Campfire Crunch Cookies

MAKE THE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST: Preheat the oven to 325 F. Combine the butter and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

While the butter and sugar melt, crush half a pack of graham crackers into crumbs. I like to do this inside the unopened sleeve package, so I don't have to dirty another plastic bag. Simply grasp an unopened sleeve of graham crackers and break it down the midline. Use a rolling pin to gently (gently so you don't explode the bag open!) crush half the graham crackers into rough crumbs (use your fingers to squish any pieces larger than a pea.)

Once the butter/sugar mixture starts to bubble, let it cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the sugar has melted, and the mixture is very foamy and almost stretchy looking.

Remove butter/sugar mixture from heat and immediately stir in the graham cracker crumbs until evenly incorporated. Pour crumbs onto a baking sheet lined with Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper and bake for 7 minutes. Once golden and fragrant, remove from the oven and transfer baked crumbs to another bowl to cool. Increase the oven temperature to 350 F.

MAKE THE COOKIES: While the graham crumbs are baking, cut the slightly softened butter into 8 chunks. Use an electric stand or hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together for about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally, until very light and fluffy.

Add the milk and vanilla and cream for another 1-2 minutes until well incorporated.

To save on bowls, I like to add the dry ingredients directly at this point if they are sifted evenly. Evenly sprinkle the baking powder, salt and flour over the butter/sugar mixture and beat until just combined. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and fold in the chocolate and cooled graham crumbs (reserve the extra graham crumb for garnishing later).

Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit your desired cookie sheet and divide dough in half.

Working with half the dough at a time (leaving the other half covered in the mixing bowl), roll out dough to your desired thickness (mine is usually somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2-inch-thick) on the parchment paper. If the dough is excessively sticky, place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough while rolling.

Use a 2 to 3-inch biscuit or cookie cutter (or the rim of a glass) to stamp out about 12 cookies, re-rolling the dough as needed. Transfer the parchment sheet to your cookie sheet and space the cookies out evenly.

Bake for 8 minutes at 350 F. Repeat step 5 and 6 with the other half of the dough.

Cookies should look pale and puffed after 8 minutes—broiling will help brown the tops. Place half a marshmallow on top of each cookie and broil for an additional ~2 minutes at 400 degrees, until just golden brown–watch carefully to make sure the marshmallows don’t burn.

While the marshmallow is still soft, slide a chunk of chocolate into the center of the marshmallow and sprinkle with reserved graham crumbs. Enjoy!