Why Are They Called "S’mores"? (2024)

Crickets chirp. The fire crackles. The marshmallows cry out from their package, begging to be roasted to a toasty, golden brown. Well, maybe not…but we know that's what you're thinking!

No campout is complete without roasting marshmallows over an open fire to make that tasty treat familiar to all campers: s'mores! Are you ready to dig in to some chocolate-y, marshmallow-y goodness?

A s'more is a traditional camping snack that has been popular with kids—and their parents!— for years and years. Although many different varieties of s'mores have developed over time, the s'more is basically a sandwich of roasted marshmallows and chocolate between graham crackers.

S'mores are usually made by the campfire. Marshmallows are roasted over the fire until they're gooey. Then graham crackers with pieces of a chocolate candy bar are used to sandwich the gooey roasted marshmallow. Many kids mash the combination together so that the heat from the marshmallow will melt the chocolate.

This sweet, warm, gooey, delicious treat always leaves kids wanting more. In fact, that's probably how they got their name. S'more is thought to be a contraction of the phrase, “some more," as in “I want some more of those s'mores!"

No one knows for sure who invented the s'more. However, the first published recipe for “some mores" was in a 1927 publication called Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts. Loretta Scott Crew, who made them for Girl Scouts by the campfire, is given credit for the recipe.

So even though we don't know for sure whether the Girl Scouts were the first to make “some mores," no one else has claimed to have invented them. We also don't know when the name got shortened to “s'more" as recipes for “some mores" appeared in Girl Scout publications until at least 1971.

If you don't have access to a campfire, you can always make s'mores at home in your kitchen. Of course, a big part of the fun of making s'mores is roasting marshmallows over an open fire. Just be sure an adult is around when deciding to roast marshmallows for s'mores!

Some people also enjoy coming up with new s'more recipes. For example, peanut butter is a popular s'more add-on. What would you add to a s'more to make it even better?