S’mores! Who doesn’t love them? Well actually, I went through a period in my life where I absolutely hated anything marshmallow related. It’s texture freaked me out.. but I soon regained my love for them. My family and I went on holiday to California in the summer of 2017, and one evening in our hotel in Anaheim, we made s’mores using a rooftop fire-pit! What a night that was. Graham crackers, marshmallows and Hershey’s chocolate to top it all off.

Since becoming a plant-based eater, I rarely eat processed foods like vegan marshmallows, but they were on sale for just €1.00 a bag in my local health food store (Holland & Barrett), so I picked them up. It’s important to note that regular marshmallows are not vegan. They have a high gelatine content so avoid them like the plague!

For the chocolate chips I used Dr. Oetker’s dark chocolate chips from Tesco, which are dairy free. I also added in some chopped up dark chocolate bar from Tesco too (to save on my €’s.

This recipe makes about 18-20 small-regular sized cookies which I baked using 3 different baking trays in the same oven. Doing this requires that you alternate the trays positions over the course of its baking time. For example: Move the top tray to the bottom and move the two other trays up a level in the oven. Repeat this until each tray has cooked for the same amount of time at each level, and all are slightly golden brown.

My boyfriend and I paired these cookies with Ben & Jerry’s dairy free ‘Chunky Monkey’ ice-cream and it really hit the spot! Enjoy loves.

Yield: 18-20 Cookies.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of oat flour (blend your oats in a blender to create this)
• 1 cup of ground almonds
• 2 tsps of baking powder
• 2 tbsp of milled chia seed
• Pinch of ground sea salt
• 1/2 a cup of agave OR maple syrup
• 1/4 cup of runny, smooth Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 tsp of nut mylk
• 100g of dairy free chocolate chips (or chopped up chocolate bar)
• 90g of mini vegan marshmallows

Method:

• Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180 degrees Celsius and line your baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
• Add all dry ingredients (besides from the chocolate and marshmallows) to a large mixing bowl and mix well using a wooden spoon until the ingredients are well combined.
• Next, add the wet ingredients to the bowl and fold them into the dry ingredients using the wooden spoon.
• Mix for a couple of minutes before adding in the chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.
• Disperse them evenly throughout the batter. (Optional): Keep a few chocolate chips and marshmallows aside for topping the cookies also.
• Once well combined, it is time to mould the cookies and lay them out on the baking trays.
• Using a tablespoon, take a heaped spoonful of the mixture and roll it into a ball in your hands (I like to keep my hands a small bit damp while doing this, as the mixture is less likely to stick, and is easily formed this way – you can dampen your fingertips with either water OR nut mylk).
• Flatten the ball shaped mixture into a flatter, cookie shape and place on the baking tray.
• Repeat this process for the rest of the batter, ensuring that there is a nice amount of space between each cookie, to leave room for expansion as they bake.
• If you would like prettier cookies, place some chocolate chips and marshmallows on top of the cookies after shaping them, so that they are visible on top of the cookie.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, alternating the trays positions regularly (if using more than one tray, and if not using a fan oven).
• The cookies should be slightly golden brown, but not over-done.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking tray so that the bottom of the cookie gets slightly crisp.
• Enjoy!