S'mores Bars

Do you know the scene in The Sandlot where Smalls is heading over to the clubhouse to be told the drastically revised edition of the story of THE BEAST by Squints, and after he explains how his mom made him do dishes before heading over (the same parents who don't even attend the block party on the 4th of July???) to hang with his new friends, Ham asks him if he wants s'mores, and Scotty, in his innocence, verbally wonders how he can have some more of something he's never had before? (If that's not a lesson in keeping your thoughts to yourself, I don't know what is. Forget not knowing who Babe Ruth is, but where did he live that he never heard of a s'more!) For me, I don't have any fond memories of summertime evenings spent near a bonfire roasting marshmallows to assemble s'mores, getting my daily dose of carcinogen in, but it reminds me of The Sandlot. EVERY TIME.

If you want to skip the carcinogen, and frankly I feel that's the only flavor missing in this recipe, and want a less messy and make ahead-able s'more, I highly suggest these cookie bars. The dough is used as the base as well as the crumbly topping, and what's great is that the dough is made with crushed graham cracker crumbs. Once the base is partially baked, it gets a sprinkling of chocolate chips (I used those over the Hershey bars, marshmallows, and the remaining cookie dough that gets crumbled on top.

What you get is a gooey and rich s'mores bar that you'll be able to take anywhere (very transportable), and can be eaten at any time. Like, say, breakfast. Or any time you need to take a break, because s'mores remind you of good times.

Recipe after jump

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S'mores Cookie Bars
Recipe from Hersheys.com

Yield - 16 bars

Ingredients -

1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars (1.55 oz. each) (or enough chocolate chips to cover bottom layer)
3 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions -

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Beat butter and sugar until well blended in large bowl. Add egg and vanilla and beat well.


2. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough in prepared pan and bake 15 minutes.


3. Arrange unwrapped chocolate bars over baked layer, breaking as needed to fit. Sprinkle with marshmallows, then scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallows, forming top layer. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or just until lightly browned.


4. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.