My house smells amazing right now. Sensational, in fact. The last time it smelled like this was several years ago when I made these S’mores Bars for a holiday party we were hosting. They were SO delicious, SO I-can’t-stop-eating-them yummy, that I was counting my lucky stars that I’d made them for a pile of people. Because if I’d made them just for us? I would have needed larger pants that Christmas.

These are better than real s’mores. Don’t get me wrong—I love s’mores with their marshmallows toasted to a perfect golden brown over a campfire, the chocolate melting underneath said toasty marshmallow, and both smushed between two graham crackers. I’ve even gotten fancy with s’mores once in a while and used dark chocolate and a few fresh raspberries tucked under the marshmallow (those were DIVINE, by the way). But these bars are…they are everything that’s right in this world.

AND they’re easy. I mean, can you get any better than that?! I think not.

You mix up a quick dough that has graham cracker crumbs in it, press half of it into a greased pan, slap some chocolate bars on top, slather them with marshmallow creme, and then cover that with the rest of the graham cracker dough. SIMPLE.

If you happen to live in a place where graham crackers are not available at your local grocery, you can make your own (and they’re really easy to make). Homemade graham crackers are soooooooooo delicious that it almost seems a crime to use them as an ingredient in something else, BUT they’ll improve whatever else you’re making. Not only would they raise the bar on these S’mores Bars, but think about how amazing they would be all crumbled up underneath Bec’s New York Style Cheesecake! GAH!! So, I say GO FOR IT. (But make a double batch so you can eat some plain, too. You’ll thank me.)

There is one tiny, little itty-bitty problem with this recipe (aside from the fact that you won’t be able to stop eating it). You might want to be sitting down for this.

You have to let it completely cool before you cut into it.

Okay, so maybe, sitting there reading through this recipe, you’re thinking, What? THAT’s not a big deal. I can TOTALLY do that. What the heck, that’s not a problem. But you have yet to experience the marvelous aroma of these baking up golden brown in your oven. Or the tantalizing torture of the exquisitely fresh baked treat sitting on your counter, STILL not feeling cool enough to cut after an hour or two, no matter how many times you touch the bottom of the pan to check.

I mean, of course you could go ahead and slice into them, but you’ll have a holy mess on your hands. Literally. So, if you want neat(ish) bars, and you want them to cut more easily, you must wait.

But it’s worth it, I promise you.

Happy baking, my friends!

Seriously Sensational S'mores Bars

A crunchy, graham-crackery, buttery cookie bar with a thick layer of chocolate and marshmallow in the middle. The best s'mores you'll ever have!

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert, Snack

Servings: 1 8 x 8 square pan

Ingredients

Volume - Weight

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 8 full size graham crackers)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 giant size chocolate bars
• 1 1/2-2 cups marshmallow creme

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F/177 C. Grease an 8 x 8 square baking pan.
  
• Run graham crackers through a food processor or smash them by hand until they're a fine crumb. Set aside.
  
• In a mixing bowl, whip butter and both sugars. Then add vanilla and egg, and run your mixer until the batter is light and fluffy.
  
• To the mixing bowl, add flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt. Mix until the dough is well formed and no longer sticking to the walls of the bowl.
  
• Split the dough in half, and press one half into the bottom of your prepared baking pan. Layer the chocolate on top, then spread the marshmallow creme over the chocolate, covering the whole surface to the sides of the pan. With the remaining dough, flatten pieces of it and place on top of the marshmallow, shaping it to cover the entire surface.
  
• Bake at 350 F/177 C for 25-30 minutes.
• Remove from oven, and let it cool completely before slicing. (I understand the torture of that last bit, but trust me, it'll slice so much better and will be totally worth the wait. Promise!)
  

Notes

Recipe adapted from S'mores Bars.