More S'mores

I think the most fitting contender against the peanut butter-chocolate flavor champion might be the chocolate-marshmallow-graham cracker combo that is s'mores.

S'mores are for sure an underrated dessert.

I think the left over girl scout in me refuses to accept this, as I come across s'mores-inspired recipes I save every single one because they are so worthy.  In fact, I had been sitting on the recipes for these s'mores bars for a little while, waiting to whip them up as the perfect cook-out dessert for the 4th.

Luckily everyone else also thought they were the perfect dessert, so perfect in fact that there were several other versions at the cook out....

Cue awkward moment?  Think again: s'mores are delicious so every single piece of every single version was inhaled.

My version is styled after recipes from Freutcake and from Cookies and Cups, with a little additional help from The Kitchn.  The first version is described as "gooey" but since we want ours to stay together as the perfect little cook out finger food I adjusted the chocolate ganache center to make it thicker and left out the cocoa pebbles.  The second version looks beautiful but used sweetened condensed milk and homemade fluff which I thought was a little time consuming and overly-sweet.  Seriously if you have the time to make your own fluff then bless your soul, but because I know you don't feel free to melt marshmallows over the top instead.

S'mores Bars

adapted from Freutcake  and Cookies and Cups

Ingredients

• 2 sleeves of plain graham crackers (honey)
• 2-3 T dark brown sugar
• 8 oz butter (2 sticks sticks), melted
• 12 oz half and half or light cream
• 20 oz bittersweet chocolate chips
• mini marshmallows

Combine

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Break up the graham crackers into a food processor and add the sugar.  Process on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until you have fine crumbs throughout.
3. Melt the butter over low heat then add it to the crumbs.  Note: If you have a food processor with a feed hole, leave the processor running and slowly add the melted butter until the crumbs are evenly covered.  If it doesn't have a feed hole you will need to add a little of the butter, run the processor, stop it then add a little more until the the crumbs are evenly covered.
4. Dump the crumb mixture into two 8x8 square pans.  Use the back of a spoon to level the mixture in the pan, then pack the crumb mixture down.  Make sure you pack this crust down, any cracks will cause it to crumble.
5. Bake the crust for 10-12 minutes until just turning brown, then let cool completely (even overnight).
6. In a medium sauce pan warm your cream over low heat until it is just warm to the touch, then whisk in your chocolate until all chunks are completely melted.
7. Spread the ganache over the completely cooled crusts then cover with marshmallows.  You can either pop the trays back in the oven to melt the marshmallows or be a rebel and wave a grill lighter over them until they are brown on top.
8. Once the dessert cools use a super sharp knife to cut each tray into 16 squares and enjoy!