Summer is almost over and school will be starting soon where we live. But I am not quite ready to let go of summer yet. I want to squeeze in a few more trips to the beach and amusement park. I want to have a couple more cookouts and enjoy a few more swims. Will we able to fit all those activities in? I'm not sure, but one thing we did manage to fit in, was making one last summer treat. S'mores are our favorite summer dessert. We often make them over a campfire or a fire pit. But I wanted to make a variation on s'mores that could be enjoyed all year round and I think we did it. These S'Mores Bars, are according to my 8 year old, "the best thing I have ever tasted." The kid know her treats. Try them and see if you don't agree. For more yummy S'Mores flavor, check out this S'Mores Quesadillas. Such a yummy snack or dessert. This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Huggies®. As always, all opinions are my own.
I will warn you before you make these s'mores bars, that they are messy. They are messy to make and messy to eat. It is very worth it, but I wanted you to be prepared. We prepared for the mess by having lots of Huggies® Wipes on hand. We have used Huggies® Wipes in the past to help with clean up when we made a Rainbow Handprint Flower Pot and created Painting with Bubble Wrap.
S'Mores Bars
These s'mores bars are perfect to make with kids. There are plenty of steps for them to help out with, and making them is a great way to spend time with your child.
Traditional s'mores are made with graham crackers and so are these bars. We will be making a graham cracker crust which requires crushing some crackers. The easiest (and most fun) way I have found to do this is to let a child crush the crackers using a zipped bag and a rolling pin. Simply insert the crackers, seal the bag and roll over it with the rolling pin until crumbs are formed. The crumbs don't need to be ultra fine - a few chunks work okay.
Once you mix the crumbs with some butter and sugar, it is time to press them into a prepared 8x8 or 9x9 pan. You will be saving some of the graham cracker mixture for the top, so set that aside. Then bake the crust for a few minutes to set it.
This is just one instance where we ended up with messy hands, but not to worry! We had Huggies® Wipes nearby. They took care of the grease and crumbs on my daughter's hands.
What are s'more without chocolate? We broke up pieces of our favorite chocolate bar to add to the baked crust. Breaking up the chocolate bar made our hands quite sticky. But, you guessed it - Huggies® Wipes to the rescue. Placing the pieces of chocolate on the just baked crust needs to be an adult job since the pan will still be warm from the oven.
After I placed the chocolate on the crust, the pan went back into the oven for another few minutes so the chocolate could melt. When it came out of the oven, I used a spatula to spread the chocolate around.
Now it is time to top this with marshmallows, an essential part of any s'mores recipe. I bought some square marshmallows that worked perfectly on these s'mores bars, but traditional marshmallows (cut in half) will work as well. Then the pan goes back in the oven for some more baking.
When it comes out, it is time to top with the remaining crust mixture before one last trip to the oven.
When this comes out of the oven it will be browned and crisp on top, but very gooey in the middle. You will need to put it in the refrigerator for a bit so it can firm up.
Even after cooling off a bit, the gooey goodness you have come to expect from s'mores remains.
The kids LOVED these s'mores bars. Even my kids who didn't help to make them, came out of the woodwork to enjoy them.
S'Mores Bars
Ingredients
- You will need an 8x8 or 9x9 greased pan.
- 12 graham crackers crushed (approx. 2 ½ - 3 cups of crushed crackers)
- ½ cup butter
- ⅛ cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups chocolate bar pieces just under 6 bars
- 12 large marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 or 9x9 pan.
- Place graham crackers into a zip bag,seal the bag,and roll over it with the rolling pin until crumbs are formed. The crumbs don't need to be ultra fine - a few chunks work okay.
- In a medium bowl, mix the crumbs with the butter and sugar.
- Set aside ¼ of the crumb mixture to use as the topping.
- Press the rest of the crumb mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and carefully top with pieces of chocolate bars.
- Place back in oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove and spread chocolate with a spatula to cover the crust.
- Top with 12 square marshmallows and bake for 6 minutes.If you do not have square marshmallows, just cover the chocolate layer with whatever marshmallows you have on hand.
- Bake for 6 minutes.
- Remove from oven, top with remaining crumb mixture and bake for a final 6 minutes.
- When bars are done, cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until they can be easily cut into bars.
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What a fun recipe to get the kiddos involved in! I bet it tastes amazing, too! Great alternative to when you don't want to build a fire and roast marshmallows!