Marshmallow

Store-bought snack cakes can’t compare to these homemade versions: Dark chocolate cupcakes are filled with fluffy marshmallow cream, which is also used to pipe decorations on the tops. Take care not to overfill the hollowed-out cupcakes, or the cream may seep out.

Treat Dad to something special on Father’s Day: an over-the-top, unforgettable chocolate dessert. Just like the fudge and the ice-cream variety of the same name, our Rocky Road Tart is jam-packed with mini marshmallows, salted almonds, and chocolate chunks, all in an easy graham-cracker crust. It’s sure to become an annual tradition.

It’s no wonder kids adore these bar cookies. A gooey topping spills over a base filled with butterscotch chips, miniature marshmallows, chocolate chunks, and—as if that weren’t enough—melted caramels.

Some of the same ingredients used for hot chocolate go right into these crowd pleasers. Cocoa powder gives them their chocolate flavor, while marshmallows are the squishy centers. Slathered on top is a chocolate frosting that hides the marshmallow—creating a delightful surprise for the lucky person who takes a bite.

City dwellers, and anyone else who feels that he or she doesn’t get enough time in front of a campfire, can still enjoy the taste of s’mores with these cookies, which cleverly combine the graham cracker–marshmallow–chocolate trifecta. What they lack in the crispy char of the toasted marshmallow, they more than make up for in their ability to be made in advance. They are also one of the most versatile cookies in this book as far as being appropriate for all occasions. Bring them to a family reunion, use them as a butter-up-your-boss gift, serve them with petit fours at a formal affair, or just keep them in a jar at home to treat yourself.

Fans of rocky road ice cream will rejoice in this unabashedly retro chocolate cake. It’s a great make-ahead treat for picnics, tailgating, and kids’ parties.

I light a forest fire on my sheet pan of mini marshmallows and let it burn out on its own. The surface of all the marshmallows should be black/burnt, while the bottoms remain perfectly white.

Our grasshopper pie is like a brownie pie that got drunk on crème de menthe.

I am neither brave nor bold enough to make just a chocolate chip cookie. Everyone’s mom or grandma makes “the best” chocolate chip cookie. And every one of those chocolate chip cookie recipes is different. So, out of respect, we dared not compete. Instead, we made a delicious chocolate chip tribute cookie—one of our most popular cookies—by accident. In the Ko basement one day, Mar overtoasted the cornflake crunch for the cereal milk panna cotta. She was pissed. I was pissed. But we refused to let it go to waste. I was already well versed in making a cookie out of anything left in the pantry, and we needed a dessert for family meal anyway. So we made cookies with the cornflake crunch, and we threw in some mini chocolate chips, just to make them appealing to the cooks in case the overtoasted cornflakes were a bust, and some mini marshmallows, because we were eating them as a snack, and why the hell not. It was just family meal. The cooks freaked. They requested the cookies for family meal every day after that. And so the cornflake-chocolate-chip-marshmallow cookie was born—love at first bite and a shoo-in on Milk Bar’s opening menu.

We always know the holidays are just around the corner when Mama breaks out her ambrosia balls. Our version features marmalade, wafer cookies, and coconut all balled up. Plus, our snowballs are no-bake, so you can fix these festive treats fast and invite the kids to help.

As a kid, whenever he got the chance, Bobby ate those store-bought oatmeal pies. These are his “grown-up” version.