Well, it’s officially fall. I’m not a big fan of the time between fall and summer. In summer, it’s nice and warm. In fall, there are pretty leaves everywhere (let’s just say for the sake of argument that you don’t have to pick them up). However, between the two, it’s cold and disappointing. The leaves are green but it’s still too cold to walk around outside in a t-shirt. When it finally gets a bit warmer later in the day, it starts to rain. Then it’s cold again. It’s cold and it rains. In winter, at least, it snows. Simply put, boooooo.

There is a solution though to my woes. It’s homemade “s’mores” (abbreviation of “some mores”) made out of freshly baked cinnamon graham crackers, fluffy vanilla marshmallows, and rich, dark chocolate. Alright, hear me out. I understand that this might seem at first to be a jump in logic since s’mores don’t really have anything to do with the seasons or anything date-related, but they really are the solution.

Once you eat a homemade s’more (or smore, if you’re not a fan of apostrophes – or is that just a phase I went through?) it doesn’t really matter what is going around you. All that matters is the crunch of the graham crackers, the fluffy marshmallow, and the melted chocolate running down your hand. To be fair though, if you eat a homemade s’more outside, in the rain, you may still be a little bit annoyed.

The first step to any good s’more is good graham crackers. For those of you who aren’t familiar with graham crackers, they’re not really “crackers” at all. They’re more of a sweet, crunchy cookie. I’ve got to be honest: I made these graham crackers and I thought they were alright. I didn’t think they were anything special. I mean, they were quite good, but they weren’t amazing. They had a pretty good cinnamon sugar coating and a nice crunch and colour, but meh.

Then, I had a store-bought graham cracker and immediately realized how much better the homemade ones were. I hadn’t had store-bought graham crackers for a few years and so I completely forgot how they tasted. My standards were completely off. The homemade version is so much better! The only thing I would recommend though when making these is that you carefully watch how long you bake them, since a difference of a minute or two can really affect the texture of the cracker.

You also need great marshmallows for a great s’more. Have you ever wondered how they make those “jet-puffed” marshmallows that they sell in the store? Is the name supposed to insinuate that they blow them up like balloons? I don’t have anything against store-bought marshmallows but “jet-puffed” seems a bit off-putting.

With so many “jet-puffed” marshmallows on grocery store shelves though it makes sense why a lot of people don’t consider making marshmallows themselves. Obviously, they don’t have a jet-puffer. I never considered buying my own jet-puffer to make marshmallows because it sounded awfully expensive. Luckily though, you don’t need a jet-puffer to make your own marshmallows (really!). You pretty much just need sugar, gelatin, and corn syrup to create delicious, homemade marshmallows.

Homemade marshmallows are completely different from their store-bought distant cousins. It’s really not even a matter of taste or flavour, like a lot of other copycat recipes. Homemade marshmallows are completely different from store-bought ones. They’re ridiculously fluffy and soft. My dog was a bit jealous of how soft they are. I considered the possibility that if I touched the marshmallows they would disappear. You know, since they’re so soft. Homemade marshmallows are so much different from store bought ones that they’re not even really a copycat recipe, because they’re so much better.

You seriously need to try making your own marshmallows. You won’t regret it.

Make your own marshmallows and dazzle your friends. Sandwich them between homemade graham crackers with a piece of chocolate and be amazed how great the flavours jive in homemade s’mores. Bake up a few dozen and everyone will still want “some more”.