Gooey S’mores Bars

A crunchy graham cracker cookie crust, melted chocolate, and sticky marshmallows make these gooey s’mores bars the perfect portable version of your favorite childhood summer treat.

It’s time to admit something.  I might  have a teeny tiny addiction to everything s’mores flavored.

I don’t know what it is, but something about that melted chocolate + charred gooey marshmallow combination is totally irresistable.

Maybe it’s nostalgia from my many summer spent at overnight camp.  Perhaps it’s getting to feel like a kid again, despite being very much not a kid, with two children of my own.

Or really, it could just be because s’mores are universally adored because graham crackers + marshmallows + chocolate is the best combination, ever.

Regardless, this is the first of not one, not two, but three s’mores themed desserts I have in the queue for this summer.  Like I said, I can’t help it!

First up, we have these ooey gooey s’mores bars.  It’s basically everything you love about a s’more, except you can make it ahead of time in your oven.

Eating your s’mores in bar form makes them perfectly portable for BBQs and picnics — no fire pit necessary!

My first attempt at s’mores bars was for a lab picnic last summer, because what goes better with a hot summer outdoor picnic than s’mores?  But they wound up a little crunchier than I wanted.

We want nice and gooey here — just like a real s’more, with the marshmallow oozing out the sides!

I legitimately thought about these all winter long.  I mean, there’s no logical reason that I couldn’t bake up a batch in the middle of January, but I’m a pretty firm believer in baking for the season.

S’mores mean summer, so I felt obligated to wait.

And let me tell you, these were well worth the wait.  A few tweaks to my original recipe, and we had giant ooey, gooey s’mores bars, with melty chocolate and stringy soft marshmallows.  Perfection.

(Well, almost.  Here’s where I’ll admit that I prefer my marshmallows burnt on the outside, which does not happen with these gooey s’mores bars.  But if you’re like me, go get yourself a kitchen torch and put it to work.  And then send me a piece.)

How to Make Gooey S’mores Bars:

Just like a s’more has four layers, so do these s’mores bars.

1. Graham Cracker Crust: The bottom layer of our s’mores bars is a graham cracker cookie based crust, pressed down into the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan.  Bake this first to get a nice crispy base — something sturdy to hold, and a little crunchy like a graham cracker.
2. Melted Chocolate: Super simple — all you’re going to do is place chocolate bars on top of the baked crust layer.  You can, of course, use dark chocolate for a more grownup s’mores bar, but I went with good old fashioned milk chocolate Hershey bars, to recreate the s’mores of my youth.
3. Mini Marshmallows: You’ll want to go small here — jumbo marshmallows won’t give an even surface coverage and sit so tall, they won’t develop that gooey, stringy texture you expect from a s’more.
4. More Graham Cracker Crust: Unlike a true s’more, this isn’t a full covering.  Just take some of the reserved crust and drop it on top.  As it bakes, it will spread enough to provide some covered spots to hold your s’mores bar without grabbing it by the sticky marshmallows.

That’s it: super simple.  Then bake everything for a few minutes (don’t overbake!!), let it cool, and dig in.  Personal advice: cut these bars large.  Or cut them small and expect everyone to take three.

Because believe me, they are way too good to stop after just one bite.

Print Recipe

Yield: 16 Bars

Gooey S'mores Bars

Prep Time:15 minutes

Cook Time:30 minutes

Total Time:45 minutes

A crunchy graham cracker cookie crust, melted chocolate, and sticky marshmallows make these gooey s’mores bars a portable version of a classic summer treat.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (approximately 12 full graham crackers)
• 3 7-ounce chocolate bars
• 1 10-ounce bag miniature marshmallows

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F.  Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, followed by the vanilla.  Slowly add in the flour, baking powder, and salt, continuing to beat and scraping down the sides of the bowl.  Add in the graham cracker crumbs, mixing until just combined.
3. Press approximately two-thirds of the dough into the bottom of the prepared dish.  The dough will be very sticky; press down into the corners using the bottom of a well-greased measuring cup or glass.  Chill the remaining dough.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove pan from oven.  Layer the chocolate bars on top of the crust, followed by the miniature marshmallows.  Drop the remaining graham cracker cookie base on top of the dough in spoonfuls.
5. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes, until marshmallows are puffy and clumps of dough are fully cooked.  Remove from the oven and cool completely before slicing.

A Bunsen Burner Bakery Original Protocol