These s’mores macarons will satisfy your craving when there isn’t a campfire nearby! A perfect blend of graham cracker cookies filled with marshmallow and chocolate.
I have a confession to make… I’ve never actually had a s’more.
You know, the real kind, chocolate and freshly toasted marshmallow sandwiched between two graham crackers. Never. This is especially shocking considering the amount of camping we did when we were kids. Borderline child abuse, right?
In light of this, I set out to recreate the treat-I-never-had by creating these S’mores Macarons! Graham cracker flavored macaron shells filled with homemade marshmallow fluff and milk chocolate.
Sigh, these shells look almost perfect, don’t they?
As I write this, I literally just struggled with 3 (!!) baking sheets full of chocolate macarons that decided it would be a good idea to bake up flat, and sometimes crack. Oh, and have the tiniest feet ever.
I have a love/hate relationship with the macaron, currently leaning toward the hate side. They are SO. DAMN. TEMPERAMENTAL. And I hate my oven.
Apparently when I set it for 300F, that means 275, or sometimes 325, or even better when it fluctuates between the two randomly while baking.
I’m hoping I can salvage them. Of course they just had to be a batch I was specifically making to give to a friend. I’m contemplating remaking them, even though I made a double batch, which is like 60+ shells *sob*.
Ok back to the S’mores Macarons, because they were perfect and delicious. Happy thoughts.
How to Make S’mores Macarons
For the shells, I substituted some of the almond powder for graham crackers (see recipe below). The ratio seems to have worked great! I sprinkled the tops with some additional graham cracker crumbs once they were piped.
I made homemade marshmallow fluff specifically for these guys and it was PERFECT. I will definitely be making this again. It was simple and so good.
I piped milk chocolate ganache on one half and marshmallow on the other, and sandwiched them together gently. I need to get a torch so that next time I can torch the marshmallow before sandwiching. It would really add to the flavor and campfire-iness (I assume).
Tips for making these macarons:
- The measurements listed are by weight. I strongly recommend using a scale for macarons. They are incredibly finicky and temperamental, so the ingredients have to be precise.
- You will need to do a LOT of folds to get them to the proper consistency.
- Do not skip on the drying time. This is a MUST DO. They must be completely dry to the touch before you bake them or they will crack.
- If the ganache has some unmelted bits after stirring, heat over a simmering bain-marie.
- I don’t recommend using store-bought marshmallow fluff as it can be very runny.
- I should have toasted the marshmallow fluff! I recommend trying that.
- If they don’t come out perfect the first time (they rarely do), know that they will still taste delicious! Looks aren’t everything! 🙂
S’mores Macarons
Ingredients
COOKIES
- 120 g egg whites room temperature
- 130 g granulated sugar
- 115 g almond flour
- 40 g graham cracker crumbs
- 110 g powdered sugar
- brown color gel optional
GANACHE
- 200 g milk chocolate
- 100 g heavy whipping cream
MARSHMALLOW FLUFF
Instructions
- Line baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment.*
- Place the almond powder, powdered sugar, and graham cracker crumbs in a food processor. Process until just beginning to clump.
- Sift and discard any bits that won’t pass through the sifter. Set aside.
- Whip the egg whites until they're the consistency of a loose foam. Continue whipping while slowly adding granulated sugar. Whip to a stiff meringue. Add brown color gel if desired and whip to incorporate.
- Fold the dry mixture into the meringue.**
- Pour the batter into a piping bag fitted with the 1A tip.
- Pipe the macarons onto your baking sheet. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs if desired.
- When all your macarons are piped, whack the baking sheet on the counter at least 3 times to get rid of any air bubbles.***
- Let the macarons dry at room temperature until dry to the touch. Approx 1 hour. DO NOT skip this step.
- Once dry, bake macarons in a 300°F oven until they stick a little bit to the pans. This can be anywhere from 10-20mins depending on your oven and how crowded the macarons are on the pan.
- While macarons are drying, make the ganache and marshmallow fluff.
- Let cookies cool completely before removing from pans.
MARSHMALLOW FLUFF
- Refer to this recipe.
GANACHE
- Chop the chocolate finely and place in a bowl. Heat the cream until boiling and pour over chopped chocolate. Do not stir! Cover bowl with plastic wrap for 2 mins. Stir to emulsify ganache. Place in fridge to set.****
ASSEMBLY
- Pipe ganache and marshmallow into the center, sandwich the cookies and twist together.
Notes
**You will need to do a LOT of folds to get the batter to the proper consistency. You’re looking for it to be smooth and shiny and have some movement. If you lift some up with a spatula, it should pour in a steady stream and settle into the remaining batter. DO NOT overmix.
***Do not be shy with the whacking!
****If the ganache has some unmelted bits after stirring, heat over a simmering bain marie.
Yuna says
Hi Olivia,
This sounded so yummy I couldn’t wait to try it. I had a quick question though. My shells turned out looking good but I noticed that the color was different. Could this be caused by the type of graham cracker? Mine were more of a white color than brown.
Thanks!
Olivia says
Oh hmmm, you know I think I might have used a bit of food coloring in mine to get the color! It was a couple years ago, but I can’t believe I left that out of the recipe. Adding it now. Thanks for calling that out!
Sarah says
Olivia,
I was so excited to try these, but mine turned out like sugar cookies. They were too soft, but not airy and didn’t have a hard shell. When I folded the dry ingredients into the meringue, it seemed to get too thick. I’ve made macaroons quite a few times before with other recipes and I’ve never had this problem before. Any idea what I did wrong? Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Sarah! Hmm, that’s really bizarre :\. It sounds like you maybe you didn’t fold the ingredients enough? The batter starts out thick, but should have been smooth and lava-like before piping. That’s the only thing I can think of!
Lauren Matheson says
Hi! I was wondering, how do you know what ratio of almond flour/graham crackers to use (or oreos like your other macaron post). For whatever reason French macarons don’t work in my house/oven/city/state/whatever so I’ve been doing the Italian method, but when I tried to sub out graham crackers from my recipe it suddenly didn’t develop feet.
I used about 37% graham crackers and the remaining almond flour.
Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Lauren! I wish I had a scientific answer for you, but it was basically just a guess that happened to work out for both. Are you letting them dry out completely? I’ve had troubles with no feet before, but it was due to my macarons not drying out. If they are completely dry, then I would try it with less of the graham cracker — maybe 25%, just for a bit of the flavour. I hope that helps! Macarons are an enigma.
Beckie says
This was only my second time to make macarons myself, and they turned out pretty good. I do need to work on getting them to not be hollow, that being said, the flavor and texture were great. The feet were pretty good, but a little weird. The graham flavor was perfect, I thought, and I loved the milk chocolate ganache!
Olivia says
Thanks Beckie! So glad you liked them. I struggle majorly with hollows still to this day. Even hollow, though, they taste delicious 🙂
Stephanie says
Hi Olivia!
Just a quick question for you – how prominent is the graham cracker flavor?
Thanks!
Steph
Olivia says
Hi Stephanie! You know, it’s been months since I had these and I can’t totally remember. The flavour was there for sure, and if you’d like it stronger I would suggest sprinkling more graham crackers on the top :).
Ashlee says
How many eggs is 120g? American baker over here 😉
Olivia says
Hi Ashlee! 120g is approximately 4 large egg whites. Macarons are so finicky to make so I tend to use precise weight measurements for those. If you don’t have a scale though, 4 large egg whites would be about that weight :). Let me know how they turn out!
Bianca says
Hi! I was wondering, for the chocolate ganache, after taking out of the fridge.. Do i need to do anything to it before I pipe it onto the macaron shell?
Olivia says
Hi Bianca! You might need to stir it around a bit if it’s too firm, but otherwise just scoop it into your piping bag!
Vicki says
Hello! I want to make sure I understand what “icing sugar” is. I googled it and it means different things to different people/nationalities. It’s not what Americans call powdered sugar, right? Could I use “powdered sugar”? Thanks in advance!
Olivia says
Hi Vicki! So sorry for the delayed reply! This one slipped past me. It is the same as powdered sugar!
Nancy says
When you are using almond flour, are you meaning like “Honeyville” or a special type of flour? Is there a reason why all purpose flour isn’t used? These look wonderful and I can’t wait to try them. I have never made a macaron before, first time for everything….
Olivia says
Hi Nancy! As long as it says Almond flour, you’re good to go. I just looked up Honeyville and it looks like the right stuff, just make sure it’s as fine as possible. The almond flour is what makes macarons, macarons (though you could really use any nut flour). With all purpose flour you’d basically be making a sponge cake cookie, which is not what you want :).
Dennis says
Hi Olivia, I must tell you that I very seldom make any comments or replies however….I am struck by a certain “been there done that” relationship to you and your S’mores Macaron post. I have made thousands of Macarons and recently made 264 for my daughters wedding. The things you talk about in your recipe I can only say, my God she knows of what she speakes as only another Macaron maker can relate. You use a home made template for piping, so do I. Tap them? Of course. Find the right consitancy like a velvet ribbon? Yes. I agree with every step. Like I say been there done that and I can tell you have too.
Yes, the oven can sink you every time if it gets the temperature wrong. Of the hundred different ways that Macarons present themselves for failure (and I have found them all) oven temperature sticks out as one of the most damming. You can get everything right
but if the temp is wrong it’s all wrong. Bottoms stick and are impossible to remove from the parchment, tops get brown (that’s not right), gooey insides instead of fluffy Macaron cakieness are all signatures of a conspiring oven to do you and all your hard work harm. I always put an oven thermometer on a cookie sheet and check it before putting the Macarons in. You would be amazed at the large swings the oven makes initially to get up to temp. Just because the oven says 300* don’t believe it. You need the correct temperature for the little precious Macaron to have a fighting chance. You know that and you only get there from making many attempts at it, way to go Olivia.
As for the recipe I can’t wait to try it. Who makes milk chocolate ganache…I do. Who would make there own fluff…I would. So… I can’t bake with you in the kitchen but I can bake with you by doing your recipe, some how I know it will be perfect! Thanks, Dennis
Olivia says
Hi Dennis! Thank you for such a thoughtful message! I’m so glad you feel my pain with the macarons. I actually haven’t made any for months because of the issues I had with them lately. Totally turned me off! My oven is definitely the main culprit, but the rainy weather often has an effect on them too. Sigh. Maybe I’ll give them another go sometime soon. These s’mores ones turned out so well and were definitely some of my best ones! I hope you love the recipe and can’t wait to hear how they turn out for you! 🙂
Christie says
Oh.My.Word! These are brilliant and totes #onthemenu. Honestly, I’ve been thinking of making s’more macaron for over a year now. I LOVE that you put the graham crackers in with the almond meal in the shell batter. I can’t wait to try these!
Olivia says
They turned out so well! I was worried about messing with the almond flour ration, but it worked out great and tasted perfect :D.
Lora says
do you know what the grams to cups conversion would be for the macarons please?
Olivia says
Hi Lora,
For macarons I strictly bake in grams as the success depends on precise measurements of ingredients. That being said, there are many online conversion tools you can try to get the cups amounts. I don’t know how accurate they are though, so I can’t guarantee the results!
Amy-Lyn says
Well, gosh darn-it, I never thought of making a s’more macaroon! And that’s a serious error on my part since s’mores are my favourite food group! 😉 As for you never having had a real s’more, you really need to rectify that problem! My sister and I are s’more connoisseurs (um, in our own minds…); using Reese Peanut Butter Cups, Caramilk bars, Laura Secord mint chocolate bars, and the classic s’more using plain (and delish) Cadbury bars. The trick is to set the chocolate on the graham cracker, and set it near the fire while roasting the mallow. That way the chocolate gets warm and melty (and significantly messier!), but so worth it.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe, I shall be trying it out soon!
Olivia says
Wow great tips! Taking s’mores to a whole ‘nother level with the different chocolate bars! The real thing is on my list of things to try this summer :D.
Amy-Lyn says
I’m glad trying a real s’more is on your list of things to try this summer! FYI…I recently tried putting mini marshmallows and chunks of chocolate into one of those small waffle cone bowls, put it in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes….wow…that was a treat! Just another s’more-ish idea (in case you needed any more!)! 🙂
Olivia says
Oh! I finally tried a real one last week! It was good, but the chocolate didn’t melt at all :|. I definitely need to try your variations and now apparently I need to get my hands on a waffle cone bowl 🙂
Rhonda says
You don’t have to wait til summer. You can toast marshmallows over the burner on your stove! If you want the chocolate a bit melty microwave it on the Graham cracker for 5 to 10 seconds before assembly.
One question about the macarons aren’t you supposed to bake them? I didn’t see instruction to bake in the steps shown.
Olivia says
Hi Rhonda! Good tip about the homemade s’mores! I might have to try that 🙂 and good catch on the recipe. For some reason I had the baking instructions down in the Marshmallow Fluff section… I’ve updated the recipe so that it’s more accurate.
Lorena says
OMG! These look so delicious I feel like going to the store right.this.second, buy all the ingredients and cheat on my healthy diet once for all. OLIVIA!!! What are you doing??
Olivia says
I’m sooorry! But, how can you resist?? 😀
Christine says
Well that’s one to try a s’mores with a bang! I feel like the real thing won’t be as delicious now haha! These look so good!
Christine | http://www.DimesandDonuts.com
Olivia says
Thanks Christine! 😀
Jackie says
How decadent! These look delish.
Olivia says
Thanks Jackie! 🙂
Ramya says
I love these macarons they look absolutely stunning, I see you have doubled the ingredients while almond powder is less than double is there a reason to that? TIA, I am planning to make these for my son’s bday looking forward for your answer.
Olivia says
Hi Ramya! The almond powder is less than double because I also added graham cracker crumbs. So that added to the dry ingredients. Hope that helps!
Marye says
Those look really really good! I love the twist on smores!
Olivia says
Thanks Marye! 🙂
Josie says
These macarons look impressive, Olivia! Love your elegant take on classic campfire s’mores!
Olivia says
Thanks Josie! 🙂
katelyn says
These look gorgeous!!!
Olivia says
Thank you Katelyn! 🙂
Iris says
These look absolutely amazing! I need to get around to making these soon 🙂
Livforcake says
Thank you! I think these ones are my favourite so far… look and taste!