camp meals

Skillet S'mores Board

A cast iron pan of melted chocolate and marshmallow, ringed by every cookie in the food box.

calories
520
weight
4 oz
cal / oz
130
protein
5 g
serves
6, scales
prep
10 min
cook
20 min
total time
30 min
water
none
cost
$$

Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.

  • Dessert
  • Campfire coals
  • Car camping
  • Basecamp
  • Nut free
  • One pot
  • Grab and go
  • Shelf stable
  • Basic

Ingredients

Milk chocolate bars 4 bars standard 1.55 oz size
Large marshmallows 1 bag enough to fill the pan in one layer
Graham crackers 1 sleeve
Sandwich cookies 1 sleeve chocolate or vanilla, both if you have room
Chocolate chip cookies 1 sleeve
Pretzels 2 cups twists or thins

Method

  1. Build the fire early and let it burn down. You want coals with steady low heat, not flames.
  2. Snap the chocolate bars into halves and lay them flat across the bottom of a 6-inch cast iron skillet.
  3. Pack marshmallows on top in a single tight layer. Gaps turn into scorched spots.
  4. Set the skillet on the coals for about 20 minutes, until the marshmallows puff and brown on top and the chocolate has gone soft underneath. Rotate the pan a couple of times so one side does not run ahead.
  5. While it cooks, spread the crackers, cookies, and pretzels on a board, a cutting board, or a clean stuff sack laid flat.
  6. Pull the skillet with a glove and set it in the middle. Everyone dips their own. It stiffens as it cools, so eat it hot.

This is the standard s’more taken apart and rebuilt as a shared pan. Roasting marshmallows one at a time on a stick is slow and half of them end up on the ground. Melting the chocolate and marshmallow together in a skillet means one heat cycle for the whole group, and the dipping keeps everyone out of the fire.

The cast iron matters. It holds coal heat evenly and gently, so the chocolate melts instead of seizing while the marshmallow tops brown. Set the pan on coals, not flames, or the bottom layer burns before the marshmallows do anything. The dippers are all shelf-stable and need no prep, so the only real work is timing the fire.

Packing

Cookies and crackers crush in a pack. Pack them in a hard-sided bin in the car, not a duffel. Chocolate goes in the cooler or the shade in summer heat, otherwise it melts into the wrapper before you get to the fire.

Variations

  • Swap half the milk chocolate for dark or white for a mixed pan.
  • Peanut butter cups melt into the base, but that ends the nut-free claim.
  • No skillet: build the same thing in a foil pan and set it on a grill grate over the coals.

https://campfirefoodie.com/the-ultimate-smores-dessert-board