Cookies Desserts Recipes
giant maple brown butter s’mores everything cookie
These giant maple brown butter s’mores cookies are packed with chopped dark and milk chocolate, maple-toasted pecans, broken graham crackers and frozen pockets of brown butter graham cracker filling. Each enormous cookie is wrapped around dark chocolate and a whole marshmallow, then baked until the edges are deeply golden and the middle stays thick and chewy. Chopped chocolate bars create everything from tiny flecks to enormous melted pools, while the frozen center gives you that molten s’mores pull when the cookie is still warm. Keep them tall, craggy and cold before baking for the thickest bakery-style cookies.
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Unsalted Butter: Brown all 12 tablespoons at once. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the finished brown butter for the graham cracker filling and use everything remaining in the cookie dough.
- Coconut Sugar: Gives the dough moisture, chewiness and a deep caramel flavor.
- Maple Sugar: Adds a cleaner maple flavor and helps create crisp, deeply golden edges.
- Pure Maple Syrup: Used in the dough, toasted pecans and graham cracker butter. It reinforces the maple flavor without making the cookie taste artificially maple.
- Egg and Egg Yolk: The whole egg binds the dough while the additional yolk makes the centers richer, softer and chewier.
- Vanilla Bean Paste: Adds concentrated vanilla flavor that stands up to the brown butter, chocolate and toasted pecans. Vanilla extract can be substituted in the same amount.
- All-Purpose Flour: Gives these enormous stuffed cookies enough structure to hold their molten centers.
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder: Baking soda encourages browning and spreading, while baking powder gives the tall cookies a little lift.
- Cinnamon: Adds warmth without turning these into cinnamon cookies. It sits quietly behind the maple, chocolate and brown butter.
- Dark and Milk Chocolate Bars: Chop the bars instead of using only chocolate chips. The combination creates fine chocolate flecks, medium chunks and enormous molten shards.
- Pecans: Toasted with maple syrup and sea salt before being added to the dough. Let them cool completely so they stay crisp.
- Graham Crackers: Used two ways: broken directly into the dough and finely crushed into the frozen brown butter graham cracker filling.
- Marshmallows: One whole marshmallow goes inside every cookie, with another half pressed into the top near the end of baking.
- Sea Salt: Balances the sweetness inside the dough. Flaky sea salt finishes the warm cookies and sharpens all the chocolate and brown butter flavors.
Why You’ll Love These Giant S’mores Cookies
- A Molten S’mores Center: Every cookie is built around a frozen stack of dark chocolate and marshmallow, so the center stays soft and gooey after the edges set.
- Five Textures in One Cookie: Crisp edges, a thick chewy middle, melted chocolate, stretchy marshmallow and buttery graham cracker pockets all happen at once.
- Actual Brown Butter Graham Cracker Pockets: The graham crackers are mixed with brown butter and maple syrup, frozen and folded into the dough last. They stay distinct instead of disappearing into dry crumbs.
- Chocolate in Every Possible Form: Roughly chopped chocolate creates flecks, chunks and enormous pools, so every bite is a little different.
- Maple-Toasted Pecans: Toasting the pecans with maple syrup and sea salt makes them crunchier, deeper and more flavorful before they ever enter the dough.
- Enormous Bakery-Style Centers: The dough is shaped tall and craggy rather than smooth and round. That extra height protects the soft interior while the exterior turns golden.
- Made for Pulling Apart While Warm: These cookies are at their best when the chocolate is molten, the marshmallow stretches and the center still looks almost underdone.
How to Make Giant Maple Brown Butter S’mores Cookies
Step 1: Brown the Butter
Brown all 12 tablespoons of butter over medium heat until it foams, smells nutty and develops deeply golden milk solids. Immediately pour it into a heat-safe bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the finished brown butter for the graham cracker butter and leave everything remaining for the cookie dough.
Step 2: Make the Maple-Toasted Pecans
Toast the pecans with maple syrup and sea salt until fragrant and lightly caramelized. Transfer them to parchment paper and cool completely before chopping. Warm pecans can soften the dough and melt the chocolate prematurely.
Step 3: Make the Graham Cracker Butter
Combine finely crushed graham crackers with the reserved brown butter, maple syrup and sea salt. Drop the thick mixture onto parchment in small, irregular pieces and freeze until firm. Keeping the pieces uneven creates noticeable buttery graham cracker pockets inside the finished cookies.
Step 4: Freeze the S’mores Centers
Arrange 6 large dark chocolate squares on a parchment-lined plate and place one whole marshmallow over each square. Freeze the stacks for at least 20 minutes. Cold centers give the cookie dough time to set before the chocolate and marshmallow begin melting.
Step 5: Make the Cookie Dough
Whisk the cooled brown butter with the coconut sugar and maple sugar, then add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla bean paste and maple syrup. Whisk until the mixture looks thick and glossy.
Fold in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and sea salt until the dough is almost combined. Add the chopped dark chocolate, milk chocolate, maple-toasted pecans and broken graham crackers. Fold in the frozen graham cracker butter pieces last, leaving them intentionally uneven. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
Step 6: Fill and Shape the Cookies
Divide the dough into 6 enormous portions. Flatten one portion into a thick disc, place a frozen chocolate and marshmallow stack in the center and wrap the dough completely around it.
Seal every opening, but do not roll the cookie smooth. Keep it tall and craggy, then press additional chocolate, pecans and graham cracker pieces into the exterior. Chill the assembled cookies for another 20 to 30 minutes.
Step 7: Bake Until the Centers Are Still Soft
Bake only 3 cookies per parchment-lined sheet at 350°F for 14 to 17 minutes. The edges should look deeply golden and set while the centers remain soft.
During the final 2 to 3 minutes, press half a marshmallow into the top of each cookie and return them to the oven until the marshmallows begin to slump. Pull the cookies before the centers look completely baked, then let them rest on the hot baking sheets for 10 to 15 minutes.
Finish with flaky sea salt and serve while the centers are still warm and molten.
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Tips for the Best Giant S’mores Cookies
- Use cooled brown butter. If the brown butter is still hot, it will melt the sugars and chocolate and make the dough spread excessively.
- Keep every filling cold. The graham cracker butter, chocolate-marshmallow stacks and assembled cookies should all be properly chilled before baking.
- Seal the centers completely. Any opening in the dough gives the melting marshmallow a place to escape.
- Keep the cookies tall and craggy. Do not flatten or roll them smooth. Height is what creates the thick bakery-style center.
- Chop chocolate bars instead of relying on chips. Chocolate chips are designed to hold their shape. Chopped bars create the enormous molten pools this cookie needs.
- Bake only three cookies per sheet. These are extremely large and need space for heat to circulate around them.
- Pull them early. The centers should still look soft when the cookies leave the oven. They will continue cooking and setting on the hot baking sheet.
- Let them rest before moving them. The cookies are structurally fragile while the chocolate and marshmallow are completely molten.
How to Store
- Room Temperature: Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- Refrigerator: Refrigerate the cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Bring them to room temperature or reheat them before serving.
- Freezer: Freeze completely cooled cookies for up to 2 months. Wrap them individually before placing them in a freezer-safe container.
- To Reheat: Warm one cookie in a 300°F oven for 6 to 8 minutes or microwave it in short intervals until the chocolate softens. Avoid overheating or the marshmallow may disappear into the center.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my cookies spread too much?
The brown butter or dough was probably too warm. Cool the brown butter before mixing the dough, complete both chilling periods and bake the cookies directly from the refrigerator.
Why do the centers need to be frozen?
The chocolate and marshmallow begin melting before the thick cookie has finished baking. Freezing the centers delays that process long enough for the dough surrounding them to set.
Can I use chocolate chips instead of chopped chocolate?
Yes, but the result will be less molten. Chopped chocolate bars produce a better mixture of fine flecks, soft chunks and large melted pools.
Can I leave out the pecans?
Yes. Replace them with additional chocolate or graham cracker pieces, or simply leave them out without changing the remaining ingredients.
How do I know when the cookies are finished baking?
The edges should be deeply golden and visibly set, but the centers should still look soft and slightly underdone. They will continue setting as they rest on the baking sheet.
Can I make the cookies ahead of time?
Yes. Assemble and refrigerate the unbaked cookies for up to 24 hours. You can also freeze the shaped cookies, tightly covered, and bake them directly from frozen with a few additional minutes of baking time.
Can I make smaller cookies?
You can, but the recipe is specifically balanced around 6 enormous stuffed cookies. For smaller cookies, reduce the size of the chocolate and marshmallow centers and begin checking them several minutes earlier.
Are these cookies refined-sugar-free?
The cookie dough is sweetened with coconut sugar, maple sugar and maple syrup. The finished cookies are only completely refined-sugar-free if your chocolate bars, graham crackers and marshmallows are also made without refined cane sugar.
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Ingredients
Method
- Melt all 12 tablespoons of butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat.
- Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the butter foams, smells nutty and develops deeply golden milk solids.
- Immediately transfer the brown butter to a heat-safe bowl so it does not continue cooking.
- Measure 10 tablespoons for the cookie dough and 2 tablespoons for the graham cracker butter. Let the cookie dough portion cool for approximately 10 minutes.
- Add the pecans, maple syrup and sea salt to a skillet over medium-low heat.
- Cook until the pecans smell toasted and the maple syrup lightly caramelizes around them.
- Transfer the pecans to parchment paper and let them cool completely before roughly chopping.
- Mix the finely crushed graham crackers, 2 tablespoons reserved brown butter, maple syrup and sea salt into a thick paste.
- Drop the mixture in small, irregular pieces onto parchment paper and freeze until firm. The pieces should remain distinct so they create buttery graham cracker pockets throughout the cookies.
- Arrange 6 large squares of dark chocolate on a parchment-lined plate or small baking sheet.
- Place one whole marshmallow on top of each chocolate square.
- Freeze the chocolate and marshmallow stacks for at least 20 minutes. Keeping the centers cold helps the cookie dough bake around them before the marshmallow escapes.
- Whisk the 10 tablespoons of cooled brown butter with the coconut sugar and maple sugar.
- Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla bean paste and maple syrup. Whisk vigorously until the mixture becomes thick and glossy.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and sea salt. Fold until the dough is almost combined.
- Fold in the chopped dark chocolate, milk chocolate, maple-toasted pecans and broken graham cracker pieces.
- Add the frozen graham cracker butter pieces last, folding lightly so they remain unevenly distributed.
- Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Divide the chilled dough into 6 enormous portions.
- Flatten one portion into a thick disc and place one frozen chocolate and marshmallow stack in the center.
- Wrap the dough completely around the filling and firmly seal every opening.
- Keep the cookie tall and craggy instead of rolling it into a smooth ball.
- Press additional chocolate shards, chopped pecans and graham cracker pieces into the exterior.
- Repeat with the remaining dough and centers, then refrigerate the assembled cookies for another 20 to 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Arrange only 3 cookies on each sheet, leaving plenty of room between them.
- Bake for 14 to 17 minutes, until the edges are deeply golden and set but the centers remain soft.
- During the final 2 to 3 minutes, tear the remaining 3 marshmallows in half and press one half into the top of each cookie.
- Return the cookies to the oven until the marshmallows soften and begin to slump.
- Remove the cookies while the centers still appear slightly underdone. They will continue setting on the hot baking sheets.
- Let the cookies rest for 10 to 15 minutes before moving them.
- Finish the warm cookies with flaky sea salt.
- Add any remaining chocolate, chopped pecans or graham cracker pieces while the tops are still soft.
- Serve warm for the softest marshmallow and most molten chocolate center.
Nutrition
Notes
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