Comunidad Health Foods

I confess, I went on vacation. Again. However, even though it meant that I was torn away from this blog for longer than I would've liked, it's responsible for one of the most delicious sweet concoctions I've come up with to date. Do you remember my post about Israeli S'mores, and how excited I was to find a (admittedly unconventional and less crunchy) variation to the traditional s'more without the hydrogenated oils from the graham cracker? Well, I introduce to you now: peanut butter wafer and m&m s'mores. I know, I know. You can notify whoever it is who selects the nobel prize winners. Don't worry, I'll wait.

Okay, so you're back now? Good. This isn't so much a recipe as it is a shopping list along with a few assembly tips, but that doesn't make it any less...well, heavenly, if you ask me. This dessert is rich beyond belief, but so satisfying with its crunchy outside, melty and gooey inside, and subtle hint of chocolate in this Reese's Peanut Butter Cup - Meets - Peanut Butter Fluff creation. Enough talk - I really am too excited to blather on like I usually do.

Peanut Butter & M&M S'Mores
Yield: 1 sandwich
The Ingredients
4 Peanut Butter Wafers (I used Voortman, which has no hydrogenated oils or shortening)
1 unbelievably large (or, realistically, 2-3 normal sized) marshmallows*
M&Ms, to taste

The Method
1. Toast the marshmallow to your liking. We used a fire pit, but I'd imagine that in a pinch even a microwave could work (though a quick pass through the broiler might be your best bet for browning).
2. Slit the marshmallow enough to remove some of the gooey part, and use that to "cement" two of the wafers together. This will be the bottom of your sandwich.**
3. Place the roasted marshmallow on top, scoring the top to reveal some more of the gooey part.
4. Sprinkle with m&ms, and press down so that they stick into the marshmallow.
5. Top with the remaining 2 wafers, optionally cementing those together as well.


*Note: We found these palm-sized marshmallows in the store, and just couldn't resist. I should really take a picture of those to show you guys. If you can't find those or don't want to make a special trip to the store, a couple of regular marshmallows will, of course, work.

**Note: This is the civilized approach to this treat. Seeing as how I was on vacation with my family, it was dark out, and it looked too good to spend all that time prepping it, I just chowed down and made a mess of myself and the sandwich as the wafers separated. Seriously, I had marshmallow everywhere - my hands, face, hair, clothes.

This dessert is not for the faint of heart (or for those easily embarrassed or in otherwise formal situations), but it is well worth the mess you will make of yourself. If you really want to get creative, you could try making your own wafers, but I think it's perfectly acceptable to buy them, as I did. Sometimes you just need a simple assemble-and-eat dessert, one that doesn't require hours and hours in the kitchen.

I wish I had pictures for you, but I think you will forgive me for not posting any - you know, the whole aforementioned pitch-black-with-me-covered-in-marshmallow thing. Your imaginations are probably better with this one. Or, you could run out to the store right now and make your own, and see for yourself how enticing this dessert looks, smells, and - most importantly - tastes. You will not be disappointed. That is, until you've eaten all of the ones you made and find yourself covered in marshmallow, wanting to run to the store for more ingredients.

Even then, I think you'll feel pretty darn satisfied.

I know, I know, you must be looking at this picture and thinking, "Jess, I'm sorry, but you've lost your mind. What do you mean S'mores? Where are the graham crackers? And why in the name of sacrilege is there a banana on that plate?!" These, my friends, are Israeli S'mores, also known affectionately by me as, The-Dessert-That-Allowed-Me-To-Eat-S'mores-Even-After-I-Gave-Up-Trans-Fats-And-Therefore-Can-No-Longer-Eat-Graham-Crackers.

It was a sad day in my life when I discovered that, although the Graham products have such a nutritious and well-intentioned history of whole grains, recent times have added the lovely ingredient called partially hydrogenated oil, trans fat's sneaky alter ego. You see, the FDA decided it was a good idea to let companies claim that their products have 0g trans fat, just so long as the actual amount is less than .5g. The problem with that is that we're not supposed to eat more than 2g of trans fat all day, and these companies can get their bad fat count down to .49g per serving (talk about incentive for portion distortion!) and still brag about how they have 0g of trans fat and therefore must be super-duper healthy. So, say you go and buy graham crackers, and the serving is 3 squares. And let's just say that their actual trans fat count is .49g. And let's just say that you don't eat 3 of them. Let's say you eat 6. Suddenly, you're at .98g, half of your day's allowance, and you still think you're at o!

Okay, enough of my soap box. It's good enough to know that I gave up non-naturally occurring trans fats (re: I still drink milk), which is a shame because my family just bought a fire pit for the mountain house we were just at for Father's Day weekend, and the only thing I think about when I hear the words "fire" and "pit" together is S'mores. Can you blame me? Needless to say, I was dejected and sitting there mulling over in my head how I could enjoy S'more-like treats without the graham cracker - that is, until my sister told me about these Israeli S'mores. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to tell you that these are a S'mores substitute, per se, unless you're crazy like me. Bananas are just not the same as Graham Crackers: in case you hadn't noticed, bananas do not tend to be thin and crunchy with a flavor reminiscent of cinnamon. Still, it was a way for me to have something chocolatey and marshmallowy with my family over the fire pit, so I set about making them.

My first attempt was a delectable, gooey, melty....disaster. I decided to freeze the bananas first. This meant that when they heated up over the flames, moisture came out and turned my chocolate squares into syrup and marshmallows into fluff. And it was very finger-licking-good messy to eat.

My second attempt, which I am sharing with you now, did not go much better. No, I didn't freeze the bananas this time. I did learn that lesson. But you see, you're supposed to slit the banana without halving it, and then somehow pry that sucker open and insert both marshmallows and chocolate into the center without cracking, bending, splitting, or otherwise massacring the banana. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to do this. Because of this, my second Israeli S'more was essentially just as finger-licking good messy as the first, but more delicious because of the whole banana-defrosting-and-melting-everything-in-its-path avoidance thing.

I definitely need to perfect my method more, so I will leave you with the instructions that I was told rather than my own tips for making these unforgettable. Maybe you will have better luck interpreting the instructions than I did. If you do, please help me! The flavor combination is really wonderful, and I would love to be able to figure out the perfect ratio and set up method to make it really work. In the meantime, even if you fail royally as I have, you're left with a creamy, filling banana stuffed with gooey marshmallow and melty, pure chocolate. And even if your fingers get all messy and the banana falls to pieces and you need a napkin or two or five in the end, it's worth it.
Israeli S'mores
Yield: 1
The Ingredients
1 very very very just barely ripe banana (my sister originally told me one very very very ripe banana, but I'm convinced that she's mistaken)
2 marshmallows, halved (or, you know, stuff them in to your heart's content - who am I to say what the correct number is?)
4ish squares of Hershey's chocolate (again, these amounts are totally meaningless - put however much chocolate you'd like into them. This is just what I did, and found that's how much I could fit easily.)

The Method (subject to change upon further investigation)
1. Slit the banana hot-dog style without totally cutting it in half. Think hot dog buns.
2. Arrange the marshmallow(s) and chocolate square(s) in between the banana bun you just created, so to speak.
3. Wrap in aluminum foil. This is about to get messy.
4. Heat in your heating machine of choice (just please, please not a microwave): oven, toaster oven, grill, fire pit, you know, anything to get it hot.
5. Unwrap (Careful: it's hot!) and enjoy! (Fork recommended, but not required).

So, I really have no idea how to make this perfectly. I am no Israeli S'more professional. However, I have thoroughly enjoyed both attempts at it, even if they don't photograph well or fully embody the livelihood of a true S'more. They're still darn good, and you should try them.

And that's all I have to say about that.