**The content on Healthy Farmhouse is based on our family’s personal experiences and may not be the perfect fit for everyone. Prior to checking out our healthier s’more swaps or reading any other health-related information on this site, I encourage you to read our full Health Disclosure to learn more.
The Traditional Summer Treat
It’s summertime in Montana, which means we are having fun doing all the outdoorsy things.
While we love the traditional summer activities like hiking, camping, and spending countless hours paddle boarding on the lake, we also can’t get enough of the traditional summer campfire foods.
From cooking hot dogs over the fire to putting together the perfect s’more.
S’more Alternatives
While s’mores may be delicious, they are most certainly not nutritious.
That said, over the years, we have become more aware of the foods we put into our bodies and have mixed up our s’more game time and time again to try and find the right tasty alternatives.
First, we started with all the conventional s’more supplies.
From the Hershey chocolate bars to the Jiffy-puffed marshmallows.
Then, over time, we found the perfect mixture of healthier s’more alternatives for our family.
From my favorite gluten-free graham crackers to marshmallows made without corn syrup or dyes!
Healthier S’more Swaps
Before we dive in, though, it’s important to remember that making a healthier food swap for your favorite treat doesn’t necessarily equal the same thing as a healthy food.
The combination of store-bought chocolate bars, marshmallows, and graham crackers should never be viewed as a healthy treat.
While I’m all for making wholesome swaps when it comes to any conventional food item, sugar will always be sugar in my book.
Even if the marshmallows and candies are dye-free, and the graham crackers have no bio-engineered food ingredients.
Lastly, I want you to know that these are the swaps we’ve made for our family.
Aside from making our own marshmallows and graham crackers at home, these are some of the better (budget-friendly) options out there.
All that said, this is our version of a healthier s’more, you guys!
The Grahams
As our family has grown and changed over the years, we have begun to make wiser choices when it comes to our traditional family treats.
Switching out our beloved graham crackers was the first healthy s’more swap we made!
While traditional grahams aren’t as big of a concern as many other conventional kid snacks, making the switch to something with more organic ingredients was the first step in making our s’mores better.
All that said, my preferred grahams are most definitely Pamela’s.
I love these graham crackers simply because most of the ingredients are cleaner, and they fit my gluten-free lifestyle!
Ingredient comparison:
Honey Maid: Unbleached Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate {Vitamin B1}, Riboflavin {Vitamin B2}, Folic Acid), Graham Flour (Whole Grain Wheat Flour), Sugar, Soybean And/Or Canola Oil, Honey, Leavening (Baking Soda, Calcium Phosphate), Salt, Soy Lecithin, Artificial Flavor.
*Note: Honey Maid’s grahams also include a caution statement about their crackers including a bio-engineered food ingredient. Yikes!
Annie’s: Organic Whole Wheat Flour (graham flour), Organic Wheat Flour, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Honey, Leavening (baking soda, ammonium bicarbonate, cream of tartar), Organic Molasses, Organic Natural Flavor, Sea Salt, Mixed Tocopherols (vitamin E) to Protect Flavor, Organic Rosemary Extract.
*Note: This is another version we use/have used in our home because they are sometimes very budget-friendly and easy to obtain. Plus, my kiddos like them. However, they are not my first choice (because of gluten).
Pamela’s: Butter (Cream, Salt), Brown Sugar, Brown Rice Flour, Sorghum Flour, White Rice Flour, Tapioca Starch, Gluten-Free Oat Bran, Molasses, Honey, Gluten-Free Natural Flavors, Baking Soda, Sea Salt, Grainless & Aluminum-Free Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Potato Starch, Sodium Bicarbonate), Xanthan Gum, Cinnamon.
The Mallows
Next up, the marshmallows were our second s’more swap!
This one was a little harder for us, as the first few marshmallow brands we tried were kind of terrible.
Some options were super sticky while others simply didn’t have the right flavor, texture, or melting capability for a good s’more.
Eventually, I found these delicious white fluff balls at our local Natural Grocers, and we have been enjoying them ever since!
Ingredients comparison:
Jet-puffed: Corn Syrup, Sugar, Dextrose, Modified Cornstarch, Water, Contains Less Than 2% Of Gelatin, Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate (Whipping Aid), Natural And Artificial Flavor, Blue 1
*Note: Aside from the corn syrup and other junk this product contains, it also has food dye to make the marshmallows a more vibrant white.
I simply refuse to willingly support any company that chooses to put artificial dye in a child’s food. I will never understand why this is so widely accepted in America, you guys!
Dandies: tapioca syrup, cane sugar, tapioca starch, carrageenan, soy protein, natural vanilla flavor.
*Note: We typically stay away from carrageenan in our everyday products, but I truly have found this to be one of the better marshmallow options out there, so we make the exception from time to time. Also, this is not a soy-free product, and since my daughter has recently switched to a soy-free diet, I will be on the lookout for a new marshmallow option soon!
While yes, I technically consider these a pantry staple, my kiddos are not eating them every single day, so they are one of my exceptions. Plus, they are pretty budget-friendly and easy to find on store shelves!
Overall, this is still a healthier swap for your traditional s’more marshmallows.
The Chocolate
Ok, so I have to admit I was a Hershey (and Cadbury) chocolate snob for quite some time.
I sadly had to let go of Cadbury when we went dye-free, but I continued using Hershey products for holidays and, of course, s’mores.
It wasn’t until a few years ago when they began adding the emulsifier PGPR (what the heck is that anyway?) to their traditional chocolate bars that I decided to make the switch on this one as well.
I’m not going to lie, you guys, this one was the absolute hardest part!
We tried so many chocolate bars and had so many s’more fails.
Finally, our beloved Natural Grocers came out with their own line of chocolate bars, and when I got offered a free one at the checkout, everything changed!
Our entire family agrees that this chocolate bar is the winner!
Ingredient comparison:
Hershey: Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Milk, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Milk Fat, Lecithin (Soy), Pgpr, Natural Flavor).
*Note: Truthfully, I’m kind of impressed with the lack of ingredients in Hershey’s chocolate bar, you guys! The thing that keeps me away truly is the PGPR. Plus, everyone in my family agrees it just doesn’t taste as good since they’ve added it to the ingredients list.
That said, much like our carrageenan exception in the marshmallows. You could totally keep this traditional chocolate bar on your family’s s’mores as your exception!
Natural Grocers: Organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic whole milk powder, organic chocolate liquor, organic natural vanilla flavor.
Honestly, the milk chocolate bars are somewhat similar. However, Natural Grocer’s version is made with all organically grown ingredients and skips those extra emulsifiers. Plus, there’s NO SOY!
We absolutely love this chocolate bar, and since it’s organic, it’s definitely a better option.
The Ultimate Healthier S’more
While these s’mores aren’t perfectly organic or nutritious, they are much better than the alternative!
That said, making food swaps doesn’t have to be overwhelming or hard, you guys!
Simply focus on making one swap at a time — just like we did with our s’more swaps!
While the above combination is what we consider to be the ultimate healthier s’more choice, you can totally use different options to find your perfect fit.
Happy food swapping, you guys!
