5 Ways To Upgrade S’mores – Including Savory S’mores!

All of these are simple to execute and still involve the fun “roasting over an open flame” part. So don’t feel like you need to do a lot of extra work or be a fancy home chef to pull them off (we definitely aren’t!).

S’more Night Firepit Supplies

Before we dive into the “recipes,” let’s cover some basics about our backyard fire pit set-up. Here are the exact items we have & love (nothing sponsored, all purchased with our own money).

• Solo Stove Bonfire Firepit (with this Lid – which is all we use to cover it)
• Polywood Adirondack Chairs
• LED String Lights
• Firewood (purchased locally) and kindling (sticks from yard)
• Outdoor storage box (to keep our firewood dry)

We also have a metal storage caddy (we linked a similar one since ours is 5+ years old) with basic s’mores supplies in the cabinet above our fridge. This makes it MUCH EASIER to bring everything out to the fire in one trip. Here’s what’s in ours:

• Standard s’mores ingredients: graham crackers, chocolate bars, & marshmallows
• Small paper plates
• Paper napkins
• Lighter
• Resuable metal roasting sticks (we LOVE these – they also make a great gift)

Quick tip for the metal roasting sticks: They often have crispy burnt marshmallow bits left on them at the end of the night. Soak that end in water overnight to make cleaning much easier in the morning!

Five S’more Upgrades

Ok, we’ve made it to the fun part. Here are the 5 “fancy” s’mores we’ll cover today:

1. Savory s’mores
2. Chocolate swaps
3. Cracker swaps
4. Adding fruits or spreads
5. Fluff dips

1. Savory S’mores

What if s’mores had a baby with a charcuterie board? That’s the idea here (which made the rounds on TikTok about a year ago and inspired us to give it a try). The gist is: instead of a marshmallow, you’re roasting bite-size cheeses over an open a flame. And then you swap the chocolate for something like salami, add some fancy jam, and any other savory ingredients you’d like (we LOVE hot honey on them).

Like any meat & cheese platter, it’s fun to have a spread of options for guests to try. Just be sure to have 3 basic categories covered – cheeses, crackers, and toppings. Here are some of our favorites:

Snacking Cheeses:

• Brie Bite Wheels
• Fontina Snacking Cheese
• Italian Herb Cheddar Bites
• Babybel Original

Savory Crackers:

• Carr’s Rosemary Crackers
• Breton Original Crackers
• Gluten-Free Option for any guests who might need one

Toppings:

• Charcuterie meats like salami, proscuitto, etc. We usually buy a variety pack.
• Jam(s). This is our favorite spread.
• Honey or hot honey (it really is DELICIOUS when you add it to the mix)

We’re still working on our “presentation” of savory s’mores because, unlike a fancy cheese platter, we like to keep the snack cheeses wrapped & chilled until they’re ready. We have had luck keeping them cold while they sit outside with us near the fire by freezing a layer of ice in a dispoable baking pan and then nesting another pan on top to corral our ingredients.

The absolute best part? You can have savory s’mores for dinner and then follow up with dessert s’mores later the same evening! Nobody has to be back in the kitchen preparing food while others hang outside. Zero dishes to wash. Absolutely a fun DIY dinner for everyone involved.

2. Chocolate Swaps

The easiest way to mix-up your classic s’more recipe is to sub out the standard Hershey’s bar for other chocolate candies. Just like the savory s’more spread above, it’s a simple & fun way to let your kids or guests experiment. Just pick up a few bars or bags of other chocolate-based treats. Here are our favorites:

• Andes Creme De Menthe Thins (we all think these beat traditional s’mores!)
• Dark Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Thins
• Ghiradelli Sea Salt Caramel Squares
• Kit Kat Minis

You can use just about any snack or mini size chocolate bar (Snickers, Mr. Goodbar, etc). In our experience, the thinnner the better. But it’s all personal preference, so we suggest experimenting! Sherry and I both agree the Andes mint version is underappreciated in the s’mores world and like them better than the original Hershey’s bar.

3. Cracker Swaps

Similarly, you can also trade out your classic graham cracker base for a new twist on a s’more. Just be careful whatever you’re using it large & sturdy enough to support your other ingredients. Here are some cracker alternatives to try:

• Saltines (these with andes mints = our fav twist on a s’more ever)
• Chocolate Chip Cookies (Tate’s are a great size)
• Stroopwafels
• Pretzel Thins
• Butter Shortbread Cookies
• Oreo Thins

You might be surprised by how much these alterations can change the whole flavor of your s’more. And shockingly, the Saltine is one of our favorite swaps. That little hint of salt is *chef’s kiss*. Truly, try it with a toasty marshmallow and Andes mints instead of Hershey’s chocolate. We are awaiting our Michelin Star, it’s that good.

4. Add Fresh Fruit or Spreads

One of our favorite recent discoveries is adding a hit of fresh fruit to our s’mores. It does take a smidge more prep, but regular s’mores now seem almost boring by comparison. These ingredients can be used in addition to OR in place of chocolate:

• Strawberries, sliced thin
• Bananas, sliced thin
• Green applies, sliced thin
• Peach wedges
• Nectarine wedges
• Pear wedges
• Whole blackberries or raspberries

Another way to get that fruit flavor but with less prep is using a fruit spread or jam, which we do OFTEN! It tastes so good, and makes it really fun and customizable for your family and guests. Just spread one (or two!) of these on your base cracker first:

• Peanut butter
• Nutella
• Cookie butter
• Lemon curd
• Honey or hot honey
• Other fruit jams or jellies

Be creative with your combinations of these various categories to create a truly custom s’more. For instance, a shortbread cookie + fresh strawberries + toasted marshmallow can give you an almost strawberry shortcake-like flavor.

5. Fluff Dips

Our Favorite Combos

I know we just threw a lot of options your way, so we’ll leave you with our top 3 combinations:

John’s Top 3 S’mores

• Traditional s’more + sliced strawberries on graham crackers
• Savory s’more with fig jam, proscuitto, and fontina cheese on rosemary cracker
• Saltine + lemon curd + marshmallow (no chocolate) on shortbread cookies

Sherry’s Top 3 S’mores

• Traditional s’more, sub Hershey’s chocolate for Andes mint on saltines
• Savory s’more with hot honey, salami, and Babybel on saltines
• Whole strawberry dipped in marshmallow fluff (no cracker)

Happy s’mores-ing everyone! And we solemnly vow to keep trying new s’more combinations. It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.