S'mores Bars

Back in August*, our relatives the Krigbaums had the family over for a BBQ (they're the ones who gave me the popular Pepperoni Pinwheels recipe) and told us to bring a dish to share. Naturally, I decided to make a dessert. Since it was a BBQ and summer, I figured I'd search for yet another s'mores recipe to make, specifically one with mini marshmallows so I could use up leftovers from the last time I made a s'mores recipe (how old they are ended up being a good thing). After searching through my S'mores Pinterest board, I finally settled on a recipe form Glorious Eats.

*I know, I know - 6 weeks! My main excuse is that I kept forgetting to put the picture collages together. Better late than never, I guess?

S'mores Bars (source)

Ingredients

Crust

• 1/2 cup butter melted
  
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs made from 1 1/2 packages of graham crackers (for simplicity's sake, I used the box of crumbs that you can get in the baking aisle at the grocery store)

Cookie Dough

• 
  1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 3/4 cup butter melted
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt (reduce to 1/2 teaspoon if using salted butter)
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup mini marshmallows

Toppings

• 1-2 Hershey chocolate bars each "Hershey" section broken or cut in half
• 1 graham cracker broken into pieces (I just sprinkled more crumbs)
• 1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and line a 9"x13" baking pan with parchment paper (or foil). Leave some paper hanging over the sides so you can easily pull the bars out of the pan after baking. (I just sprayed Pam with Flour all over the pan. Worked just as well.)
2. Crush graham crackers, then combine 1/2 cup melted butter with crumbs and stir until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan, and press evenly into the bottom of the pan. Put entire pan into the freezer while you make the cookie dough.
3. In a large mixer, blend together both sugars and the melted butter. Add eggs (one at a time) and vanilla and continue to blend until well combined.
4. In a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder and salt. Then, while the mixer is on low, slowly add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture. Stop the mixer immediately when you have added all the flour. Add the marshmallows and chocolate chips and blend until all of the ingredients are well combined.
5. Retrieve the baking pan from the freezer and scoop the dough on top of the prepared crust. Use an offset spatula to carefully spread until evenly distributed.
6. Top the dough with the toppings listed, pressing them into the dough slightly.
7. Bake 35-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown, and there is no wet batter visible.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool FULLY before cutting (1 hour or more). For easiest cutting, run a knife around any edges that are touching the sides of the pan, then pull up on the parchment paper and place giant bar on a cutting board.

These were a hit! My mom especially loved how the slightly stale marshmallows added a nice crunch (at least, I think that's what she said. It's been so long I can't remember 🤦). I ended up giving her a couple more the following week since what she'd taken home wasn't enough.