Gourmet S’mores with Peaches and Ginger Cookies

Holy addictive camping deliciousness, Batman!  Assuming The Dark Knight has taste buds, he would totally rise for these.  He would save civilization a million times over for one of these.  These are s’mores like you’ve never imagined them before:  All grown up with toasted marshmallows atop juicy peach slices and a dash of salt, the whole glorious mess sandwiched between fresh ginger cookies.

I stole this idea from the magazine Real Simple.  Slap me now, but I’ve never been a huge fan of s’mores because they’re just too sweet and dry for me.  I always feel like I have to stand by with a gallon of water when I eat the traditional graham cracker-Hersheys-mallow thing.  I’m a huge fan of the salty-sweet combo, however, so these immediately caught my eye.  I whipped up a batch of soft ginger cookies, picked up some peaches from my neighborhood Farmers Market, and got ready to blow some minds around the fire during a camping trip last weekend.  It went as planned, and now I’m determined to spread the word about this major discovery.

Ginger Cookies, makes 24:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons natural cane sugar (or turbinado), for coating (regular sugar works just fine for this, but I like the texture crunch that larger granules offer)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

1.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.  Set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, cream the butter and 1 cup sugar together until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg.  Stir in the water, ginger and molasses.

3.  Gradually stir the flour mixture into the butter/sugar/molasses mixture.

4.  Refrigerate dough for half an hour; it’s easier to roll into balls when it’s cold.

5.  Shape dough into walnut sized balls and roll them in the sugar.

6.  Place the cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet

7.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.  Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely…they’re soft!  Store in an airtight container.

As soon as you’re sitting around a roaring camp fire (you can also follow the Real Simple indoors approach if you’re not camping any time soon.  Or if you hate camping):

1.  Roast a marshmallow or two…your own special technique can shine here

2.  Put marshmallow(s) on a cookie, top with a few sliced peaches, sprinkle a dash of salt on the peaches, and sandwich with another cookie.

3.  Take a bite.  Warning: Your mouth will breakdance.

4.  Share this with people.  I promise they will thank you.