Summery S’more Bars

There are many flavors that make me think of summer: Watermelon, hot dogs, potato salad and many other foods that would grace my picnic table. But the one food that truly says summer to me is s’mores. Just the mention of s’mores brings back many happy memories of sticky fingers, burnt tree branches, glowing embers, starry skies, lightning bugs and happy tummies. Over the years I’ve seen lots of recipes that try to capture the flavors of s’mores into a bar or cookie form, but many of those recipes fell short of what I thought they would be. What I was looking for was the melty feel of a freshly browned marshmallow, the crunch of the graham cracker and the chunky goodness of the bite of chocolate. So, I set out to replicate that myself…

My chocolate of choice has always been Hershey’s. Sure, I enjoy a high end salted caramel or other such chocolate finery now and again, but my heart belongs to Hershey’s. A s’more just isn’t a s’more without it.

There are a total of eight bars folded into my S’more Bars batter. That and a whole ten ounces of broken graham cracker pieces. I left the graham crackers in large pieces because I wanted a layered effect with different textures in every bite. Just like a real s’more.

And of course there are marshmallows. In my dream world I would make the marshmallows from scratch. But the reality is that if I have no time to light up a campfire and make real s’mores, sticks and all, then I have no business trying to whip up scratch marshmallows. As a mom of four, I can only do so much. That’s why I love this bar s’more recipe. No fuss!

When the bars come out of the oven, you are totally going to want to slice them up immediately because the smell is going to kill you. Really, my whole house filled up with the scent of chocolate and sugar. My kids were tortured by waiting for them to come out of the oven.

But, you will have to wait a bit because they will be very gooey. Just like a real s’more. So, it’s best to wait and let them set for about two hours in the fridge. Or, if you absolutely can’t handle waiting, use a serving spoon and dish it up in a bowl. And if you add a scoop of ice cream over top, I promise not to tell.

S’more Bars

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 sticks butter, softened 2 cups brown sugar, packed 4 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 10oz graham crackers, broken into large pieces 1 10oz bag of marshmallows 8 Hershey bars, broken into small pieces

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350º and grease a 9×13 baker.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a stand mixer (or handheld), cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time and mix over low/­medium speed just until incorporated.

Add vanilla and mix over low­/medium speed for another minute.

Add flour mixture slowly and mix just until incorporated.

By hand, fold in graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate.

Press into greased 9×13 baker. Bake in a 350º oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

(When you are inserting your toothpick to check for doneness, try to aim for the batter areas. Avoid the chocolate or marshmallows as of course the toothpick will be sticky. Shoot for the batter to get a better feel for doneness.)

Allow the bars to cool in the fridge before serving. Store bars in the refrigerator.

S’more Bars. All the flavors of the campfire treat without having to start the fire. Somewhere out there a tree thanks you.