S’Mores Bars Take 1: Baking with Sammy

I see S’More bars everywhere and am always curious about them and just how much could they actually taste like S’Mores anyway.  The answer, so far at least after 2 recipes, is a bit but not a ton.  The first recipe I am not ready to share because it was super sweet and I think it has potential with less sugar and more salt.  This recipe however, from that perennial favorite The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook, was a big hit with everyone as is, so it will be my first entry into experimenting with S’More bars.

And of course, as is becoming the norm around here, Sammy is my baking cohort.  I feel I might be doing Alex short shrift because she does really like to bake as well, but you have never seen a kid peruse food porn like Sammy.  Every other recipe–as long as it has a picture–she melodramatically gets my attention and announces in this weird, very serious deep voice “This, one, Mommy, this ONE. We HAVE to bake THIS ONE. Can we, please?!?! I MUST HAVE THIS ONE!”  Of course at least 50% of the time it is the kind of baking I dislike most–all appearance and no flavor.  Like cut-out cookies piled with really thick powdered sugar frosting that is sickly sweet.  Not that that kind of cookie does not have its time and place–Hello, Christmas–but I tend to prefer lumpy drop cookies.

Sammy definitely is in favor of anything involving miniature marshmallows.  She and Alex both have already started begging me to make marshmallows (they know it is a fall/winter activity at our house), but they will take store bought.  These bars reminded me more of a chocolate play on rice krispie granola bars than S’Mores, but given that they were received with approval I am sharing them anyway.  Personally, the best part of the S’More bar for me is the graham cracker, so I will definitely keep searching.  I tried crushing graham crackers into the base of these bars, but the flavor was lost so next time I would stick with the oats and rice cereal, which is how I have written the recipe below.

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S'Mores Bars Take 1: Baking with Sammy

Closely adapted from King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cookies

Keyword: S'More

Author: TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

• 4 cups (14 oz) old fashioned rolled oats
• 4 cups (4 1/2 oz) Rice Krispies cereal
• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 oz) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup (2 oz) water
• 1/2 cup (5 1/2 oz) light corn syrup
• 1 t sea salt
• 3 cups (6 oz) miniature marshmallows, divided
• 1 1/2 cups (9 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a half-sheet (the rimmed baking sheet you probably use for cookies, 18X13 inches) with foil and grease the foil. Set aside.
2. Lightly toast the oats and then dump into a large mixing bowl. Mix in the Rice Krispies.
3. If you have a kid helping, be sure to have them out of the way for the next step--boiling sugar will seriously burn. Combine the sugar, butter, water, light corn syrup and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil with a candy thermometer attached to the pot. Boil for 5-10 minutes, until the the mixture reaches 250F. Pour it over the mixed cereal and toss to combine. Add 1 1/2 cups of the miniature marshmallows and toss to combine those.
4. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. I used a sheet of parchment paper which worked really well. Sprinkle with the remaining marshmallows and the chocolate chips (here is where your child can start helping again!). Sprinkle with the coarse grey sea salt to taste.
5. Bake the bars for 4-5 minutes, until the marshmallows puff up and get that awesome toasty color you associate with marshmallows roasting over a fire. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes. Cut the bars while they are still a little warm--it will be sticky and messy probably no matter what unless you are a lot more talented than me!

Amazon affiliate links were used in this post, but only to link to items that I would be discussing and linking to anyway.