S'mores Bars are everybody's favorite campfire treat except in bar form and without the camping! Gooey marshmallows, buttery graham cracker crust, and melty chocolate, all in wonderful ooey, gooey cookie s'mores bars that you won't be able to stop eating!
The flavor of classic s'mores will always and forever be linked to my childhood and one of my obsessions. Some of our other favorite s'mores-inspired desserts are Chocolate Chip S’mores Cookies, S’mores Snack Mix, and this show-stopping 3-Layer S’mores Cake.
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First off, Happy 4th of July! It's one of my very favorite holidays, right up there next to Halloween. I love everything about it - fireworks, bbq's, music by John Philips Sousa, and especially the food. You always here about the magical first snowfall of winter, right? Well I feel that way about the first s'mores of the summer.
I mean, who doesn't? And s'mores bars on the 4th of July?! I mean, apple pie is definitely all-american but so are s'mores.
When I can't have good old campfire s'mores because we aren't out in the woods somewhere or we are celebrating the 4th at home, I've gotta say, these s'mores bars have a magic all their own. They will magically make everyone love you. They will magically disappear. They will magically turn you into a baking genius!
And if you love brownies and bars like these, you might also want to check out my pecan pie cheesecake bars, strawberry rhubarb crumb bars, Mississippi mud nrownies, easy caramel pecan brownies, or peanut butter blondies.
What are S'mores Cookie Bars?
I've seen s'mores bars made by replacing some flour with crushed graham crackers or using marshmallow fluff in place of marshmallows. But this version of s'mores bars starts out with a buttery graham cracker crust on the bottom, which is topped with a cookie dough-type batter that is loaded with chocolate and marshmallows.
After baking that for a bit in the oven, you pull out the bars and top them with more marshmallows and Hershey's squares (rectangles? but don't we call them squares?) before throwing them back in the oven to finish cooking.
Oh, and I sprinkled them with a handful of chocolate chips after taking them out of the oven just for the sake of prettier photographs, but I'm probably going to do it every time from now on.
Looking for a last minute treat for your 4th of July party? Look no further.
You probably already have everything you need for these in your pantry, even the Hershey bars. Like magic. C'mon - we all have a stash of chocolate somewhere around the house, right?
Paul has taken these to work multiple times and always comes home with requests for the recipe. One of the partners he worked for even told him that this was the best dessert he has ever eaten.
I got the same comment recently from a bunch of teenagers when I took them to a church youth event. Which is quite a testament to the power of these addicting little bars.
You should know, if these s'mores bars are in the house, you will probably find yourself making up excuses to walk back through the kitchen to "put something away" only to slice off a sliver of s'mores bars and hope that nobody notices.
Then you will see you didn't slice perfectly straight and have to have another slice just to even things up. And so on. Consider yourself warned.
I originally got the recipe from The Hungry Runner Girl. She brought these s'mores bars to a party thrown by a mutual friend. That's the only time we ever met but obviously we bonded over our shared love of dessert and she pointed me to the recipe on her blog, which is awesome btw.
How to Make S'mores Bars
1. Make the graham cracker crust. Pulverize a bunch of graham crackers and mix with a little sugar and butter to make a crust. Press into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish and bake for a few minutes until set.
2. Make chocolate chip cookie dough! With marshmallows! Combine butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat again, then mix in flour, baking soda, and salt just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and marshmallows.
3. Press cookie dough into pan on top of graham cracker crust. Then bake for 18 minutes at 350 degrees F.
4. Top the partially baked bars with more marshmallows and broken up Hershey's bars. Finish baking for another 9-11 minutes.
5. Try to wait for the bars to cool enough to cut them into squares. It's not easy. They will smell amazing.
Love s'mores? Here are s'more recipes you'll love!
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S'mores Bars
Ingredients
Graham cracker crust
- 2 ¼ cups graham crackers (1 ½ sleeves, crushed)
- ⅔ cup salted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
Cookie top
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar (150g)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, scooped and leveled (317g)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 cups miniature marshmallows divided
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3 Hershey bars broken up
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar using a fork, then press the crumb mixture into the bottom of a 13×9-inch rectangular greased baking dish. Bake for 7 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, cream the butter and sugars together. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat well until light and creamy. Stir in flour, salt and baking soda just until combined. Then mix in the chocolate chips and 2 cups of the marshmallows by hand.
- Carefully spread cookie mixture over the graham cracker crust by dropping spoonfuls of batter evenly around the dish and then gently pressing it together so you aren't disturbing the graham cracker crust beneath.
- Bake for 18 minutes at 350 degrees, then quickly remove from the oven, top with broken pieces of Hershey Bars and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup marshmallows. Return to oven to finish baking. Bake 9-11 minutes more, until golden brown on top. The center should be mostly set but still just a little undercooked. Don't overcook - you want to eat these just a little on a the gooey side, trust me.
- Remove and allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.
I made this for a get together and someone said “this is the best thing I have ever eaten.” It was sooo good… everyone was talking about it. Yum- thank you!!
Lol, so happy to hear that!
Made this tonight.. followed recipe exactly and it was delicious. Husband said it was the best thing I’ve ever made (and he’s not even big on sweets so that’s how good it is).
Light or dark brown sugar?
Light Brown sugar.
I made these for a co-workers bday today and they were a hit in our office! Everyone loved them! I did make a mistake, I did not thoroughly read the instructions and put all 3 cups of marshmallows in the dough and then I decided to still put another cup on top and they were still Sooo good!
Also had 1 discrepancy with the recipe, it says 2 1/2 cups of crushed graham crackers and then 1.5 sleeves but I couldn’t get 2.5 cups out of only 1.5 sleeves so I had to use more and my bottom was a little crumbly but they were still awesome!
it is delicious dessert but requires additional cooking for the cookie dough to bake enough where it keeps it's shape. I love slightly undercooked/gooey cookies but the amount of bake time allocated in the recipe leave you with truly raw, runny dough. Also, I support other comments here that recommend putting in the chocolate bars AFTER its completely done cooking and cooled for a few minutes. they melt during the last baking segment. & further melt while cooling. could use a bit less butter too next time and still would be delish.