How to Stock a S'mores Party

Over the weekend, we had our annual pool party. Yes, I know it is technically already Fall, but since the pool was still 80+ degrees, no one cares.

In addition to the traditional swimming and barbeque, this year I made a S'mores bar. Here's what you need to build your own s'mores bar:

Graham Crackers:

• Regular graham crackers
• Chocolate graham crackers
• Cookies (I accidentally bought some soft baked ones. They didn't hold up well for s'mores. Pick drier, harder cookies.)

Marshmallows:

• Plain marshmallows
• Flavored marshmallows (Chocolate brownie were tasty)
• Peeps! (We didn't end up using Peeps because I couldn't find any. We did have a very spirited debate at the party if the sugar on the outside would burn before the marshmallow inflated.)

Chocolate:

• Hershey bars
• Reese's
• Filled or flavored chocolate squares (these Lindt ones were a bit small, but quite tasty)
• White chocolate
• York peppermint patties
• Dark chocolate

Other fillings

• Fruit, like strawberries and bananas
• Spreads, like peanut butter and nutella

Tools You'll Need

• Long skewers (short, wooden kabob skewers worked, but I really thought my hand would be medium rare by the end of the night.)
• Paper plates (So you don't have to clean up afterward, just into the fire they go!)

Part of the reason we had so many options is because we had so many dietary restrictions. One of my friends can't have chocolate, so she used white chocolate. Another one of my friends can't have dairy, so she used dark chocolate. And a third friend can't have gluten, so he brought some gluten-free cookies.

It was an amazing success. We spent the night gathered around a firepit, debating the best way to toast the marshmallows, and trying so many types of s'mores until we couldn't move.

If you'd like to watch a bit of video one of my friend's filmed of Dan trying to build the fire, it's quite entertaining. Thankfully, he didn't burn down the house. Not bad for his first real fire.