Soft and Gooey Loaded Smores Bars
The flavors and texture of smores baked into bars is so much more practical than standing around a campfire.
I’m sure you can relate.
And who can resist super soft, chewy, gooey bars that are loaded with great texture.
The batter is a stir-together, one bowl recipe that comes together in less than 5 minutes before turning it out into a pan and baking.
I used my easy, go-to blondie recipe that has served me so well over the years, and I adapted it yet again.
I love the batter because it’s buttery and made with brown sugar, and it takes on caramel notes while baking.
To it I added the classic smores ingredients: chopped graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate chips.
When adding the smores components to the batter, it’ll appear that there’s more add-ins than batter. And that’s fairly accurate.
The abundance of add-ins ensures the bars are taste like taking a big bite of warm, gooey smores rather than eating a blondie that has a few marshmallows or chocolate chips added.
The graham crackers retain a bit of crunch while they bake and melted chocolate chips go so well with graham crackers.
The marshmallows are very slightly toasted and they puff, enveloping the bars in their sticky wonderfulness.
Those strings of marshmallow goo are heaven on earth.
It takes me longer to roast one perfect marshmallow over a campfire than it does to make the bars.
I have no patience for slow-cooked, perfectly golden marshmallows. I usually employ the ignite-and-blow-out strategy for my roasted marshmallows. A little black never hurt anyone, but no worries about finding a campfire to make these.
They’re some of my favorite gooey bars. There’s a great balance of rich and satisfying density from the blondie dough, coupled with lightness and fluffiness of the marshmallows.
The combination of chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows, all suspended in a buttery, brown-sugar based dough, is pure bliss.
If you don’t have anything on your Labor Day dessert menu plan, or have no plans to stand around a campfire any decade soon, may I suggest these.
They’re ready from start to finish in under 30 minutes, and will be a hit with friends and family.
They were definitely a hit here.
Soft and Gooey Loaded Smores Bars
No campfire required for these soft, gooey, rich bars that are loaded with texture and flavor. The combination of chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows, all suspended in a buttery, brown-sugar based dough, is just magical. They’re ready from start to finish in 30 minutes and are so good, fast, and easy that you may never both with regular smores again.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
1 large egg
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
5 full-size graham crackers, roughly chopped (about 2 cups)
1 heaping cup mini marshmallows
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- Wait momentarily before adding the egg so you don’t scramble it. Add the egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the flour and stir until just combined, don’t overmix.
- Add the graham crackers and any crumbs on cutting board, marshmallows, chocolate chips and fold to incorporate.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
- Bake for about 20 to 22 minutes, or until bars have firmed up in the center and edges will be set. Some marshmallows may have developed a hint of golden color. Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.
All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.
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When was the last time you had Smores?
These totally trump normal smores!
Hi Averie. I want to make these in a 9×13 pan, should I 1.5x or 2x the recipe? Many thanks!
Although I haven’t personally tried it, my guess is use a 9×13 and then just double the recipe, so 2x it. I think 1.5x will be a little skimpy.
I saw this recipe and it just scream to me to make it. lol I love S’mores and this is just perfect. I put half the mix in and then slathered on some marshmallow creme in there and topped it with the remaining batter. I also didn’t have semi sweet so I used milk chocolate with some white chocolate because I didn’t have enough of the other. Can’t wait to try these. Plus I hope the kid’s teachers enjoy these too.
The marshmallow creme filling idea sounds heavenly! I love marshmallow creme so much and bet it’s perfect in these to add even more gooey factor! If the teachers don’t like these, you can send them to me – I’d love them :)
Hi Averie!
I just made these brownies for my students and they loved them! I did too, as a matter of fact. They turned out dense and gooey like you promised and I ate mine so fast that I barely gave myself time to enjoy it. But I was wondering: if I wanted to make these to have a thicker cake-brownie texture, how would I do that? I added a little baking powder to this batch and it didn’t have the desired effect (though still delicious). Is it because there isn’t a lot of flour in the recipe that it won’t rise so much?
Thank you!
Yes it’s because there’s not a lot of flour, no leaveners, and the ratio of eggs/butter/sugar. I really don’t like thick, cakey brownies. At that point, I want cake. But not cakey brownies – just not my thing. So you can google for how to create those best since they’re not what I ever set out to make :)
I tried two batches to see if I could make it right. The first batch looked so gooey and when I inserted a knife to see if they were done, it came back sticking to the knife & undercooked. So I put them in oven for longer. I kept testing them and eventually pulled them out at around 45+ minutes. The chocolate and marshmallows blurred together. The crust was very oily. But I could cut them into bars.
The second batch, I followed the exact recipe and only cooked them for 22 minutes. They looked like the picture but they were still under baked when I inserted a knife. I don’t know how these can be considered ‘bars’. They didn’t stand up enough to cut them.
I would only use semisweet chocolate because these are so sweet by themselves, any white chocolate or milk chocolate will be too sweet. There is a balance between sweet and salt that allows the flavors to really come together in the best way.
Note to Christan & even myself if I were to make them again: try reducing the amount of sugar & butter, add more flour or even more graham crackers because that component flavor gets lost and baking powder. Possibly even a dash of salt to balance the sweetness. Only semi-sweet chocolate chips.
I haven’t had any problems like what you’re describing but all ingredients, climates, ovens, etc. vary. I would say in your situation, perhaps 25 to 30 minutes would do the trick. With that said they are VERY gooey and prone to being messy and not staying perfectly intact. I like to think of them as smores in a pan :)
We have an egg allergy in our family, so I’m wondering if there’s a good substitute for the 1 egg in the recipe? Or is it possible to skip the egg altogether? Looks yummy … can’t wait to try it out!
The egg is what binds the dough to form the crust/base. Without the egg, I worry that it will not bind. What do you do for other baking needs when you need an egg? Do you use vegan liquid egg replacer? I think that would work here. You could also just make a graham cracker-butter-sugar crust and play around with the ratios for that.
The recipes I use (I bake a lot using recipes from http://www.foodallergymama.com) usually substitute applesauce, water, tofu or flax meal for eggs. For a thicker dough, I usually use applesauce or even just a couple of TBSPs of water. I’ll play around with it and see what works best. Thanks!
Yeah in this recipe, applesauce, tofu, or water won’t work and will make it worse. I would either do a flax egg or reduce the amount of butter and omit egg all together. LMK what you end up doing!
Don’t have semi sweet chocolate chips laying around, but I do have white chocolate chips that I never used for something else. Think those will work?
I’m sure they’ll be fine.
I made these a few weeks ago to take in to work and they were a huge hit! I doubled the recipe and put it in a 9″x13″ pan. Delicious! Making another double batch tonight!
Glad to hear that doubling/9×13 worked great and that you like these so much that you’re making it again! That’s wonderful and you have lucky coworkers :)
I wanted to get opinion on how gooey the bottom of the bars should be. I’m worried that they are under done, but I baked them 25+ minutes and the tops of edges are almost caramelized.
They do firm up as they cool, but they’re also a gooeier bar. If your top is browning too fast before you think the base is done and set, cover with a sheet of foil.
I tried this and it didn’t turn out as bars. It was really soft and gooey, turned out more like bread pudding (YUM) Other than that, it was SO yummy!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe regardless. I’m thinking maybe your graham crackers were more susceptible to breaking down and turning softer than mine, thus more pudding-ish than smores, but glad it didn’t matter to you!
I’m not really sure where I went wrong here. I baked mine 35 minutes and they just wont bake through. The top looked great, but underneath was completely runny, not gooey, but runny. Only thing we could do was pick the crispy parts off the top to try to enjoy it at least a little. I double checked to make sure I put in the correct amount of each ingredient. Any idea what could’ve gone wrong?
I’m not sure why they’re more runny than gooey on the bottom. It sounds like you’ve doubled checked everything. Is your oven running up to temperature? You could check that with a cheap oven thermometer and that maybe could be it that it’s not running hot enough so the top is getting done (due to leaving them in longer) but the center is cooking through. That’s my only guess. Thanks for trying the recipe and sorry it didn’t work for you.
I liked these bars better than campfire smores. I doubled the recipe and cooked a bit longer than the recipe stated. They were a little harder around the edges but were not runny at all. I think I may have used a few more graham crackers and marshmallows than called for – I did not measure exactly. The graham crackers melded right in with the batter when it cooked. They were a hit at work and at home.
Thanks for trying a couple recipes and glad you enjoyed them and that they were a hit at work and home! Wonderful!
Oh I just found these on Pinterest and I want, want, want!!
Saw this on Pinterest and I realized I had all of the ingredients, so I just whipped up a batch! I don’t know if I’ll be able to wait until they fully cool before digging in…
I do a lot of baking, and these bars looked so good in the pictures, I gave them a try despite my doubts from looking at the recipe. The end result is pretty unappetizing. Since the recipe has no leavening agent (baking powder or baking soda), the bars are pretty flat and, even with baking them for the full 25 minutes, the middle looks undercooked and the outside is very crispy. Also, the marshmallows basically dissolved into the bars. I have air pockets where the marshmallows used to be. It’s a good concept, but the recipe definitely needs some tweaking.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m sorry it didn’t work for you.
Hi Averie! I’d saved this recipe a while ago, and finally gave it a try yesterday, when I needed something easy because I had a gaggle of preteen boys at our house. These go together very quickly, and we all loved it! I baked for 22 minutes, and the top was getting nice and toasty. The center remained really gooey even after cooling 30 minutes, so next time I may add a minute or two in the oven. The pan was still a bit warm and the boys were digging in with spoons. One then decided that vanilla ice cream was necessary….the pan disappeared! :) That’s how we roll! I did think that the bite I had was pretty sweet, so I may cut down on the brown sugar just a bit next time. I loved the toasted marshmallow on the top! I will make these again, for sure. Thanks for a fun recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Can’t go wrong with ice cream and eating them right out of the pan!!
Hi Averie,
Is it okay if I omit the brown sugar if I want a less sweet version?
Thank you
The recipe was tested with brown sugar included so not sure what will happen if you omit it or how things will work out.
Hi Averie,
I absolutely love all your recipes and cannot wait to try this one as s’mores is my favorite dessert of all time! I was wondering- I only have normal sized marshmallows on hand- would these work if I just chop them into small cubes or do you suggest getting mini marshmallows?
Thanks again for all your delicious recipes!
I think chopping them up would work just fine. LMK how you like them! Enjoy!
I made these but with your brownie base instead of a blondie base, because to me you can never have enough chocolate, they were great! And they have gotten better after sitting for a bit, the flavors really blended together well. I microwave mine for about 20 seconds before eating to get the full melty smore’s effect, perfection! Will definitely make again.
I bet they were great with a brownie base rather than the blondie base – love the way you think about never having enough chocolate :)
Made this recipe as directed except I doubled it and baked it a full casserole dish. It is AMAZING. I wouldn’t change anything and plan to make SO MANY MORE BATCHES.
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad you loved it! Glad you’re going to make many more batches!
These are our new favorite! We like them cold, so we put them into the fridge immediately after coming out of the oven and they are delicious!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad these are your new favorite!
Amazing! I doubled the recipe to fit in a 13×9 pan. Also did the layering with the bottom the dough, then marshmallows and chocolate chips in the middle, then I crumbled remaining dough over top. I am taking these to my sons class and read Pete the cat goes camping. So perfect!
Glad this turned out amazing and I’m sure the kids loved it!
I made this three times in the first two weeks after I found the recipe. I also gained 4 lbs. Coincidence? I think not. These bars are THE best bars I’ve ever had in my entire life. And they are so easy!! Thank you so much for this unicorn of dessert bars.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad these are such a hit with you and that they are the BEST bars you’ve had in your entire life – that is a huge compliment, thank you!