S’more Than You Can Handle

Sometimes life gets too busy for dessert. You’re playing defense, offense, triangulating with co-workers and family members to keep the things moving with forward momentum and with as little conflict as possible, right? By the time you finish up all this life-playing, you’ll probably have enough time to catch a syndicated Seinfeld episode before falling asleep.

Wrong. You still have time for this s’mores bar recipe, which is  super easy and pretty much fail-proof. The only difficulty comes with the wait period in which the chocolate needs to set.

Oh, and Cocoa Pebbles is my secret ingredient to keep the chocolate portion from being too rich and give it a textural contrast.

S’mores Bars

  • 2 cups graham crackers
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 7 tablespoons butter melted.
  • 16 oz of dark chocolate (65% cacao), melted
  • 1 cup of whole milk
  • 2 cups of Cocoa Pebbles
  • 4 cups mini marshmallows, divided use

Instructions:

  1. Place graham crackers, sugar and melted butter in a bowl and mix to blend. Firmly press mixture into the bottom of an 11×13 pan and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F. Set aside to cool.
  2. Melt chocolate with milk in a pan over medium low heat and whisk to combine. Transfer mixture to a new bowl and set aside for 10 minutes to cool (transferring the mixture to a new bowl will help to cool it faster).
  3. Add cocoa pebbles and 2 cups of marshmallows to cooled chocolate mixture and mix to combine. Pour mixture over crust. Pour remaining 2 cups mini marshmallows on top and place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to toast tops of marshmallow layer. Transfer completed dessert to fridge and chill for at least 2-3 hours or overnight.

A few notes:

  • You can of course skip the cocoa pebbles. But we liked the extra crisp in the chocolate bite.
  • Keep a careful eye when toasting the marshmallow portion in the broiler, as the 2-3 minutes can fluctuate depending on your broiler set up. We recommend you check it after the first minute.
  • For nice clean slices, wash or wipe knife off between cuts.

More: S’mores Gone Wild!

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42 comments

  • cbr August 30, 2011  

    Yum!

    Should step one say “Place *graham crackers, sugar and butter* (including one-half of the mini marshmallows) in a bowl and mix to blend”?

  • bakersroyale August 30, 2011  

    cbr-Yes, it should. Thanks for letting me know! I updated the recipe.

  • Sylvie August 30, 2011  

    Cocoa Pebbles, brilliant! These are amazing.

  • Leah | So, How's It Taste? August 30, 2011  

    Oh my gosh they look so good! and so easy to make! I could devour an entire pan of these right now, lol!

  • Sasha @ The Procrastobaker August 30, 2011  

    Now THESE look like bars worth breaking the diet for 🙂 not that i was ever on a diet…but if i was then it definitely would become obsolete after seeing these! gorgeouuuss 🙂

  • Alexandra - kärlek på tallrik August 30, 2011  

    Looks absolutely fantastic! Too bad I can’t have them, you know, being a vegetarian and all… I can still look though 😉

  • Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen August 30, 2011  

    These look so amazing! I’m obsessed with all things s’mores.

  • susie August 30, 2011  

    I love these, and have made them without Cocoa Pebbles, but I love the idea of that crunch…and how perfect because today is National Toasted Marshmallow Day (aug 30)! Oh the things you learn on twitter!

  • Megan August 30, 2011  

    Have you tried substituting milk chocolate for the dark?

  • camille August 30, 2011  

    How many graham crackers go into making 2 cups, do you recall?

  • bakersroyale August 30, 2011  

    Camille-It’s about 15 full size graham crackers.

  • bakersroyale August 30, 2011  

    Megan-I have not tried substituting milk chocolate. That has more to do with my preference for dark chocolate. It should work just fine with milk chocolate. You may need to drop the milk portion to 3/4 cup though to make up for the higher milk fat in the chocolate milk for proper set up. If you make it with milk chocolate, come back and let us know how it works.

  • Winnie September 3, 2011  

    It looks wonderful, and actually I was looking for a good recipe for s’more brownies.
    As I don’t live in the USA I assume the pan’s measurements are in inches, correct?

  • Dawn @ Kitchen Lore September 9, 2011  

    These look amazing. Can’t wait to try them out!

  • mary September 10, 2011  

    Should graham crackers be crushed before combining with other ingredients?

    Does it matter if skim milk is used in final result?

    And is it intended to be eaten chilled or warmed?

  • Susan September 11, 2011  

    Darn – I bought Cocoa Krispies by mistake. Still really good but I will make these again with Cocoa Pebbles. Also, I used 1/2 milk chocolate & 1/2 dark chocolate. Delicious. Mine don’t look as nice as yours…….

  • Marisa September 12, 2011  

    That looks seriously amazing. Like I want to make (& devour) an entire batch *right now*.

  • naomi September 15, 2011  

    Mary-Yes, crush the graham crackers first to create and bake the crust. Skim milk will work fine, just expect a less creamy chocolate body. You can eat them chilled or warm I suggest eating it at room temperature.

  • Pingback: S’mores Pie | Just Putzing Around the Kitchen September 28, 2011  
  • Mary R October 2, 2011  

    I had really high hopes, but I’m chalking this one up to a recipe fail. There’s not enough butter or sugar in the graham cracker crust to really hold it together. It positively disintegrated when I cut the bars. The chocolate layer is also super problematic. There’s too much milk for the chocolate to set up right, and the cocoa pebbles absorb too much moisture and become weird leathery bits. The cold also gives the marshmallows an odd texture.

    I’d rework it to double the butter and sugar in the crust, which brings it more align with other graham cracker crust recipes. I might also riff on a condensed milk/chocolate chip/butter quick fudge for the chocolate layer. The cocoa pebbles *might* stay crispy in that, (and it would cut much, much better) but I’d run a small test first. The quick fudge also requires no refrigeration, so the marshmallows will stay just right.

  • Jen December 9, 2011  

    YUMMY! These look so good! I’m featuring them on my site today!
    Jen
    Scissors & Spatulas

  • Erin December 11, 2011  

    I tried this recipe, only I added more butter to the graham cracker crumbs, and it seemed to help it stay together more (you’ll be able to tell just by looking at it if it needs more butter. I think I added about 50% more butter.) They weren’t perfect-looking, like the picture, but were a hit nonetheless… they were delicious! The cocoa pebbles were a nice touch – not “leathery” in my batch like another commenter said happened with theirs. And be careful when broiling the marshmallows – I only had mine in the oven for about a minute!

  • Sandra January 5, 2012  

    I am a bit confused about the directions for this recipe as written. No where do you say to add marshmellows to the crust mixture but yet in the first comment the lady ask if they should be added in the crust mixture and you say yes. You don’t tell where that 2 cups come from. In your ingredient list you only list 4 cups marshmellows total so do you not add the 2 cups in with the chocolate, cocoa pebbles part or not add the 2 cups on top that you broil? Or do you need 6 cups of marshmellows total? If they are added to the crust I could see it helping to hold it together better.

  • Lori January 8, 2012  

    Yeah, something’s up with this recipe. My crust was so crumbly, so thank you to those who gave tips on how to fix that. The chocolate was very runny until the next day where it hardened up but still kinda funky. I set the marshmallows on fire the first time…She’s right! Keep an eye on those guys!! Mine was a huge fail, but I WILL try again!

  • Erika January 23, 2012  

    Would these ship well??

  • Michelle Chaves March 21, 2012  

    Why don’t I read the comments BEFORE I make the recipe. Clearly the picture shows twice as much crust and chocolate than the recipe calls for. Unless it was made in a smaller pan. I put mine under the broiler for two minutes and almost burned the house down. Thankfully I had a standby bag of marshmallows. I hope this sets as a previous post complained it did not or I’m going to have VERY disappointed children.

  • Suzanne April 16, 2012  

    I also got confused by the first few comments and I did toss in marshmallows into my crust before I read further – oops! I thought about remaking the crust but decided not to since the marshmallows did seem to hold it together and help coat the entire bottom of the 9×13 pan. It didn’t *ruin* it, it just made it sticky.

    Next time – I would leave the marshmallows out of the crust (because that was my oops!), and then double or even triple the graham cracker crust because it just was not enough graham cracker to balance out the sweetness of the chocolate.

  • Suzanne April 16, 2012  

    Wanted to add – they were very yummy, but just pretty sweet. Maybe we are not used to that much dark chocolate! So I’d prefer more graham cracker, and of course a glass of milk on the side 🙂

  • Lilian May 7, 2012  

    Very beautiful dessert. It looked too cute to eat! I’m not sure I liked the taste though. I thought it was too sweet. The Graham crust was also falling apart… it was a fun dessert to make though. Thanks!

  • Leela June 11, 2012  

    I made these for my son’s cowboy preschool end of year celebration. They were a big hit! I did use a smaller pan and took out the cereal the second time around. Before cutting, I put them in the freezer for 10 mins which held the graham cracker crust together. I read all the comments but still wasn’t careful enough with the marshmallows under the broiler! The second batch, I kept a careful eye on. Thanks for a great recipe!

  • pat July 8, 2012  

    Hi, about the chocolate, do you use squares or nestles dark chocolate chip morsels?

  • Kristi July 26, 2012  

    Same question as Pat : About the chocolate, do you use squares or nestles dark chocolate chip morsels?

  • Sarah Nuttall August 9, 2012  

    Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe! I loved them! they were super tasty! I can’t wait to try out some more of your great looking recipes too! I posted a link from my website to yours with a shout out to you! Thanks again!

  • Rachel November 4, 2012  

    This recipe is wonderful! While I agree that the 1st step is somewhat confusing, it didn’t take much to figure out that yes, you do need to crush the graham crackers before mixing with the butter and sugar… Just had to look at the picture to realize that one… And my crust was not at all falling apart like other comments- it was solid, with just the perfect amount of crumble – I didn’t have any trouble cutting it… Everything else was perfect as well- just delicious! I made this 3 days ago & we finished it up tonight- we thought it was even better today, than on the day it was made! Thanks for a fabulous recipe!!!!!

  • Ashton December 31, 2012  

    Is this made in an 11×7 (brownie pan) to get it thick like that…or is it actually made in an 11×13 pan? Thanks

  • Stephanie January 15, 2013  

    Lol. Wish I had read the comments before. My marshmallows were just on fire but I scraped it and added more. We’ll see how this tastes!

  • Andressa January 17, 2013  

    This recipe was awful for me. I ended up with a smushy soggy mess. None of the measurments are accurate. When I poured the chocolate onto the crust it simply soaked in and didn’t even cover half of the pan! I’m really disappointed because the picture looks awesome but there is no way you got that from the recipe described.

  • Koiwilai January 29, 2013  

    I’m curious what will happen if we chill it in the fridge will the taste still as best as the melted/fluffy marshmallow

  • Melanie May 22, 2013  

    Should the pan be an 11×13 sheet pan or cake pan? An would it work it with a 9×13?

  • Kerr June 12, 2013  

    I made and they were great despite the fact that they caught on fire while in the broiler.
    Make sure there is plenty of clearance in the oven

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