Lookie at my Cookies: S'mores Bars

Eating these S'mores Bars was kinda like the Lay's potato chip slogan "betcha can't eat just one". I think the pictures do them justice. They are as good as they look, probably better. I can barely write this because I can't stop staring at the gooey marshmallow layered with melting milk chocolate on a crunchy graham cracker cookie-esque crust. Unfortunately, I'll have to make do with looking at the pictures because these treats are long gone...it's a little embarrassing actually. All of the bars in the 13x9 inch pan have been eaten, not all by me! That's one of the many good things about being in a sorority haha. I think everyone who tried them had at least two because they were absolutely wonderful. I'm sad they're gone, but like they say, all good things must come to an end! 

I found the recipe for these bars on Lovin' from the Oven. THANK YOU Kim! Ever since I came across these they've been on my list of things to bake, I mean come on look at the pictures! I think it might be fair to say some of you are running to your oven right now to preheat it while you go buy the ingredients. And right you are to do so because as I un-eloquently said before, they're sooooo good. Which is why I'm having trouble writing this because I can't even put into words the greatness of the S'mores Bars. As you bite into the golden crispy cookie graham cracker crust you get the taste of the marshmallow and milk chocolate melty gooey amazingness- just like a s'more! Except better, because you can mass produce these things since you can bake a whole pan instead of just one s'more at a time, score. The bars were just as easy to make as a real s'mores and arguably even more tasty, I think these took me only about 15 minutes to prepare and about half an hour to bake, (almost) instant gratification. Along with Martha's Carrot Cupcakes I made the other week, these are definitely in the Top 5 things I have ever baked. They were perfectly rich and had a great combination of textures. And they reminded me of making s'mores when I was little at camp! A trip down memory lane while chowing down on a decadent tasty treat, perfect for this rainy Tuesday. Who am I kidding, s'mores bars are perfect for any day.

S'mores Bars

From Lovin' from the Oven (I adapted this recipe to fit a 13x9 inch pan)

3/4 cup of butter (1 1/2 sticks) room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar*

2 large eggs*

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 2/3 cup all purpose flour

2 cups graham cracker crumbs*

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 giant sized milk chocolate bars (I used Hershey's)

1 7.5 oz jar of marshmallow fluff (or more if you want a thicker layer of marshmallow)

*Healthy Swaps: I used 3/4 cup of sugar as opposed to 1 full cup, egg whites instead of whole eggs (2 egg whites per egg called for), and I crushed Low Fat graham crackers for my graham cracker crumbs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9 inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate medium sized bowl whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix until combined (use low speed on electric mixer).

Divide dough in half. Press half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place the chocolate bars in a layer on top of the dough. I fit two giant Hershey bars side by side and then almost all of the third one, I had to take off one column of squares on the third Hershey bar and then laid it next to the other two. Whatever kind you use, if necessary break the chocolate to get it to fit in a single layer over the graham cracker. Spread marshmallow fluff over chocolate layer. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough with your hands into small square shingles and laying them together). 

Bake for 30-35 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

I don't know how many bars the recipe makes because we started digging in before cutting them with any organization...oops! My guess is it makes around 28 depending how big you cut them.

Enjoy!

Bon Eating,

Whitney