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Ooey-gooey S’Mores Bars

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A Campfire Classic Now an Anytime Treat

Just as the name says, these bars are filled with the ooey-gooey goodness of toasted marshmallow, melted chocolate and buttery graham cracker. Bonus–there's no mess! Skip the roasting sticks and pass a plate of these around the campfire. You don't need a camp chair to enjoy these bars, though. This sweet treat is also great for tea time, potlucks, parties and holiday dessert tables.
I love to share recipes from our former tearoom, but do you know these recipes are meant to be much more than just dainty bites for an afternoon tea party? At the heart of my recipes, the reason they exist, is a desire to feed family and friends and to feed them well. After years of planning afternoon tea menus and special high tea events, I’ve learned one thing: Versatility is a necessity in my kitchen! The recipes I use and create, must be flexible enough to manage the many different kinds of meal prep I do. I’m a lady who loves to entertain, but I’m first and foremost, a wife and mom with a family that gets hungry for real food! I want to share with you all the recipes and tips that I use to fill our family dining table with good food.
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Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup butter softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups your favorite chocolate chips white, milk, semi-sweet or dark
  • 13 oz marshmallow creme
  • 10 oz miniature marshmallows

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven to 350°F. Line 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper allowing sides to hang over; spray with bakers’ spray.
  • Using a stand mixer or wooden spoon, beat sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla extract.
  • Stir in graham cracker crumbs, flour, and salt. Mix until a soft dough comes together. Mixture will be soft and coarse.
  • Press about ¾ of the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
  • Spread marshmallow cream across the dough using the back of a wet spoon.
  • Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the marshmallow cream.
  • Cover the chocolate chips with the miniature marshmallows.
  • Finally, drop bits of the remaining graham cracker mixture on the top of the miniature marshmallows. Press dough lightly. Note, there will be gaps in the top layer.
  • Bake 25 – 30 minutes or until the marshmallows are puffed and lightly toasted and the graham cracker crust is golden brown.
  • Allow bars to cool at least 30 minutes. Lift from dish using the edges of the parchment paper before cutting into desired size bars.

Notes

What are S’Mores Bars? 

Ooey, gooey and delicious for sure. They’re bar cookies made  with graham cracker crumbs and filled with chocolate and marshmallow, just like the original. Bonus: there’s no sticky mess! Buttery, rich graham cracker dough is topped with marshmallow fluff, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and more of that delectable graham cracker dough. These bars are super easy to make and a bit of a show-stopper at first glance as the marshmallow peeking through the baked graham cracker cookie will make anyone stop and say “whoa!”
What I love so much about these bars is
  1. A little bit will do you (remember that old slogan?)
  2. So much flavor is packed into each bite
  3. No sticky fingers and no marshmallow drips on your shoes.
 
We recently enjoyed a bonfire with the kids and grandkids on the back of our property. Gorgeous night and so much fun. My little granddaughter Charlotte wanted me to help her make a s’more. Of course, her daddy said she had to eat her dinner first and wait for the grownups to be ready. You know, that’s hard when you’re five years old. She kept looking at me with those great big eyes and a bit of a mischievous smile. I do believe part of me is wrapped around her little finger. (Although, the other part of me is impervious to the pleading faces of littles after raising my own four children. So those little looks can go either way!)
She finally got permission to make that longed for s’more. I felt honored that little Miss Independence asked me to help her. We lost a marshmallow in the fire on our first attempt, burned the next one then purposely went a little premature on the last one. The mini chocolate bar was almost completely melted inside its wrapper in her hot little hand, but we managed to get it and our very blonde marshmallow wrapped inside the two graham crackers. I have to say, it was a large order with that barely warm giant marshmallow. She took one bite and everything kind of exploded everywhere! She looked at me and said in the sweetest, most grown-up way possible, “This is much messier than I thought it would be.” True words, girl. True words.
I had considered making these Ooey-Gooey S’Mores Bars earlier that day and I wish I had! Charlotte would have gotten more in her mouth and less on her shoes that way, plus these incredible bars will always satisfy my every urge for the original less elegant version. In fact, I think these bars are infinitely better than their inspiration. They are very rich, but not too sweet. The graham cracker crust does an excellent job of preventing an overload of sugar. I’m deliberately a little heavy handed with the salt in the dough to balance the sweetness of the marshmallow and chocolate. I also use semi-sweet chocolate chips to pull back on the sweet. My preference would be dark chocolate chips, but my campfire mates prefer milk chocolate so we meet in the middle with semi-sweet. Personally, I think dark chocolate bits would be spectacular!

What you need to make these bars

  • graham crackers
  • butter
  • eggs
  • vanilla
  • salt
  • marshmallow creme
  • mini marshmallows
  • chocolate chips (any flavor and any size)
 
The recipe is really simple to assemble once the dough is made and even the dough itself is quick and easy to make. If you’re short on time, you could replace the whole graham crackers with pre-purchased graham cracker crumbs. I process the graham crackers in my food processor, which makes fast work of them, but you could also just crush them inside a zip-lock using a rolling pin. However, you do graham cracker crumbs just do them that way; it doesn’t really matter.
It’s very easy to pull the dough together using a stand mixer, but a hand mixer or even a wooden spoon will do the job, too, as the dough is rather soft. The dough will not be like a traditional cookie dough. The crushed graham cracker that gives this dish its trademark flavor will also cause the dough to be coarse and somewhat grainy. Not terribly attractive, but you’ll love the results.
Once the dough is made, assembling is a breeze. If you have littles, it might be fun to let them help. The first step is to take roughly about 3/4 of the graham cracker dough and press it into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. I prefer to line it with a piece of parchment paper and let the edges of the paper hang over the sides. This will allow me to lift the baked bars out of the dish for easy cutting (and easy clean-up). Next, spread the marshmallow creme over the top of the dough, sprinkle the chocolate chips over that then pour a 10 ounce bag of mini marshmallows over the chocolate chips. Lastly, take the remaining graham cracker dough and piece it out across the marshmallow layers in little dollops. The mini marshmallows will puff and brown between those bits of cookie dough so that there is actually toasted marshmallow in this dessert. Tasty! 
KISS Tip: This recipe makes an entire 9×13 dish and the little squares you cut will actually be little cubes these bars are so thick. When it’s just our crew, we can’t eat that many. Like I said, they are rich and just a couple of bites will satisfy your sweet tooth. You could easily halve this recipe OR make it as the recipe is and once it’s baked and cooled, plan to put half in the freezer for another time. I typically cut 1 1/2″ squares and place the ones I intend to serve on a tray. The others are put into an airtight container in a single layer and pop into the freezer. The reason I precut the portion I freeze is so that these are easy treats for anyone looking for “something sweet”. Ironically, my husband actually prefers these cold. I can’t say he’s wrong, either. Now, don’t get me wrong, these are ethereal warm from the oven and incredible at room temperature, but cold out of the freezer is another delightful experience altogether!

I’m not planning to participate in any camping activity, why should I make these?

Great question! I know not everyone is into bonfires or camping. While I think these are phenomenal passed around a campfire, there are plenty of other reasons to make a batch. These Ooey-gooey S’Mores Bars are also great for:
  • a petite sweet for an autumn themed afternoon tea party
  • portable dessert for potlucks and chili cook-offs
  • something unique at cookie exchanges and swap parties
  • a fun project for an indoor campout
  • sharing with your chocolate loving friends–just be sure to add the dark chocolate!
 

A Final Thought:

Many of the recipes I share were created or customized for our popular tearoom.  They are all quite special to me and I encourage you to try them. I think you’ll find they are for much more than just teatime. It has always been important to me that my recipes are approachable and versatile in nature. All my recipes can be prepared to serve as part of an afternoon tea service and as heartier servings for a hungry family. I hope you try them all and share them with your family and friends. I also hope you get lots of “oohs and aahs” from your special people when you do. There are few things more satisfying to a home-chef than receiving wide-eyed enthusiasm from the ones we enjoy cooking for.
 
Although our beloved tearoom is now closed, I invite you to visit our TeaShop at sistersteacompany.com. Here we sell luxury loose-leaf teas and tisanes, plus useful—and beautiful—tea accessories. If you’re not familiar with the world of tea, check out our tea shop—you’ll be amazed at the selection of tea types and flavors. If you’re already a tea enthusiast, you will be, too!
 

Tea Recommendations:

I’ve been recommending teas for many years now and I suggest the following to serve with these amazing Ooey-gooey S’mores Bars, but these flavors are excellent for sipping any time of day and any time of year:
 
 For naturally caffeine-free options, try one of these flavors:
 
 
Please tell us what you think of our Ooey-gooey S’Mores Bars. Have you made these yet?
Keyword afternoon tea, autumn desserts, sweet treats
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