I told you a few days back about the fuss all of Nolan’s teachers made over my homemade marshmallows, sweetened with organic sugar and agave and dusted with cinnamon for dunking in mugs of hot chocolate. I plan to use honey in any marshmallows I make in the future, but for purposes of full disclosure, you can find the recipe I used this time here. We had half the recipe leftover, which amounts to about 3 dozen marshmallows—that’s a lot of hot cocoa to drink, and my mom doesn’t care for plain marshmallows, even uber-impressive homemade ones. To be honest, marshmallows are not a personal favorite of mine either, but they do give me a good excuse to play with s’mores!

Before you can make s’mores, you need some good graham crackers, and this is my new favorite recipe. Using just a few more ingredients than Nolan’s bland toddler cookies, you are rewarded with crispy crackers that have a subtle banana undertone—yes, banana! These snack crackers are a great use for that one leftover banana that didn’t quite get eaten before it turned black and mushy. They mix up quickly in the food processor, and can be baked in any shape you like.

Case in point: This time I rolled out the last little bit of dough tissue-thin on top of a silicone mat and baked it until it was dry and crisp, about 5-8 minutes at 325F. The result? Homemade Golden Grahams cereal!

Bananagrahams

1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 C brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp clove
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 C butter (1 stick), cut into pieces
1 ripe banana
2 T honey
2 T molasses
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
about 1/4 C milk

Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor; pulse to blend. Add the butter and process until evenly distributed, then dump in the banana, honey, and molasses; pulse to mix. Add vanilla extract and enough milk until it just comes together in a ball of dough.

Dust worktable, hands and rolling pin with flour; roll out chunks of dough to about 1/8″ thickness and cut into desired shapes. You can do this with cookie cutters or just a knife. Prick cookies with a toothpick or fork if desired.

Bake in a 325F oven for 15-17 minutes or until firm and golden brown; this will partly depend on the thickness of your cookies. Roll out extra thin for cereal flakes, or omit milk and pour dry dough crumbs onto baking sheet for crumb topping or “grape-nuts.”

Source: Food.com.

In honor of the banana flavor in the graham crackers, I made a series of dishes that feature bananas in addition to s’mores flavors. First up, this s’mores oatmeal, which is so decadent that you could serve it for dessert instead of breakfast! I made whipped banana oats using soaked and dehydrated oatmeal, stirred in some homemade hot chocolate mix, and topped it with crushed bananagrahams, bittersweet chocolate chips, and homemade marshmallow bits. No graham crackers? Use hot chocolate mix, marshmallows and chocolate chips and call it hot chocolate oatmeal! I love the whipped banana oats because they sneak in a little fruit under the radar and the chia seeds help fill me up better than oats alone.

Whipped Banana Oatmeal

1/3 C old fashioned oats, soaked and dehydrated if possible
1/3 C whole milk
1/3 to 1/2 C water
1/2 a banana, sliced
1 T chia seeds
Pinch of kosher salt
Vanilla, stirred in at end

For two servings, combine oats, water, and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Slice a banana into VERY thin pieces, leaving just a few bigger chunks. Walk away for a few minutes while the oatmeal heats. Once it begins to steam or bubble, stir vigorously at times to “whip” the banana into the oats. The oats will take about 5 minutes on medium heat from start to finish to fully absorb the liquid. They’re done when they reach your desired consistency! Then stir in vanilla with any other mix-ins and portion into bowls; add desired toppings and dig in. (For s’mores oatmeal, use 2 tablespoons of hot chocolate mix stirred into the oats, and top with crushed graham crackers, chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows.)

Source: Kath Eats.

Finally, I branched out from the usual chocolate bread pudding this week in favor of a banana bread pudding studded with chocolate chips, crusted with graham cracker crumbs, and crowned with gooey marshmallow. This dessert came out rather less photogenic than I had hoped, mostly because my homemade marshmallows opted to melt into nothingness instead of browning under the broiler. I adapted the recipe from a recent episode of Top Chef: Texas, and even if it didn’t come out looking picture perfect, the homey flavors more than made up for that lack, and I feel more willing to expand my bread pudding horizons in the future (starting with this Alice Medrich recipe—yum!)

Banana S’mores Bread Pudding

2 ripe bananas, smashed
2 eggs
1 1/4 C heavy cream
1 C whole milk
1/3 C brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 loaf stale bread, cut into 1/2″ cubes
double handful of bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 C graham cracker crumbs
2 C marshmallows

Beat together the bananas, eggs, cream, milk, sugars and vanilla in a heavy saucepan and heat over medium until sugar has dissolved and mixture has thickened slightly. Pour over bread cubes and chocolate chips until well coated. Bake at 325F for 40 minutes, then top with graham cracker crumbs and return to the oven for 10 minutes, until set. Top with marshmallows and broil or torch until puffed and brown (or melted, depending on your marshmallows!).