What Brits Call S'mores: The British Name for This American Campfire Treat
If you grow a marshmallow over a campfire and sandwich it between chocolate and a biscuit, Americans call it a s'more. In Britain, that same treat has a different name, one that comes straight from children's literature. The British version is most commonly called Pooh sticks, after A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories. In the book "When We Were Very Young," Pooh invents a recipe he calls "smoare" — pronounced something like smore — and makes it with honey instead of chocolate. British kids have been calling these roasted marshmallow treats Pooh sticks ever since. You will also hear them called campfire squares or squish squash yum yums, especially in scout groups and holiday camps. The name Pooh sticks tends to dominate in homes and schools, while campfire squares appears more in outdoor activity contexts.
Here is the basic method. You need digestives or chocolate hobnobs, a square of milk or dark chocolate, and a marshmallow. Roast the marshmallow on a skewer over a candle or campfire until the outside is golden and the inside is melty. Place it on the biscuit, add the chocolate square, top with another biscuit, and press down gently. The heat from the marshmallow softens the chocolate so it sticks to the biscuit. I used to make these at summer camp when I was fourteen. The problem I ran into was that the marshmallow would catch fire if I held it too close to the flame. Once I learned to keep it at arm's length and rotate it slowly, the result was much better. The marshmallow turned golden without burning, and the chocolate melted properly instead of staying hard. There is a practical issue with using dark chocolate in the British version. Dark chocolate does not melt as easily as milk chocolate because of the lower cocoa butter content. If you use 70% dark chocolate, you may need to warm the biscuit slightly before adding the chocolate, or the structure falls apart when you press it together. Milk chocolate, specifically Cadbury Dairy Milk, works better for beginners because it softens at a lower temperature.
Some people substitute bananas for marshmallows and call the result a smashed banana sandwich. This version is sweeter and does not require heating, so it works as a quick snack without a flame. The texture is softer, but the flavour combination remains similar. The treat has no official status in British culinary tradition, which means you will find different variations depending on region and age group. Scouts tend to stick to the classic marshmallow version, while younger children often prefer the Pooh sticks name because of the literary connection. Either way, the basic concept is the same: roasted marshmallow, chocolate, and biscuit pressed together. If you cannot find marshmallows, toasted meringue pieces can work as a substitute, though the texture will be crispier rather than gooey. The chocolate should be thin enough to melt from the heat of the marshmallow, otherwise the sandwich will not hold together.
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