Salted Caramel Pretzel S'mores

Hopefully you'll find forgiveness in your hearts for the long delays between posts after you see this one!

During the summer, the only thing that can trump s'mores for me is ice cream. Honestly, ice cream trumps just about everything. It's the one dessert food that I will sacrifice real, savory, entree type food for the chance to enjoy that sweet creamy goodness...pardon, the daydream moment about the pint of Ben & Jerry's I just finished yesterday.

Back to s'mores! If you haven't seen The Sandlot, you should, purely for the sake of Ham's explanation of s'mores which I quote, verbatim, whenever they come up in conversation. Graham, chocolate, roasted/toasted marshmallow, graham. Campfire food perfection.

As much as I love traditional s'mores, an idea occurred to me thanks to some internet inspiration. Salted Caramel Pretzel S'mores! Between you and me, I might actually like these better than the original! (SHH! I know this is blasphemy!)

How can you create such a magnificent tastebud nirvana? With a few simple ingredients from your local store.

• Ghirardelli Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate squares
• Flat pretzel crisps
• Marshmallows

Now, you might have noticed in the picture above, that I used Peeps...My mother is a marshmallow fiend so I was appalled to find when I visited that the only marshmallows left in the house were mini ones and an open package of Vanilla Creme Peeps. I opted for the Peeps thinking that the sugar would caramelize beautifully while being toasted over the open flame of the kitchen range. (Don't judge me! It was the middle of a hot summer Saturday, I wasn't going to light a fire out back just so I could toast one Peep!)

So in the immortal and unforgettable (yet altered for the sake of this blog) words of the Great Hambino...

First, you take the pretzel crisp.
You stick the chocolate on the pretzel crisp.
THEN, you roast a 'mallow.
When the 'mallow's flamin' (or desired toastedness), you stick it on the chocolate, and you cover it with the other pretzel crisp.
And then, YOU STUFF!

It's super messy because the caramel inside the chocolate is gooey and the hot marshmallow melts the thin chocolate encasement of all that ooey caramel while the marshmallow squishes out on the sides. MMM! But it's the salty pretzel crunch and savory bite that takes these nontraditional s'mores to the next level of summertime food valhalla.