We Tried Making The 'Holy Grail Of Camping Desserts' And It Was A Gooey Flop

S'mores are a classic part of any camping trip. There's something about chocolate, gooey marshmallows, and graham crackers that makes for the perfect dessert. However, they can be messy and a bit of a pain to make. 

Apparently, I'm not the only one to feel this way. On TikTok, creator @earthtokesh found a way to upgrade s'mores. Dubbed the "Holy grail of camping desserts," this s'mores recipe involves baking s'mores ingredients in a disposable metal tin over your fire. When I go camping, I usually have at least three other people with me, all trying to cram around a small fire to cook marshmallows while taking turns handing out chocolate and graham crackers. Having a way to bake s'mores for everyone all at once sounded like a great idea, and I was really excited to try it and see how it works. 

This recipe also adds a little twist of fruit, to add a burst of tart freshness. The fruit and the method of making the s'mores offers a way to turn a classic into something new and exciting. 

For the most part, I tried to keep the ingredients as similar as possible to the original TikTok video. I went with milk chocolate chips, Ghirardelli, which cost me $5.49 for a standard-sized bag. Though the creator used jumbo marshmallows, I decided to use regular, and I went with Jet Puff, which cost $2.29 for a bag. Two small containers of raspberries cost $7.98. The reusable storage pans were $4.98 for five. Then, you can get Honey Maid graham crackers for $4.68. Additionally, I bought Golden Oat Belvita cookies, which cost $4.68, and Parle-G cookies for $1.38, because I wanted to try out different options. However, you can just pick your favorite and go from there. So, in total, you can get more than enough stuff to make five trays of this s'mores dessert for under $30, and probably under $20 if you go with store-brand items.

As I'm always ready to find any excuse to go camping, I wasted no time packing up and heading out when I saw this TikTok trend. After running by a few stores, I went to my favorite campground and set up. Every time I go camping, I make s'mores, and I've tried all sorts of tricks like dipping strawberries in marshmallow fluff and using different kinds of chocolate-covered candies, so this was right up my alley. I liked the fact that it sounds far less messy and hands-on.

Right away, I encountered a hurdle. Though I've eaten digestive cookies several times before, I was somehow unable to find any in any nearby stores. I went to five different places, all with no luck. But I didn't let it stop me. After searching around a bit, I found out good old-fashioned graham crackers are considered the closest in taste to digestive cookies. I also learned that they're made with wheat flour, so I bought some other wheat cookies I found during my search to try out. I went with Golden Oat Belvitas, which are readily available in pretty much any large grocery store and feature a lot of fiber like a digestive, and Parle-G cookies from India, which I just thought looked interesting.

Once I got started though, everything was nice and easy. I just tossed in a few marshmallows, chocolate chips, and cookies. I measured with my heart for all of the ingredients, covering the bottom of the tray. 

Once I liked the mixture, I put the provided covers over the top of the trays and set it in my fire. If your trays don't come with lids, aluminum foil also works. I set a timer for five minutes and left them alone. As a tip, I live somewhere where fire danger often leads to bans on open flame, but propane fires are usually banned only during very serious fire restrictions.

Unfortunately, this giant s'mores tray idea didn't work as well as I'd hoped. Though the video mentioned baking it for 5 to 10 minutes, I noticed mine were already starting to burn at about five minutes on the bottom. However, the tops weren't melting at all. To fix this, I gave the dish a little stir, but because of the sticky marshmallows, it didn't mix well. The bake also grew cold too quickly, which made it messy, hard to eat, and rather unpleasant. 

If I was going to make this again, I think I'd do smaller marshmallows, such as the minis, or break them up so they could cook more evenly. I'd also stick with the standard graham crackers. The Parle-G's were good, but a little too thick to enjoy fully, and I wasn't much a fan of the texture of the Belvitas.

If you have a big group of people eating s'mores, making a big tray bake like this might be easier than giving every person their own s'mores set up and letting them crowd around a fire. However, I think the original way is the best. Overall, it's less messy, and you can always throw a raspberry into the middle if you want a burst of freshness. I also read in the comments of the video that some people make a similar snack in ice cream cones, like waffle cones, which could be a more fun and tasty option.