Sweet Treat: Homemade Vanilla-Bourbon S'mores

For this Valentine's Day, I wanted to do a different holiday gift for some friends. After scouring much of the internet, I decided to make a sweet treat: s'mores. But these s'mores had to have a kick, so I added some Buffalo Trace bourbon to the homemade marshmallows and used dark chocolate to liven them up! The results were unbelievable. The marshmallows melted beautifully with the chocolate delivering this gooey delightful mess, yet felt a bit more adult with the complex amalgamation of flavors.

According to Hershey's website, s'mores are a campfire tradition that were first documented in the Girl Scout handbook from 1927. The name apparently came about because once people tried one they always asked for "some more." I can attest to this fact with the recipe I made! Of course, I had to taste test the treat and it was so difficult to stop at just one s'more!

I just followed Alton Brown's recipe from FoodNetwork.com on homemade marshmallows, but at the end I just added 1/2 tsp of vanilla and a generous 1/2 tsp of bourbon. I also topped the spread with pink sprinkles once in the pan and before adding the final coating of the cornstarch/powdered sugar mixture. (One helpful hint, while cutting the marshmallows, wet your knife or pizza cutter every couple strokes to make it a bit easier.) Once set and cut, I put them in a little treat bag along with graham crackers and Hershey's dark chocolate and tied it up with gold baker's twine. Such a fun and easy gift to make for friends this holiday!

To bake without the campfire, just turn on your oven's broiler and place the s'more under the heat without the top graham cracker so the marshmallow gets nicely toasted! It should take only a few minutes!