August 10 is National S’more Day! I have decided to honour the day with some s’more recipes and great mysteries to read by the campfire (or in the comfort of your home if you are not a camper or it’s winter where you live. Campfires and stories go together like… graham crackers, marshmallow, and chocolate.
You know the basic s’more recipe, which has been around since at least 1927! Well, today, I’ll bring you some variations!
First up is are gluten-free s’mores. For the celiac, conventional graham crackers are a big no-no. You could go with a commercial gluten-free graham cracker, such as Smoreables from Kinnickinnick, which are primarily pea flour, but they also have rice in them. This recipe for buckwheat graham crackers has never failed me.
Gluten-Free Graham Crackers
1 cup light buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup water
Cream coconut oil and sugar together. Add vanilla extract. In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients.
Add water sparingly until a doughy consistency is achieved. Don’t add too much! Once you combine the dough with your hands you may find if becomes wetter that way. Form dough into a 1 inch round disc shape, wrap in plastic wrap and put in fridge. Roll out completely flat on a piece of parchment by placing plastic wrap on top and rolling it out with a rolling pin. Peel off plastic wrap. Cut into rectangles and poke a couple times with a fork.
Bake at 350F for 25 minutes.
I use these graham crackers with Dandies vegan marshmallows and dark chocolate for a gluten-free, vegan s’more that I can eat. Delicious. The only problem is stopping!
Pair these with Gluten-Free Murder.
Gluten-Free Murder
Erin Price moves to Bald Eagle Falls, a place where everyone knows everyone as well as everyone else’s business, taking over the store left to her by her aunt to start up a gluten-free bakery. The grand opening is marred by just one thing, the death of her business rival, Angela Plaint. It appears that Angela was poisoned by one of Erin’s cupcakes, making her a prime suspect.
Equipped with cupcakes, her desire for the truth, and new bakery assistant Vicky’s help, Erin goes head-to-head against Detective Terry Piper to solve the murder. Rumors of treasure hunting, drug dealing, and a missing boy swirl around Bald Eagle Falls as Erin tries to sort the clues from the red herrings and find the killer before the killer can take care of her.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ P.D. Workman has done it again! This introduction to a new series involves a fresh start, sympathetic characters, and a murder. I spent the last ten minutes of the book standing up to read because I was off to do something but just couldn’t put it down until I got to the end. I haven’t been that invested in a book in a while.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Couldn’t put it down !! From a cute kitten to a police dog to a bakery for people with allergies ! Highly recommend!
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The next variation is… peanut butter.
Reece’s Peanut Butter cups taught us how well chocolate and peanut butter go together. And did you ever have Confetti Squares, those delightful peanut-butter-and-mini-marshmallow treats? I love those.
Peanut Butter Smores
Graham crackers
Chocolate
Marshmallows
Peanut butter!
Simply spread your graham cracker with a good slathering of peanut butter before adding the chocolate and marshmallow.
Let’s pair this magical twist on s’mores with What the Cat Knew
What the Cat Knew
Reg Rawlins, professional con, has really gotten herself into a bind this time.
The fortune teller gig started as a scam, but she suddenly finds herself tangled up in the case of Warren Blake, a man who she thought was dead. It turns out he may still be alive, but in mortal peril.
Reg has always taken the quick exit, the easy way out, but running out on this racket might mean someone else’s death.
Staying in it might mean hers.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It sounds like a fairly gentle story, but there is a lot of suspense involved. Add a bunch of humor to the mix and you are in for a treat … This is a story that you don’t want to put down.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This book has all my favourite things: heart, great writing, nearly-flawless editing, something unusual in the air, and a cat.
Like paranormal mysteries? Psychics, witches, fairies, and more! Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author P.D. Workman waves her wand to transport readers to the myth- and magic-filled small town of Black Sands for a paranormal cozy mystery to be solved by Reg Rawlins and her friends.
A self-professed con artist practicing as a contact to the dead, a drop-dead gorgeous warlock, and a psychic cat—what could go wrong?
Fall under Reg’s spell today.
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This next one is bananas!
Banana Boats
Full instructions and ten delicious variations at Fresh off the Grid
Banana
Milk Chocolate
Mini Marshmallows
Crumbled Graham Crackers
Take a banana with its peel still on and cut it down the middle (along the concave side). Not all the way through, but until the tip of your knife just grazes the peel on the other side. You can then pull the peel and banana slightly apart.
Toppings are usually stuffed in a single line down the center of the banana. Feel free to mash your banana to either side to make some extra room.
Add this book to your campfire feast:
Due East, Beasts & Campfire Feasts
Imogen thought escaping the king’s wrath would give her everything she wanted. But her relationship with Prince Hank is tougher than an overcooked flan and the welcome they get on Badlands Island is far less than friendly. Accused of kidnapping, Imogen proposes they prove their worth by traveling through a deadly forest to retrieve a magical herb at the top of a mountain…
Forced to take her baking skills on the road, Imogen and her friends must navigate monsters, secrets, and a possible traitor. And the little matter of the impending typhoon is seriously compressing their timeline…
With the storm and creatures closing in, can Imogen complete the quest or will her next meal be her last?
Author Tess Baytree shares this fun variation!
Toaster Oven Teddies
1 graham cracker broken into quarters (along the dotted lines!) for easier eating
Marshmallow creme (aka fluff)
Chocolate
Teddy Grahams
Spread marshmallow creme on each piece of the graham cracker, nestle a chunk of chocolate in the marshmallow, and then put it in the toaster oven for a minute or two. Take it out when the marshmallow starts to brown, and seat a Teddy Graham or two in the melted chocolate.
Cuddle up with your pup and eat these s’mores with Death Walks a Dog.
Death Walks a Dog
Now that she’s in her fifties, Penelope Standing has life pretty well figured out. Her pet sitting business keeps her busy, her neighbors are conspiring to get her boyfriend, Jake, to propose, and she has just enough free time to make the corrupt mayor’s life miserable.
Then she arrives to walk Brutus, the lovable but ill-behaved mastiff — and finds his owner, Jezza, dead.
While the police work to uncover Jezza’s past, Penelope launches an investigation of her own, talking to her clients as she takes care of their pets. Even Brutus, “temporarily” staying with Penelope and Jake, provides clues.
More than one person had a motive for murder. But only one of them is coming after Penelope…
Maybe you would like an assemble-your-own combination of fancy s’mores!
Fancy S’mores
From Love and Lemons
graham crackers
marshmallows
variety of fancy chocolates
fruit such as: bananas, strawberries, blackberries
salted caramel
almond butter
Roast marshmallows over a campfire (or your gas stove).
Mix and match s’mores ingredients
Smush and eat!
Campfire Blend
Delicious s’mores aren’t the only thing leaving a trail of crumbs behind in this baffling whodunit of the Paramour Bay Mysteries by USA Today Bestselling Author Kennedy Layne…
Relaxing massages, chilled mimosas, and hot saunas were all supposed to be a part of a weekend getaway for Raven, her best friend, and her witty familiar. Instead, they end up with curious fireflies and pesky mosquitos as bunkmates at a rugged camping retreat meant for those seeking to escape from their everyday lives in the rat race.
Deciding to make the most of a bad situation, Raven convinces her two tagalongs that campfires and ghost stories would be a fun experience. Things don’t go quite as planned when one of the guests turn up dead! It appears that they have another puzzling mystery to solve, and it just might have something to do with whoever or whatever is hiding in the woods.
You’ll want to bring along a flashlight, a sleeping bag, and your favorite backpack full of camping supplies to solve this campfire murder mystery!
