The s’more, reinvented

We know, we know: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And s’mores are pretty perfect just the way the campfire gods intended them: constructed with a perfect balance of Honey Maid graham crackers, Hershey’s milk chocolate and Jet-Puffed marshmallows. But with so many fun cookies, chocolate bars and newfangled marshmallows out there, TOC Kids was itching to get creative and build the Ultimate S’more. Pick your favorite from our recipes below, or mix and match for a bounty of sticky, sweet deliciousness, and then click through to the next page to see photos of our friends (and, okay, us) testing them out.

The chocoloate-dipped strawberry smore
The fixins
Honey Maid chocolate graham crackers, amazon.com
Green & Black’s organic milk chocolate, Whole Foods
Jet-Puffed strawberrymallows, Jewel

The verdict The pale pink hue of the marshmallow freaked some of us out, but most were pleasantly surprised by this flavor pairing. “So simple. Total genius."

The OMG s'more
The fixins
Hilary’s peanut butter–chocolate chip cookies, Hilary’s Cookies
Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups, Trader Joe’s
Jet-Puffed Jumbo marshmallows, Jewel

The verdict Decadent, and—though the delicious, soft cookies broke apart on us—less messy than you might think: We put the pb cups inside the mega-sized ’mallows (which caught fire easily and took some mastering to roast), then melted ’em over the fire. “With careful roasting, the [pb cups] were a melty, decadent, mouth-watering treat.”

The tropical s’more
The fixins
Caribeñas coconut cookies, Wal-Mart
Rolo candies, Wal-Mart
Dandies vanilla-flavored vegan marshmallows, Whole Foods

The verdict Coconut was the dominant flavor here and the Rolos didn’t melt quite as well as we’d hoped. The teeny-tiny vegan marshmallows roasted (and tasted) just like the real deal—you just have to use two or three of them per s’more.

“If you really like coconut, this is your s’more.”

The sweet-and-savory breakfast s’more
The fixins
Jules Destrooper Butter Crisps, Gene’s Sausage Shop
Vosges Mo’s Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar, Vosges Haut-Chocolat
Katherine Anne Confections salted caramel marshmallows, farmers’ markets around Chicago

The verdict Our staff declared this the best breakfast ever, with a nice balance of salty and sweet on a thin-and-crispy waffle cookie base. “This should be a new classic.”

The barnyard s’more—winner
The fixins
Nilla wafers, Jewel
Milka Kuhflecken (cow spot) milk & white chocolate, Gene’s Sausage Shop
Peeps, amazon.com

The verdict The surprise, unanimous favorite: The sugar coating on the Peeps caramelized, adding some crispiness, along with good crunch from the Nilla wafers. “Really? This is shockingly awesome, sugary sweet goodness.”

And turn to the next page to check out our gallery of kids testing out the recipes.