Growing up, I never went camping so making actual s’mores was more of a stove top burner experience 😕. I still enjoy a good s’more every now & again but I personally don’t really like the ratio between the chocolate bar & the big marshmallow. Then everything changed with the invention of the s’mores bar!
A few summers ago, I tried the s’mores bars that Starbucks started selling at their cafés. It was all downhill for my diet and wallet from there 🥺. I began searching for recipes to replicate these bars because purchasing them for $4 a piece was getting too expensive and they weren’t available year-round. At the time, I didn’t find what I was looking for so I experimented & came up with this delicious, not-too-sweet version of the ultimate summer BBQ dessert.
To break it down into the 3 layers, it is 1. graham cracker crust + 2. chocolate ganache + 3. slightly roasted marshmallows in that order. Enjoy!
Anna’s S’mores Bar Recipe
Ingredients
- 4.5 graham full cracker sheets or 12 crackers
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 10 oz mini marshmallows
Yields: 20 bars
Directions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Place graham crackers in zip top bag & crush into crumbs. Rolling pin method works great. Pour crumbs into medium bowl.
- Melt stick of butter. Pour onto crumbs & add sugar. Combine well to coat throughout crumbs. Mixture will look slightly wet.
- Line 9×13 baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper. (Parchment paper works great so you can lift the entire bar sheet up once set to cut into bars.) Pour graham cracker mixture into prepared baking pan & spread evenly throughout. Some use the bottom of a flat measuring cup to press firmly down. I prefer to use a rubber spatula to get a flat crust.
- Bake for 7 minutes.
- Cool completely.
Chocolate Ganache
- Pour heavy cream in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over the stove & immediately turn off once cream starts to boil.
- Add in bittersweet chocolate. (I use baking chips so it doesn’t need extra prep. If using a baking chocolate bar, cut into small pieces/chunks before adding to cream.)
- Stir until chocolate is completely melted & the mixture is a smooth consistency.
- Cool completely.
- Once cooled, pour over graham cracker crust & spread into even layer.
- Refrigerate at least an hour or until ganache firms up. (To speed things up, I put in freezer for 30 minutes.)
Marshmallow Layer
- Turn on oven broiler to high.
- Place the mini marshmallows into the top layer of the sheet. (I used to spend a long time lining each marshmallow so the flat sides were on the top & bottom throughout the entire pan but got lazy & realized that it’s still just as delicious & much easier to pour the entire bag onto the pan & spread evenly. It definitely looks better if you line them individually so it’s up to you 😜). Be sure to fill in any gaps… you don’t want to see too much of the brown chocolate after you put the marshmallows on top.
- Place onto top rack of oven for ~2 minutes. You want to watch this step carefully as the marshmallows could start to burn quickly! I typically put into oven with the door shut for the first minute. Then I open the door & shift the pan around for about another minute to get a nice even browning on all the marshmallows.
- Refrigerate for another 30 minutes to an hour. Once all layers are set, cut into bars/squares. (Pro tip: use a long bread knife & spray the blade with some cooking spray before cutting. Wipe off about every 2-3 cuts & re-grease to prevent chocolate getting onto marshmallow layer.) Enjoy!
That’s it! It’s a very simple recipe but does take a bit of patience for each of the 3 layers. I will aim to add some pictures for each of the layers the next time I make it. It is a huge hit with my kids, especially because they can help with the lining the marshmallows.
Please try it & comment on how it came out!
