Fake-Out S'Mores

Hey, everyone! Happy National S'mores Day! *glitter confetti cannon*

Have you had the chance to have some s'mores yet this year? Many look at them as a summer staple to go with camping & such. Since there is toasty fire involved & marshmallows make me think of hot chocolate, I like to think of them as more of a fall-season staple. Either way, they are delicious anytime you can work eating them!

If you remember, I made summer camping trail mix that is based on s'mores. (link to the recipe HERE) But I know it's not right in line with a true s'more.

Not too long ago, my family went on vacation to Colorado. We stayed at the Keystone Resort. We found out that every Wednesday night, they offer a free-to-all campfire social. The campfire social does have food available for purchase...but...they have FREE offerings of s'mores! Being on a budget, we just took in the s'mores. But there's were...uh...er...um..."different".

They used a cheater way of part of it. You could still roast your own marshmallows, but they appeared to have a Nature Valley sponsorship happening. So it wasn't really graham crackers & chocolate squares...it was more like granola thins with a chocolate-coated layer of chocolate.

Don't get me wrong, still pretty good. And my daughter was totally taken by these little snack squares. And while the boys were off doing their own camping thing, my daughter & I decided to fake some s'mores one night. We used the Yahoo! Shine version (you know...the one that made folks grumpy - link HERE) to inspire & make some of our own munchies at home.

Here's what I did:

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FAKE-OUT S'MORES

Ingredients:

~ 1 box Nature Valley Granola Thins (we used the dark chocolate variety this time)
~ 1 pk Jet-Puffed StackerMallows

Directions:

* Place oven rack as far to the top as possible & turn the oven onto broil (I set mine on HIGH)

* Lightly spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or lay down some parchment paper

* Open up individual granola thins & place on the cookie sheet with chocolate side up

* Place one stackermallow on top of each chocolate granola thin

* Place the cookie sheet onto the top rack in the oven

* DO NOT WALK AWAY! Watch for the browning of the marshmallow - I left mine in for maybe 2 minutes!

* Pull the cookie sheet out of the oven once the marshmallow has the perfect golden-to-brown color for you

* Either place a separate granola thin on top of each marshmallow OR stack up a marshmallow layer on top of another marshmallow layer for a thicker s'more

* Squish together & consume

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Does this totally make up for a good campfire s'more? No. But they were still pretty tasty!

Don't get me wrong...I'd rather have the graham crackers, chocolate squares & fire-toasted marshmallow...but sometimes you just gotta make something else work.

So here is just another way to celebrate National S'mores Day.

ENJOY!

S'More [Bacon] Trail Mix

It's summertime, people! That means there has been more baseball tournaments kicked up or attending your favorite baseball team's game(s), swimming, vacations, and...camping!

Now then, I'm not what you'd call an "outdoorsy person". I will go camping, but I'm picky about it. I will go in the woods, but it had better be in a camper...or better yet...a cabin. I'm not a fan of the heat & needing to apply 8 layers of super high sunscreen. I feel like I put in my dues doing years of tent camping on family vacations as a kid. From KOA to KOA as we'd go from state to state. I'm in a different phase of life & would prefer the indoors now.

I will make a few exceptions, however. I love a cool morning on the deck with my coffee in the peaceful stillness while smelling the moisture of the dew as it accentuates the green smell of the grass & leaves. Or, if at the lake since my hubby & sons love the camping scene, I love going out with the early morning fishers in the boat. It's quiet, still, peaceful listening to the water. Yeah...that.

But I'll admit that I do love a good campfire/bonfire/firepit going. I do love roaring & crackling of the fire while roasting up marshmallows...and even more so adding the marshmallow to graham crackers with chocolate. Mmm-mmm-mmm...gimme s'more of that!

Now then, since not everyone enjoys that scene, I came up with a cheater to-go s'mores that anyone can have at nearly anytime!

As it turns out, there was recently quite the baconfest going on in Colorado. Mmmmm...bacon...
So my hubby would keep me up to date on what was going down at the baconfest. And one of the things served was bacon s'mores! BACON S'MORES, people! WHAT??? Mmmmmm...

My hubby has been kind enough to make me chocolate covered bacon before. Yeah...only part of why I love him. And if you can have chocolate covered bacon...why not add some marshmallows & graham? Right? So I started researching & decided to make it a fun trail mix!

So, here's what I did:

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S'MORE [BACON] TRAIL MIX

Ingredients:

~ 1 C Golden Grahams cereal
~ 1 C Teddy Grahams (honey flavor)
~ 1/2 C Milk Chocolate Chips (I used Hershey's)
~ 1/2 C Milk Chocolate M&M's
~ 1 C mini marshmallows
~ 1 C mini marshmallow bites (little dehydrated ones)
~ 1/2 C bacon bits

Directions:

* Place all the ingredients into a large bowl

* Mix together

* Consume


+ Yield: about 9 servings of about 1/2 a cup each

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I love the idea of the different textures & the presentation of this trail mix. There's still the graham in the cereal, the marshmallows & the Hershey chocolate for the traditional look of the s'more. You can always stop at those ingredients if you'd like. But I wanted to bump up the color, the sizes...plus...I had to add the bears for the woodsy-campy feel! Oh...and...uh...BACON!

You can always use turkey bacon bits or imitation bacon bits, too. Or you can leave out the bacon all together if it's something you think is too weird.

Something else you can do for a switch up is by adding nuts or seeds of sorts. You can also maybe use Reece's Pieces or peanut butter M&M's if you want to add a bit of the nutty taste to the mix. You can even add mini pretzels or pretzel sticks, also! Or switch up the chocolate to dark chocolate or white chocolate for something different.

And? You can enjoy them while camping, while on the go, when out watching fireworks, or just while watching the TV from your couch or from inside your blanket fort in the living room. It's S'mores-to-go, people! It's not gooey...the only real mess you'd make is if you spilled it. But it's still easy clean up!

*Note: Use just the M&M's or hardshell candy if you plan on being in the heat for a while.

The jar on top as no bacon.
The jars below are marked with "B" since the have bacon.

Oh...and just store in snack-size plastic baggies, or small jars (like mason jars or reuse baby food jars to hold it). Then you can just pick up some s'more snacking & head out the door! Or it's easy transport when you go camping. Recharge some childhood-like memories with this mix! S'mores, M&Ms, Teddy Grahams, marshmallows...I mean...C'mon!

ENJOY!