These s’mores cookies take everything you love about a gooey campfire s’more and stuff it inside a giant bakery-style brown butter chocolate chip cookie. They’re thick and chewy with crisp golden edges, plenty of chocolate, and a gooey marshmallow, graham cracker, and chocolate center hiding inside.
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I thought I already had a pretty great s’mores cookie. In fact, I already have a more traditional S’mores Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe on the blog, and I still love it.
But these are an entirely different kind of cookie.
These are the giant, over-the-top, bakery-style version. The chocolate chip cookie dough starts with brown butter for a rich, nutty flavor, gets loaded with both milk and dark chocolate, and then gets wrapped around an actual s’mores center made with graham cracker, a whole marshmallow, and melty chocolate.
And when I say giant, I mean it. Each assembled cookie weighs around 120 grams before baking. That specific weight ended up being one of the most important parts of getting the right amount of cookie dough around the filling while still keeping that thick bakery-style texture.
These take a little more time than your average chocolate chip cookie, but the first time you break one open while it’s still warm and get that gooey marshmallow and melted chocolate center, you’ll understand why they’re worth it.
Why You’ll Love These S’mores Cookies
- They’re true bakery-style cookies. These are big, thick cookies with golden edges and soft, chewy centers.
- Brown butter makes the cookie dough incredible. Browning the butter adds a rich, toasted flavor that makes these taste so much more interesting than a standard chocolate chip cookie.
- There’s an actual s’more inside. Instead of simply mixing graham crackers and marshmallows throughout the dough, each cookie is stuffed with half a graham cracker, a whole marshmallow, and melting chocolate.
- You get chocolate in every layer. The dough has both milk and dark chocolate chips, plus more chocolate tucked into the center.
- The 120g measurement takes out the guesswork. Weighing the assembled cookies helps you get a consistent ratio of cookie dough to filling and helps these giant cookies bake evenly.
- No campfire required. You still get the graham cracker, melted chocolate, and gooey marshmallow situation, just wrapped inside a ridiculously good chocolate chip cookie.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Unsalted Butter
We’re browning the butter before making the dough, which gives it a deeper, nutty, almost caramel-like flavor. Make sure you scrape all of those little browned milk solids from the pan into your mixing bowl. That’s where so much of the flavor lives.
Brown Sugar + Granulated Sugar
Using both gives us the best of both worlds. Brown sugar contributes moisture and chewiness, while granulated sugar helps the cookies spread and develop those golden, slightly crisp edges.
Egg + Egg Yolk
The extra yolk adds richness and helps create that soft, chewy bakery-style center without adding another full egg.
Vanilla Extract
Vanilla rounds out the brown butter and chocolate flavors.
Heavy Cream
A small amount adds moisture and richness to the dough.
All-Purpose Flour
For the most consistent results, I recommend weighing your flour if you have a kitchen scale. Too much flour can make these thick cookies dry instead of soft and chewy.
Cornstarch
Cornstarch helps keep the cookies tender and contributes to that soft bakery-style texture.
Baking Soda + Baking Powder
Using both gives the cookies the right balance of spread and lift.
Salt
A little salt balances all of the sweetness and brings out the chocolate and brown butter flavors.
Dark + Milk Chocolate Chips
I love using both here. Milk chocolate gives you that classic sweet s’mores flavor, while dark chocolate keeps such a rich cookie from becoming overly sweet.
S’mores Centers
Graham Crackers
Break whole graham cracker sheets in half so you have individual squares for stuffing inside the cookies.
Large Marshmallows
Use one whole large marshmallow per cookie. That whole marshmallow is what gives you the dramatic gooey center when you break the cookie open.
Chocolate Melting Wafers
I use a few chocolate melting wafers on each graham cracker. They melt really nicely inside the cookie and give you an extra layer of gooey chocolate right next to the marshmallow.
How to Make Bakery Style S’mores Cookies
1. Brown the Butter
Add the butter to a small saucepan over medium heat. As it melts, it will begin to foam and bubble. Keep stirring and watch the bottom of the pan closely.
Eventually, you’ll see little golden-brown specks developing underneath the foam and the butter will start smelling toasted and nutty. Once those milk solids are golden brown, immediately remove the pan from the heat.
Don’t leave those browned bits behind! Scrape all of the butter and browned milk solids into your mixing bowl and let it cool slightly.
2. Make the Cookie Dough
Whisk the browned butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and heavy cream and whisk until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined, then fold in the milk and dark chocolate chips. Once the flour goes in, avoid overmixing the dough.
3. Chill the Dough
Cover the cookie dough and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours.
I know. Two hours feels like a long time when you want a cookie.
But this is one step I would not rush. We’re asking this dough to completely surround a pretty substantial s’mores center, so it needs to be firm enough to work with. Chilling also helps control how much these giant cookies spread in the oven.
4. Build the S’mores Centers
Break each whole graham cracker sheet in half to make individual graham cracker squares.
Top each square with 1 whole large marshmallow and 3–4 chocolate melting wafers.
5. Stuff and Weigh the Cookies
Take a portion of the chilled cookie dough and flatten it into a thick disc in your hands. Place one prepared s’mores center in the middle.
Bring the dough up and around the graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate. Aim to just enclose the marshmallow and chocolate. The graham cracker will just break if you try to enclose that, in my experience!
Now comes one of the most important steps:
Weigh the entire assembled cookie and aim for approximately 120g.
That means the cookie dough plus the s’mores filling should weigh around 120g, not 120g of cookie dough before you add the filling.
Add or remove a little cookie dough as needed. Depending on your exact measurements and how much filling you use, you should end up with about 7–8 large cookies.
6. Bake
Preheat your oven to 365°F with the baking sheet inside so the pan gets hot too.
Carefully remove the hot baking sheet from the oven and arrange the assembled cookies on it, leaving plenty of room between them.
Bake for about 12-14 minutes, until the edges look golden and set but the centers still look slightly underbaked.
These are giant cookies, so resist the urge to wait until the middle looks completely done. They’ll continue cooking and setting on the hot pan after they come out of the oven.
7. Shape and Cool
As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, you can use a large round cookie cutter or bowl to gently scoot around the edges and make them perfectly round.
Press a few additional chocolate chips into the tops while they’re still warm.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
Or, you know, wait until one is cool enough that you won’t burn your fingers and break that thing open.
The Secret to Perfect Bakery Style Cookies
These cookies are big, stuffed, and a little more dramatic than your everyday chocolate chip cookie. A few details make a big difference.
Weigh Each Assembled Cookie to 120g
If you own a kitchen scale, this is the recipe to pull it out for.
Because every cookie has a large s’mores center, eyeballing the dough can leave one cookie with a thin layer of dough around the filling and another with way too much. Aiming for approximately 120g after the cookie has been stuffed keeps them much more consistent.
It also helps all of your cookies bake at roughly the same rate.
Don’t Skip the Chill Time
The dough should be cold and firm when you assemble the cookies.
If it gets too warm while you’re working, pop it back into the refrigerator for a few minutes before continuing.
Start With a Hot Baking Sheet
Yes, we’re intentionally preheating the baking sheet along with the oven.
Because these cookies are so large, placing them onto an already-hot pan immediately starts setting the bottom of the cookie while the rest bakes.
Don’t Overbake Them
The center of a giant bakery-style cookie shouldn’t look completely firm when you pull it from the oven.
Look at the edges instead. Once they’re golden and set and the center is still soft, take the cookies out and let the residual heat finish the job.
Please Eat One Warm
Okay, this one isn’t technically required for recipe success.
But you just put an entire marshmallow and melted chocolate center inside a brown butter chocolate chip cookie. This is not the time to practice patience.
How to Brown Butter for Cookies
Brown butter is simply butter that has been cooked long enough for the milk solids in it to toast.
As the butter cooks, you’ll see it move through a few stages. First it melts, then it starts bubbling and foaming. Eventually, little golden-brown flecks will appear on the bottom of the pan and you’ll notice a distinctly nutty, toasted smell.
Once you reach that point, take it off the heat. Butter can go from beautifully browned to burnt pretty quickly once the milk solids start changing color.
A light-colored saucepan can make this easier because you’ll be able to see the color of the milk solids developing on the bottom.
And again, don’t strain out those brown bits. We want them in the cookie dough.
Why Do I Need to Chill S’mores Cookie Dough?
Chilling the dough helps control spread, gives the flour time to hydrate, and allows the butter in the dough to firm back up.
But there’s an even more practical reason for this particular recipe: cold cookie dough is much easier to wrap around the s’mores center.
If your dough is too soft, you’ll struggle to completely cover the graham cracker and marshmallow without thin spots. Those thin spots also give melted marshmallow an easy escape route once the cookies hit the oven.
Give the dough the full 2 hours. It’s worth it.
Storage and Make Ahead
Storage
Once completely cooled, store leftover s’mores cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3–4 days.
As with most homemade cookies, their texture is best during the first couple of days.
Reheating
These s’mores cookies are best served slightly warm, when the chocolate is melty and the marshmallow center is soft and gooey. If you’re enjoying one later, microwave an individual cookie for about 10 seconds to bring back that fresh-from-the-oven texture.
Make Ahead
The cookie dough can be made in advance and refrigerated, covered, until you’re ready to assemble and bake the cookies.
If the dough becomes extremely firm after a longer chill, let it sit at room temperature just long enough to become workable. You still want it cold when you wrap it around the s’mores centers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Make S’mores Cookies Without Browning the Butter?
Technically, yes, but I wouldn’t for this recipe. Brown butter is one of the flavors that makes these cookies stand out from a standard chocolate chip cookie, and it pairs incredibly well with graham crackers and chocolate.
If you’re already going to the trouble of stuffing a whole s’more inside your cookie, take the extra few minutes and brown the butter.
Why Did My Marshmallow Leak Out?
The most likely culprit is a thin spot or opening in the cookie dough.
Make sure the marshmallow and chocolate are completely enclosed before baking. Working with thoroughly chilled dough also makes it much easier to get an even layer of dough around the filling.
A little marshmallow escaping isn’t the end of the world, though. It’s still going to taste good.
Can I Use Hershey’s Chocolate Instead of Melting Wafers?
Yes. You can substitute pieces of a chocolate bar for the melting wafers.
I like melting wafers because they melt especially smoothly inside the cookies, but regular milk chocolate is perfect if you want that really classic campfire s’mores flavor.
Can I Use Mini Marshmallows?
You could, but I recommend using one large marshmallow.
The whole marshmallow creates that dramatic gooey center and makes these feel like an actual s’more stuffed inside a cookie rather than a chocolate chip cookie with s’mores ingredients mixed into it.
Do I Really Need to Weigh the Cookies?
You can make them without a scale, but I highly recommend weighing them if you have one.
These aren’t normal scoop-and-bake cookies. They’re giant stuffed cookies, and getting each assembled cookie close to 120g gives you a much more consistent ratio of cookie dough to filling and helps them bake evenly.
How Do I Know When S’mores Cookies Are Done?
Look at the edges rather than the very center.
After about 12-14 minutes, the edges should look golden and set while the centers still look soft and slightly underdone. The cookies will continue to set on the hot baking sheet as they cool.
If you wait until the entire cookie looks completely baked in the oven, you’re much more likely to end up with an overbaked cookie once it cools.
Why Do You Preheat the Baking Sheet?
Starting the cookies on an already-hot baking sheet helps the bottoms and outer edges begin setting as soon as the cookies go into the oven.
That’s particularly helpful with an extra-large stuffed cookie like this one, where we’re trying to get golden edges while keeping the thick center soft and chewy.
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
If you love the s’mores flavor but don’t need a giant stuffed bakery-style cookie every time, try my S’mores Chocolate Chip Cookies. They’re a smaller, more traditional take on a s’mores cookie and perfect when you want a bigger batch to share. Or try my King Cake Cookies or Rocky Road Cookies!
Bakery Style Brown Butter S’mores Cookies
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Add the butter to a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, as the butter melts, foams, and begins to brown. Once the milk solids at the bottom of the pan are golden brown and the butter smells nutty, about 5–7 minutes, immediately remove it from the heat. Pour the browned butter, including all of the browned milk solids, into a large mixing bowl and let cool slightly.
- Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the browned butter and whisk until well combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and heavy cream and whisk until smooth.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula just until combined. Fold in the dark chocolate chunks and milk chocolate chips, being careful not to overmix.
- Cover and refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 2 hours, or until thoroughly chilled and firm. Do not skip the chill time. The cold dough is much easier to wrap around the s’mores centers and helps control spreading during baking.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 365°F.
- Break the 4 whole graham cracker sheets in half to make 8 squares. Top each graham cracker square with 1 large marshmallow and 3–4 chocolate melting wafers. You may only need 7 centers depending on your final cookie yield.
- Take a portion of chilled cookie dough and flatten it into a thick disc in your hands. Place one prepared s’mores center in the middle, then bring the cookie dough up and domed around the graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate none of the filling is exposed.
- Weigh each fully assembled cookie, including the s’mores filling, and aim for approximately 120g per cookie. Add or remove a little cookie dough as needed. Depending on your exact measurements, the recipe will make about 7–8 large cookies.
- Arrange the assembled cookies on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of room between them to spread. Bake for 11–12 minutes, until the edges are golden and set but the centers still look soft and slightly underbaked.
- Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, use a large round cookie cutter to gently scoot around each cookie and reshape it into a circle, if desired. Press a few additional milk chocolate chips into the tops while the cookies are still warm.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack. The cookies will continue to set as they cool.
Video
Notes
- Best Served Warm: These cookies are at their best slightly warm, when the chocolate is melty and the marshmallow center is soft and gooey. If you're enjoying a leftover cookie, microwave it for about 10 seconds to bring back that fresh-from-the-oven texture.
- Measuring the Cookies: The 120g measurement is for the entire assembled cookie after adding the graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate filling, not 120g of cookie dough plus the filling.
- Storage: Once completely cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3–4 days. For the best texture, enjoy them within the first couple of days and warm them briefly before serving.
- Make Ahead: The cookie dough can be prepared ahead of time and stored covered in the refrigerator until you're ready to assemble and bake the cookies. If the dough becomes very firm, let it sit at room temperature just until it is workable while keeping it cold enough to easily wrap around the filling.
- Chocolate Substitution: Chocolate melting wafers melt especially smoothly inside the cookies, but pieces of a milk chocolate bar can be used instead for a more traditional s’mores flavor.
- Marshmallows: Large marshmallows work best for creating the gooey s’mores center. Mini marshmallows can be used in a pinch, but they won't create quite the same dramatic center.
- Prevent Marshmallow Leaks: Make sure the s’mores filling is completely covered with cookie dough and carefully pinch any seams closed. If the dough becomes too warm or soft while assembling, refrigerate it again briefly before baking.
- Nutrition (per serving, 8 servings): 514 calories, 70g carbohydrates, 6g protein, 24g fat, 14g saturated fat, 72mg cholesterol, 260mg sodium, 3g fiber, 43g sugar. Nutrition information is an estimate and may vary based on specific ingredients and brands used.
This post was all about S’mores Cookies!
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