With spring here and summer on the way, I wanted to try an easy-to-share dessert that fits in with the seasons. I decided that s’mores bars would bring back memories of being around the fire with family and friends. 

The recipe I used for this review was my second recipe because the first recipe was not appealing to the eyes and did not taste good. I used a recipe off the Food Network originally, so I had thought it would be good, but I was disappointed. The crust was very thick and salty, with not enough marshmallows and chocolate on top to be an authentic s’mores bar.

I was discouraged but decided to try again, the second recipe I tried, from a blog called “The Baking ChocolaTess,” was much better, and I recommend it.

Ingredients: 

• ⅔ cup butter softened
• 1 cup brown sugar packed
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup milk chocolate chips
• ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 ⅓ cup mini marshmallows divided
• 3 large sized Hershey bars broken into pieces
• 2 sleeves graham crackers broken into squares + 2-3 graham crackers broken into bits for top of cookies. 

I started off by combining all the dry ingredients — flour, salt, and baking soda — into a bowl and whisked them together. I then put that to the side of my counter to start on the next step. I also turned the oven to 375º so it would be ready in time.  

The butter was supposed to be at room temperature, but my butter was in the fridge, so I microwaved it for about 45 seconds in a bowl. I put the butter and sugar (both brown and white sugar) into the mixing bowl and mixed them on high until they were light and fluffy. 

Still using the same bowl, I added in the vanilla extract and the eggs one at a time. I mixed the ingredients after each egg was added. I started to slowly add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients while keeping the mixer on low. I mixed them until they were just incorporated, but I did not want to over mix them.

I removed the bowl from the mixing stand, and I added the chocolate chips and one cup of mini-marshmallows. The recipe called for semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips, but I only had semi-sweet chocolate chips. I used a rubber spatula to mix all the ingredients together.

The next step was to line a 13×18 sheet pan, but I used a 13×19 casserole dish because I made a mistake with the instructions. I lined the dish with parchment paper and sprayed it with Pam. Next, I put down graham crackers with put no spaces between them. I put the dough on top of the graham cracker and used a knife to spread it out evenly. I put the dish into the oven for five minutes. 

I took it out of the oven and pressed the Hershey’s pieces into the dough, with a slight gap between each piece. I sprinkled the marshmallows over the top in no particular order. I broke up more graham crackers using my hands and put them on top at random. Then the whole thing went back into the oven. The recipe said to bake for 5-7 minutes, but mine took about 10 minutes.

I set them on the counter and allowed them to cool. My kitchen smelt very good when I took them out of the oven. I let them cool overnight before cutting into them because I wanted to make sure they were ready. 

I thought they were very delicious, and the graham cracker at the bottom allowed me to hold it much more easily, and it did not fall apart or make a mess. They were straightforward to make and easy to share as well. I would recommend making this recipe for a taste of summer. 

Next time I make these I might add peanut butter chips because I think that could be a good pairing. Other toppings of your choice can also be added. Before eating one of the bars, putting it in the microwave for a few seconds to warm up the chocolate and marshmallows would make it delicious and a straight-out-of-the-oven taste.