A Dive into Mallomars

Nabisco and Homemade

Vicki Smith

When my good friend Branislav moved from New York City back to St. Louis, he would occasionally lament that Mallomars were not available in his hometown. Nabisco produces Mallomars, packaged in a school bus yellow box. They have a graham cracker cookie base, a marshmallow cream center, and, according to Branislav, a top-quality chocolate coating. Unlike Oreos, for instance, they are not available all over the United States, so a description seemed necessary. The cookie was first introduced in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1913, and they are still primarily sold only in the Northeast and in Florida for smitten snowbirds. Because the pure chocolate coating does not hold up well in the summer heat, they are sold only between October and April. Even though Nabisco now has refrigerated trucks, it became part of their mystique to limit the length of the selling season.

As I walked by the prominent display of Mallomars in the entranceway of Shoprite earlier this month, I decided to toss a box into my cart to send to Branislav. Years ago, at Christmas, Branislav gave me a teeny-tiny artificial pine tree with miniature wrapped presents adorned with bows to add to the tableau. He had cut a Pink Pearl eraser into rectangles for the gift boxes. I still have his adorable, quirky gift, and his creativity may have been in the back of my mind when I decided to try and make homemade Mallomars to send along with the box from Nabisco. Luckily, I found numerous recipes online and went with one from Cooking with Karli. I pretty much adhered to her recipe but did alter the method for assembling the cookies, eliminating the need for a pastry bag along with some other minor tweaks. They are rather labor-intensive compared to the type of cookie that I would usually bake, but will Branislav think they were worth the effort?

Karli’s Mallomars

1. Ingredients for Cookie Base

3/4 cup salted butter, softened

1/3 c.granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1 3/4 c.+ 2 T all-purpose flour

1 1/2 c. crushed graham crackers, about 1 package

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

Directions for Cookie Base

Cream together the butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well. Add the flour, crushed graham crackers, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until completely combined. Divide the dough into 1 T. portions. Roll into spheres and arrange on a greased cookie sheet. Press down slightly on the cookie dough, flattening it just a bit.

Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes or until the cookies have spread and flattened slightly.

Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack. Cool completely before making the marshmallow cream.

2. Ingredients Marshmallow Cream

3 egg whites

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1 1/2 t. vanilla

Directions Marshmallow Cream

Place the egg whites and granulated sugar in the top of a double boiler. There should be about about one inch of water in the double boiler pan on the bottom. Heat the water until it begins to simmer. Turn the heat to medium-low. Beat continually with an electric hand mixer for about 3 minutes. The egg whites will become bright white and fluffy. Carefully check to see if all of the sugar has dissolved by rubbing a small amount in between your fingers. It should not feel grainy. If it still feels grainy, place the bowl back over the heat and continue whisking for another 30 seconds to a minute. Remove the double boiler from the heat. Add the vanilla extract and then turn the speed up on the hand mixer to high and mix until thick, glossy peaks form. Spoon the marshmallow cream onto the cookie base.

Cookie base with marshmallow cream

3. Chocolate Topping Instructions

Melt 3 cups of chocolate chips in the microwave. Nabisco uses dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. Refrigerate.

Yield: 24 cookies

Ta-Dah!

Luckily for shipping, we had a small styrofoam cooler that could handle the box of Nabisco Mallomars and the ones that I had made. I wrapped about half of my cookies in foil and bubble wrap to ship to St. Louis and kept the other half in the fridge for my husband. I mailed them on a Friday, and miraculously, Branislav had them by Monday. When Branislav called, somewhat surprised and baffled, to report that they had arrived undamaged, he told me the story of how he was first introduced to Mallomars. He had the lead role in an independent film being shot in the East Village of New York City, and the cookie was a favorite of the director. Thus, a small obsession was born. Branislav claims to have enjoyed my homemade cookies, although they had less chocolate than the packaged ones, but he is too polite to say otherwise. The true test is that my husband polished off his rather quickly.

What is your favorite cookie to bake?

Thanks for reading, liking, commenting, and sharing!

Vicki