Sift ¼C confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day. Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly cubes roughly a little smaller than the size of your graham cracker. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.

3. To Make the Autumn S’mores: Toast the maple marshmallow and stack it onto the pumpkin spice graham crackers with a block of white chocolate. Enjoy immediately.