S’mores Bars

S’mores bars…totally decadent and chewy. Bars that speak to the kid in all of us. Recently browsing through the June/July 2020 edition of Cook’s Country I came across this recipe by Jessica Rudolph. 

S’mores Bars

This recipe for s’mores bars combines a delicious shortbread type crust that includes a generous amount of graham cracker crumbs for that authentic s’mores flavor but is thick enough to support a generous marshmallow topping. But truthfully, I was done when I saw that Marshmallow Fluff was included in the list of ingredients. Although the original recipe called for a very generous amount of milk chocolate, I used one and a half 3.5 ounce bars of Shneider’s 56% dark chocolate. Keep your eye on the oven door when these babies are baking for the second time. After concluding a nice long telephone conversation with my daughter-in-law, I looked in the window of the oven door and discovered that the top of the bars were now covered with marshmallow briquettes. (Trust me, burned marshmallows are much more appealing at a cook-out then on top of  your dessert).

I lined the pan with an aluminum foil sling that was sprayed with cooking spray. This will help you remove the bars for slicing evenly.

After baking the crust as instructed, I let it cool completely. Walk away and don’t hover while the crust cools. 

When cooled, I covered the crust with a 3.5 oz. bar of bittersweet chocolate broken into small pieces.

I measured out a cup of Marshmallow Fluff and spread it carefully over the crust using an offset spatula.

And finally I covered the surface of the bars with 1 1/2 cups of  mini marshmallows. 

I returned the bars to the oven and baked them for 15 minutes. As I mentioned above, watch the bars through the oven door after the first 10 minutes until they turn a lovely toasty golden color.

I topped the bars with a 1/2 of a 3.5 oz. bar of bittersweet chocolate as soon as the bars come out of the oven and let the bars cool completely (at least 4 hours) before slicing. They freeze beautifully.

Print Recipe

S'mores Bars

Cookies, Cakes and Desserts

By Cook's Country, June July 2020 with slight adaptations – Serves: 16

Prep Time: 15 minutes – Cooking Time: 30 minutes – Total Time: 45 minutes

These are iconic s'mores bars topped with gooey marshmallows and semi-sweet chocolate on a shortbread crust, rich with the flavor of golden honey graham cracker crumbs.

Ingredients

• 7 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces
• 1/4 cup (2 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed (1 3/4 ounces) brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 8 tablespoons butter or margarine (I used Fleishmann's stick margarine), cut into 8 pieces
• 1 1/2 3.5 ounce bars of bittersweet chocolate (I used 56%), divided
• 1 cup marshmallow creme (I used Marshmallow Fluff)
• 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Make a foil sling for an 8-inch square baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of aluminum foil so that each one is 8 inches wide. Lay sheets of foil perpendicular to each other in the pan and push into every corner of the pan. Spray generously with cooking spray.

2

Process cracker pieces in the food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add flour, sugar, and salt and pulse to combine, about 5 pulses. Add butter or margarine and pulse about 20 times. Press dough into even layer in bottom of prepared pan. Bake until crust is set , about 13 minutes. Let cool completely.

3

Break a 3.5 ounce bar of bitter into pieces (see picture above) and cover crust leaving space between each piece of chocolate. Chop remaining 1/2 bar of chocolate into small pieces and set aside.

4

Spread marshmallow cream over chocolate. (Spraying your spatula before spreading the cream may help you spread in more easily).

5

Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over marshmallow cream.

6

Bake bars until marshmallows are a toasty golden color., approximately 15 minutes but keep your eye on the oven window after 10 minutes. Don't let the marshmallows get too dark!

7

Transfer pan to wire rack for cooling when bars are done. Sprinkle top of bars with reserved chopped chocolate (See step 3).

8

Allow the bars to cool for at least 4 hours until chocolate is set.

9

When ready to cut the bars, lightly spray your knife with cooking spray to reduce sticking. Lift the foil sling out of the pan and place bars on your cutting board. Cut bars into 16 squares.

10

Bars can be stored in an airtight container or frozen at this point.

Notes

I used non-dairy margarine to make this recipe because of dietary concerns. Please feel free to substitute butter instead of margarine. If you feel uncomfortable lifting the bars out of the pan with the sling (they start to buckle over) cut them in the pan. Enjoy!! They're really delicious!

I accessed this recipe through the Vaughan Public Libraries website. I used the e-magazine RB Digital collection.