Once a year, on a perfect night after the mosquitoes have finally died and before the snows come, we have a bonfire for family and makes s’mores.
This year we thought we’d try to expand the role of the classic bonfire sweet dessert to encompass a savory starter course.
Both savory and sweet varieties were a big hit.
Next time you make s’mores, consider changing things up. You won’t be disappointed!

I’ve included a recipe for salted caramel sauce. You can buy the stuff but honestly, when the homemade type is this easy, inexpensive and crazy-delicious, why not give it a try?

Options for sweet s’mores:

Bases:
-cinnamon, honey and chocolate graham crackers
-twisted pretzels
-cookies (we used chocolate chip)

Toppings
-marshmallows
-candy bars—milk or sweet chocolate, Andes candies, Rollos, toffee bars, etc
-peanut butter, peanut butter ice cream topping, salted caramel, etc
-sliced bananas, strawberries, apples

Options for Savory s’mores

Bases
-crackers like Carr whole wheat (we used Breton sweet potato and Breton dried cranberry)

Toppings (We heated the cheese and meat on pudgie pie makers. The just don’t stay on the end of a skewer or stick very well)
-mozzarella balls
-goat cheese (ours was mild cheddar—didn’t even know such a thing existed!)
-prosciutto
-bacon
-basil

Prosciutto AND Bacon

The goat cheese on sweet potato crackers with the prosciutto or bacon and basil was a big hit.
So was the peanut butter on honey grahams with bacon, banana and marshmallow.
And a new classic for us all is the cinnamon crackers with apples, caramel and marshmallow.

The new classic

Happy November! Happy S’moring!

Salted caramel sauce
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
6 Tablespoons (90g) salted butter, cut up into  pieces
1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
Heat granulated sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula.Sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir. Be careful not to burn.Once sugar is completely melted, immediately add the butter. Be careful in this step because the caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added. Stir the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted, about 2-3 minutes.Very slowly, drizzle in 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Since the heavy cream is colder than the caramel, the mixture will rapidly bubble and/or splatter when added.Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute. It will rise in the pan as it boils.
Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Allow to cool down before using.
Cover the caramel tightly and store for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Warm the caramel up for a few seconds before using in a recipe.