Last Thursday was Thanksgiving at our apartment–or, to be more accurate, Orphan Thanksgiving. Not everyone can afford to fly back for two holidays within a month’s span… so for the second year in a row, James and I hosted other transplants like ourselves for an eating extravaganza. And like last year, I made way too much food. I think it’s becoming part of the tradition. (Isn’t it a tradition in general for the holidays?)

I finished with most of my prep work right before Thanksgiving so the day itself presented a lot more free time than I had planned on. Should I recline on the couch whilst watching people lip sync on floats down New York’s streets? Take a nap? Or make an extra dessert? Well, if you know me well enough I’m sure you know the answer to that particular question!

This holiday version of everyone’s favorite treat is a snap to make. The only difference between this recipe and the regular recipe is the addition of pumpkin pie spice (and for some recipes, the omission of the vanilla extract). I also add mini-marshmallows at the end right before putting the mix into a pan to set as an extra-gooey finishing touch. Feel free to leave that out if that’s not your preference–I personally like the addition because it breaks up the monotony of the texture.

These crispy squares disappeared sometime between me carving the turkey and dessert, and were quite well-received. My only regret is that I’m posting this recipe after Thanksgiving week, which is when it seems to fit best with other fall-themed foods. However, if you’re a big pumpkin spice latte or pumpkin pie fan, this will be a great addition to your easy desserts recipe catalog!

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not the biggest fan of sweets–which, if you follow the pattern of the recipes I post on here, seems pretty hypocritical. I think the biggest word in my tag cloud for this site is “BAKING” as of today (which is very closely followed by “DESSERT” of course.) So why all of the sweets love on this site? James has always joked about how “Baking Holiday” is a more apropos name for what I write about on here–and there is a whole body of evidence on my Recipes page to back up his claim.

I myself may not eat a lot of sweets or candy, but I do love how other people react to desserts and baked goods. Someone may love cheeseburgers–yet another may prefer quinoa salad. Tastes vary across a wide spectrum when savory foods are involved. Yet desserts seem to transcend these preferences; who doesn’t love a sweet note at the end of a meal? Baking to me is really baking for others to enjoy.

Baking is also simple in theory but complicated in practice. To really achieve optimal results, it’s important to know your tools, your techniques and your ingredients. Does your oven heat up evenly? When you mix your sugar into the butter, are you watching for total homogeneity? Have you tested your baking soda recently for its continued ability to cause a rising reaction? (Yep, my science geek is showing!) When you cook something and you mess up–you can usually supplement it with something else in order to salvage it from the trash. Once you place your baked good in the oven… well, if you made a mistake in the preparation, it is mostly a lost cause. The intricacy of the steps present a challenge to me, and I love rising to the occasion.

Lastly… and this is probably the most shallow reason I love baking desserts so much… desserts are pretty. So very pretty, and fun to photograph. Honestly, the only reason this isn’t a dessert blog (and the only reason my husband and I aren’t roly-poly) is because I don’t like eating sweets. And hopefully there is some self-preservation ingrained into that preference as well…

These s’mores cookies are a crowd-pleaser. They’re chewy on the inside and out. They’re liberally mixed with gooey, slightly bitter chocolate and salty-sweet graham cracker crumbles. They’re dotted with soft, pillowy marshmallows that are placed on top after baking to imitate the texture of a s’more–instead of meting into the cookie and being ignored. The knowledge of your kitchen and tools is what keeps the cookies chewy, and damn if they aren’t picturesque to look at. Baking is amazing, indeed.

In order to keep the dough easy to work with, make sure you place the bowl in the fridge while the baking sheet is in use–the colder the dough, the easier it is to roll it into pretty dough balls that turn into perfect round cookies when baked. Make sure you check on them 2 minutes before the suggested bake time if you’re unfamiliar with how quickly your oven cooks–10 minutes works for my oven, but it may not for yours. And if you’re really looking for an authentic campfire s’mores experience, you can eat the cookies after only a few minutes of cooling. I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as my friends do–I doubled this recipe and I still don’t think the cookies survived a full day.

High Altitude Adjustment (for my lovely Colorado friends): Add 2 Tbsp. of AP flour & 2 Tbsp. of water, subtract 1 tsp. of white sugar from the recipe. Set the oven to 365ºF (+15ºF from recipe) and reduce the bake time by 2-3 minutes.