How to Create a S'mores Board for Memorial Day

Nothing says Memorial Day weekend like s'mores! It's the perfect opportunity to roast marshmallows around a campfire or make some s'mores down at the beach during a long weekend if you can. But between COVID, social distancing, and where you're located -- it may not be possible to set up a campfire somewhere. That doesn't mean you have to go without s'mores! 

Today we are sharing with you how to create a s'mores board at home! Heck, you can even take it with you to the beach. You've probably seen the trend on Instagram -- taking the concept of a traditional charcuterie board, getting creative, and adding all sorts of stuff to a new board! You might have even seen our St. Patrick's Day board or our Easter board. But today is all about the s'mores! So, how do you create the perfect s'mores board?

What you’ll need:

• A large plate or platter
• Lots of marshmallows (We suggest a couple of traditional flavors like vanilla and salted caramel combined with some bolder flavors like nutella or lavender)
• Graham crackers
• Other things to use instead of graham crackers (We suggest different types of cookies, thin cake slices, or even edible bowls!)
• Fruits & extra items to add (We suggest candies, pretzels, caramels -- anything to give your s’more something MORE)
• A medley of chocolates
• Skewers
• A fire source such as a sterno or a portable bonfire
• Optional: small bowls or plates

How to build the s’mores board:

The beauty of a s’mores board (or any dessert/charcuterie board for that matter) is that there is technically no wrong way to do it. As long as you have everything you need for s’mores on a platter, you’ve created a s’mores board! So no matter how you create it or how your’s turns out, know that it’s amazing and you did a great job! What we are showing you is how to make the s’mores board the fancier, more instagrammable way -- and there are some great tips and tricks to achieving that look.

1) Add your steno/flame source first. We chose to make this the centerpiece of the platter to reduce the amount you are reaching across the tray. You can order simple sternos from any grocery or home improvement store or you could upgrade with a tabletop fire pit. If the idea of having your flame source on your tray isn’t for you or if you are using a true campfire, go ahead and skip this step.

2) Next, add in your ‘bigger” pieces. In this case, we start with the marshmallows. They are the largest pieces when grouped together and for us, the natural stars of the show. You want to group each flavor together in larger piles throughout the plate. Keep them relatively equidistant from each other & not against the edge of the tray either. You can also opt to have small bowls you can put the marshmallows in as well if that’s more your style. Just place the bowls down on the tray and make sure they aren’t taking up too much space.

3) Fan your graham crackers/cookies. The best way to start to layer in graham crackers and cookies is to fan them out around the edge of the tray. This allows them to take up space, but makes them easy to grab for those who are making s’mores. We also recommend fanning out anything that you are going to use instead of a graham cracker such as chocolate chip cookies, oreo cookies, or thin cake slices.

4) Add your chocolate. Chances are you’ve chosen chocolate of different shapes -- Hershey bars, Reese’s cups, Rollos, and more! We like to put our chocolate close to the grahams to make it easy to put the s’more together. The main thing to remember is to not put your chocolate next to the sterno, unless you want your chocolate to melt before you even make your s’more. The side of the sterno will get warm once it’s lit, so you want to make sure you are spacing the chocolate away from the sterno.

5) Fill in the “gaps”. After you’ve added your sterno, marshmallows, and grahams -- you probably have a few remaining “gaps” in the board. We’ll start using those extra items such as fruit (strawberries are always good on s’mores), extra candies (we recommend something SOUR!) and anything else you want to add to your s’mores. You can create piles of things like fruit and candy in the gaps. It’s totally okay if it looks a little messy or overlaps some grahams or chocolate. This is also a great opportunity to add some color to the board -- that’s why we love bright fruits like strawberries or raspberries and candies such as Sour Patch Kids.

At this point, your board should be pretty complete! All that’s left to do is make those s’mores! Now you’re ready to make Memorial Day, or any day for that matter, so much sweeter.

What’s your favorite thing to add to the s’mores board? Or favorite marshmallow?