Brace yourselves, s'mores lovers. You're about to meet your dream ice cream. Loaded with rich chocolate flavor, toasted marshmallows and crushed graham crackers in every bite, this s'mores ice cream is one nostalgic treat that's perfect any time of year.
You know what I love about s'mores, besides the fact that they're gooey, chocolatey and utterly delicious? No matter the time of year, s'mores are always in season.
During the spring and summer months, s'mores make for the perfect camping dessert, and when the weather cools in the fall and winter, sitting around a fire with a toasty marshmallow covered in slightly melted chocolate makes my soul happy. On top of my s'mores love, I could eat ice cream every day of my life whether the outdoor temperature is 100 degrees or 0 degrees. Naturally, it only makes sense to combine these two favorite desserts into one s'mores ice cream recipe, right?
For my s'mores ice cream recipe, I made a dark chocolate base and mixed in crushed graham crackers and toasted marshmallows. This ice cream was quite the hit in our household. Matt even said it was his favorite ice cream I've made to date. Honestly, it's hard for me to pick a favorite homemade ice cream, but I think he's on to something.
Ingredients
Before we start, let's gather our ingredients. Here's everything you need to make this s'mores ice cream.
- Heavy cream
- Whole milk
- Sugar
- Dark chocolate cocoa powder, aka Dutch process
- Egg yolks
- Vanilla extract or paste
- Graham cracker sheets, lightly crushed
- Mini marshmallows
Eight ingredients for the tastiest ice cream of your life -- not too shabby.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Now let's walk through the steps. We start by stirring together heavy cream, milk, sugar and cocoa powder and bringing the mixture to a simmer in a saucepan. As the chocolate mixture works toward a simmer, stir it from time to time to help incorporate the cocoa powder and dissolve the sugar. Once the mixture simmers, turn off the heat and let it cool for just a few minutes.
While the chocolate mixture cools, constantly whisk together a ridiculous amount of delicious egg yolks with vanilla extract or paste. I like to do this for about three minutes, which also gives the mixture the necessary cooling time. Ladle a small scoop of the chocolate mixture into the eggs and stir. Continue to repeat this step until you incorporate about half the chocolate mixture into the eggs and then pour the eggs into the saucepan with the remaining chocolate mixture.
This step ensures the yolks don't turn to scrambled eggs, so don't skip this step unless you're into scrambled egg ice cream. I love eggs, but that's a hard no for me.
You're now ready to fire up the stove once again and cook the custard base until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Don't let the mixture boil. Just keep it to a nice simmer. Pour the custard base into a bowl and let it cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating overnight.
The next day, get out your trusty ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's directions. If you don't have an ice cream maker, I have a recommendation below. I'm a huge fan of Cuisinart's ice cream maker, and it's worked well for me for six years. As soon as you start churning, spread the marshmallows on a sheet pan and broil until they're brown and toasted. I recommend doing this early in the process because it gives the marshmallows time to set after broiling, and incorporating them into the ice cream is much less messy.
Oh, and a little PSA: Do not --- I repeat --- do not put the marshmallows on parchment paper. The parchment paper will catch on fire and leave you with a bruised ego. As you can probably tell, I learned that one from firsthand experience. Good times.
In the last few minutes of churning, add the crushed graham crackers to the ice cream maker. When the ice cream finishes churning, pour half of the ice cream into an air-tight container and top with half the marshmallows, repeat and freeze. And just like that, you'll have one delicious s'mores ice cream in a few hours. Lucky you.
Perfect Pairing
You can't go wrong with a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout with this s'mores ice cream. The residual sweetness makes barrel-aged beers delicious with desserts, and I love how the slight char from the bourbon barrels pairs with the toasted marshmallows.
When wine calls, reach for a tawny port. The caramel-like nutty notes of tawny port are the perfect match to the graham cracker crumbles and the toasty marshmallows.
For those times you're craving a new twist on one of the most classic desserts, I hope you try this s'mores ice cream recipe. Please let me know how you enjoyed this delicious ice cream in the comment section and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. You can also catch me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.
Cheers!
Looking for More Homemade Ice Cream Recipes?
- Honey-lavender ice cream with peach compote
- Fresh mint-chocolate chip ice cream
- Butterscotch ice cream with candied pecans
- Bourbon-pumpkin ice cream
S'mores Ice Cream
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: About 1 ½ quarts 1x
Description
Brace yourselves, s'mores lovers. You're about to meet your dream ice cream. Loaded with rich chocolate flavor, toasted marshmallows and crushed graham crackers in every bite, this s'mores ice cream is one nostalgic treat that's perfect any time of year.
Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
½ cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
7 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
7 graham cracker sheets, lightly crushed
2 ½ cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Whisk together the heavy cream, milk, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Continue to whisk periodically to help dissolve the sugar and incorporate the cocoa powder. Once it simmers, turn off heat. Do not bring to a boil as this can cause the milk to separate.
- Whisk egg yolks and vanilla until pale, about three minutes. Temper about ¼ to ½ cup of warm cream mixture into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Repeat this step a few times.
- Add tempered egg-cream mixture back to the pot. Whisk constantly over medium heat and bring back to a simmer. Again, do not boil. Cook until mixture thickens and covers the back of a wooden spoon. Turn off heat.
- Pour into a large mixing bowl, and then directly cover the top of the custard's surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, preferably overnight to ensure proper churning.
- Pour custard in an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions. As the ice cream churns, spread mini marshmallows on a broiler-safe sheet. Broil a few inches from the heating unit until the marshmallows are brown and toasty. Keep a close eye on this. It won't take long for the marshmallows to toast. Make sure you take care of this step early in the churning process to give marshmallows time to sit and set before adding them to the ice cream. In the last five minutes of churning, add the crushed graham crackers to the ice cream maker.
- Spread half of the chocolate-graham ice cream on the bottom of an airtight container and top with half of the toasted marshmallows. Repeat with the remaining ice cream and marshmallows. Freeze for several hours before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Recipe originally published in September 2018 and republished in March 2020.
- Prep time does not include chilling or churning as that can vary based on manufacturer.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Stove-Top
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ½ cup
- Calories: 550
- Sugar: 45
- Sodium: 309
- Fat: 31
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 60
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 16
- Cholesterol: 239
Keywords: s'mores ice cream
I'm an Ice Cream lover and this recipe made me smile. I love ice cream so much my wife had to ban it from the home , so now I eat it once a month. Smore ice cream will be a good excuse to get my fix :). Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Haha, it can be a little dangerous in the house. Finding self-control around ice cream is never easy. Hope you enjoy it!
This sounds delicious - and easy to make too! I love eating ice cream year round, and it's still pretty warm here so I'll definitely try this out!
★★★★★
Never a bad time for ice cream as far as I'm concerned. Hope you love it!
I'm a fan of s'mores, and you really get me at dark chocolate. This needs to happen soon while summer weather is still around.
★★★★★
Oh, wow! This looks so rich and chocolatey! We love s'mores, so this is going to be perfect. I bet this would make a great ice cream cake too... with a graham cracker crust! Can't wait to try it.
Ohhh, I love the idea of this as an ice cream cake! That would be delicious.
I agree , s'mores are always in season - you just can't get tired of them! And your pictures in the recipe are astonishing - I am definitely going to try your recipe very soon. Thank you!
Awww, thank you so very much!
I love s’mores ice cream, it is one of my favorite dessert specially in summer. combining the dark chocolate base and mixed in crushed graham crackers and toasted marshmallows made me can't resist trying this one. Definitely adding this to our weekly menu plan for dessert. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
You're welcome! Hope you love it.
I was just thinking about s'mores, trying to decide which season it 'belongs to' and I ended with the exact same conclusion as you! Perfect for summer camping and soul warming in the cooler months. This looks absolutely FANTASTIC!
Thank you! It really is perfect any time. ?
How lovely is this! I enjoy ice cream and smores so this is a must do dessert to enjoy at home. Your food photography and the styling used it is so cool, all your food pictures always incredible. Great job!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for the sweet comment!
My daughter is going to go crazy for this smores ice cream. I can't wait to make this for her. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
★★★★★
You're welcome! I hope you both love it.
I secretly love marshmallows and that means smores are the best thing ever. Can't wait to make this ice cream.
★★★★★
Totally! S'mores really make me happy. Hope you love it!
Well ice cream lovers rejoice. This you cannot buy in the store. I think my grandkids would love this....and the flavour is perfect all year round too. What a great treat for Halloween, and Christmas too!!
★★★★★
I definitely think this would be fun for the grandkids. I think that's the other great part of s'mores. It's such a nostalgic food that takes me back to childhood. Hope y'all enjoy!