S'mores with pumpkin pie (!) marshmallows.

Even with the weather getting a little cooler, it's still pretty hot here during the day. But that doesn't stop me from making big pots of fall-like soup for dinners during the week, or drinking steamy mugs of hot tea and coffee whenever the mood strikes. Sometimes, though, I want a hot drink that's a little more indulgent, and that's where this hot chocolate with pumpkin marshmallows comes into play.

A little back story on the marshmallows: I'd read about the Orlando-based artisan marshmallow company, Wondermade, months ago, but had never tried any of their goodies until this past weekend, when I was picking up cupcakes for some friends at my favorite bakery and saw the pumpkin-pie flavored ones practically begging me to take them home. So I did. And then I wondered what the heck I was going to do with pumpkin-flavored marshmallows. I mean, they're delicious on their own (they taste like fall), but it seemed a waste not to use them in some other way.

So what did I do?

I made s'mores. Gooey, melty, rich s'mores with a kicked-up autumnal flavor thanks to the pumpkin-pie marshmallows. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how to make a s'more, but here's what I did: I placed a couple of squares of Valrohna milk chocolate on top of half a honey graham cracker, then placed three pumpkin marshmallows (they were small) on top of the chocolate. The other half of the graham cracker went on top of that, and then I put the whole thing in a foil packet and into the oven at 400 degrees for a couple of minutes. (Watch it carefully at that point; the line between "melted" and "burned" is very thin.) Remove from the oven, let cool for a minute and enjoy! There's something about the combination of pumpkin and chocolate that's so just good.

P.S. You can make your own pumpkin pie marshmallows really easily: Just make a batch of marshmallows and roll them in pre-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice.

P.P.S. If you really wanted to get decadent, a drizzle of salted caramel sauce would probably be amazing on these. And hot chocolate with pumpkin-pie marshmallows would be fantastic, too.