The S'more the Merrier

When I think of summer recipes (especially sweet treats) I think of the gooey, delectable, chocolatey-marshmallowy-grahamy goodness of a S’more. It is probably one of my all-time favorite summer treats. Ok, let’s be serious here. It’s one of my all-time favorite, ALL-YEAR-ROUND treats. I really can’t get enough of them.

I can’t remember exactly when my taste buds were introduced to this gorgeous, gooey goody but I was probably around 12 or 13. I do remember it was at a church youth activity we call firesides, where a member of our church would share a positive, devotional/spiritual message to the teenagers. When I discovered them, I couldn't get enough of them and since then, anytime someone looks at me and says they haven't tried a S'more, I feel like Ham from the movie Sandlot and want to scream "You're killin' me, Smalllss!" (If you see a ginormous space below, it's because your phone doesn't let you see this epic youtube video. Kinda annoying and since I don't know how to fix it,  just click on the "You're killing me, Smallls" link above if you're dying to see how a s'more is made). ;-) 

Due to my love of S’mores, I have found myself looking for different ways to enjoy them. The idea of a S'more Cookie bar made it's way to my pinterest page and after making several different renditions of the treat and tweaking to perfection, I am done looking for recipes and I am done tweaking.  If you love S'mores you will die and go to HEAVEN with this recipe. Here it is:

S’mores Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of REAL, salted, softened butter (1/2 cup)

• 3/4 cup of granulated sugar

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs

• 1 egg

• 1 1/2 tsps. vanilla extract

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1-2 cups marshmallow cream (I use marshmallow "Fluff").

• 18-20 small Hershey milk chocolate bars (or 5-6 regular sized ones).

Note to selves: There are four ingredients in this recipe that you should never substitute: 1) REAL butter, 2) brand-named Graham crackers (I love Nabisco Original Grahams), 3) Marshmallow Fluff- Not Marshmallows (I know, I know but I'm telling you, the Fluff is the way to go), and lastly, 4) REAL Hershey Milk Chocolate bars, because hello, we're making S'mores here. 

Ok, let's go!

First: In a large mixing bowl (I'm using my kitchen aid here, but you can use a hand beater), mix that softened, REAL butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.

Second: Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract.

Third, you can buy pre-made graham cracker crumbs, but I typically just put one whole package of graham crackers in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and use my rolling pin to crush to crumbs. Unless...(ahhh- enter choir of kitchen angels) you have one of these babies:

Here is my new Cuisinart Food Processor. (You know life has changed when getting new kitchen appliances makes me happier than, well, happier than this cute guy): 

Next, Add your dry ingredients: the flour, graham cracker crumbs, and baking powder.

Fifth, in a greased 9 inch square baking pan, press half of the cookie mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Unwrap the Hershey bars and place them on top of this amazing graham cookie crust.

Around this time, Princess Mini-me arrived in the kitchen to see what was going on. I'm telling you all, this 

child can hear the unwrapping of a chocolate candy bar like A MILE AWAY. She is always willing to 

help with the chocolate part.  (P.S. She would not take her Snow White dress off all day. New

development for us.

Ok, so after you place the chocolate on top of the crust, and using a knife or a spatula, spread the
marshmallow cream (fluff) ON TOP of the Hershey bars. This can sometimes be a little tricky as you have
to make sure the Hershey bars don't move around too much. But I have a trick to overcome this. 
Just.add.MORE marshmallow cream! Hey, the S'more the merrier, right?

After this, take the remaining graham cracker cookie mixture (from the bowl) and crumble or "dot" it on top of the Marshmallow cream. (At this point, we got kind of excited in our house and forgot to take a picture).

Then, bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. (Also not pictured because we seriously ate them as soon as we took them out of the oven).

Once done, let cool for 10-15 minutes. The first time we ever ate these, we served them warm and with this yummy Breyers S'more ice cream on top. Like I said, the S'more the merrier.

Yup. Pure awesomeness that night. We spare no calorie here. Or, you can just eat them warm. BBH actually likes to let them cool a little more so that he can enjoy them as an actual cookie bar. I like that, too.

First picture of the final product

Here's an even more creative picture of the finished product, obviously not taken by me, but by my much better half, BBH:

2nd picture of the final product. Umm..apparently BBH is much better at "staging" food than I am.

If these babies last, you should store them in an air-tight container. The recipe should make about 18 bars for a normal, disciplined person. Naturally, this would not be me. So who knows how many bars this makes in the K home. 

And folks, just so y'all know…National S’mores day is on August 10^th…another reason to make it this month, yet again. Enjoy!