Miniature S'mores

Tonight, I made this fun little recipe that my family came up with in theory a few months ago, but I was the first to have the chance to try it out:

They're miniature s'mores, and the recipe is about as simple as can be: one Teddy Graham, one chocolate chip, and one mini-marshmallow. I don't remember exactly how we came up with the idea – I just remember a conversation with my dad and my sister-in-law and I in which we were discussing having a miniaturized cookout, including kebabs on toothpicks with a single pea, a slice of baby corn, etc., and for dessert, these mini-smores. (This was on my same trip back to Texas that my girlfriends and I ate at Tillman's and had their famous table-side s'mores, which are simply amazing, by the way.)

So this afternoon I had the perfect opportunity to test out our idea. That same sister-in-law (who was also at Tillman's that night) was having a potluck party and food drive, where everyone had to bring, in addition to some cans for the local food bank, a dish that has brought them joy at some point during the year. Between that trip to Texas, and the multiple camping trips we've gotten to take in California's great National Parks this year, this party-food version of s'mores was the obvious choice. Here's what I did:

I spread Teddy Graham crackers out on a cookie sheet, making sure they were all face-up (and of course eating the ones that were missing legs or ears). Then I placed a chocolate chip on each little guy's belly:

(I actually did a lot more than this for the party – these photos are from when my husband came home from having to work the weekend and miss the fun.) I ran them under the broiler for about a minute or two until the chips started to get glossy, so I knew they were softened. Then, I pressed a mini-marshmallow into each melted chip:

And ran them back under the broiler until they browned on top.

And that was it! They were a hit at the party, and a home run with Mike when he got them fresh out of the oven.

Though I won't stop making regular s'mores when I camp, these are a great little snack for at home. For one thing they are just so darn cute! Also, the chocolate melts, which is hard to achieve with a big s'more. (It is actually essential for these – I don't know how else you'd get them to stick together.) And, finally, there's their calorie content: I figured it up from parsing down the info on the nutrition labels, and each little s'more is about 9.2 calories!