S'mores Bars

Should I start off by saying that the past 2+ months have been insanely busy?  Nah.  That's too cliche after not blogging for a while.  And, really, all that's important is that I'm making an effort now.

Let me tell you.  These S'mores Bars are worth the effort.  I took them to a potluck dinner tonight and everyone who had a chance to taste them absolutely raved.  And I mean begged-for-the-recipe raved.  So, in response to popular demand, here is the recipe.  (Which I got from Real Mom Kitchen and she got from Cooking With My Kid.)  Well, the recipe with a few changes...because I'm the Queen of Substitutions.

(Sorry there's no pic.  Remember the BYU Brownie post?  Same problem.  Just follow the links to the other blogs for a pic.)

S'mores Bars
(Adapted from Real Mom Kitchen)
Yield: 16 bars

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 6-7 full sized graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 regular sized Hershey's bars, or 2 King-sized Hershey bars, or 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8-in. square baking pan
 
Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until well mixed.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, a little at a time, until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on bottom of prepared pan.  Lay chocolate bars over dough.  You will have to break some of them to get them to fit.  Sprinkle marshmallows over chocolate.  Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of marshmallows.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely and cut into 16 bars.

NOTES: The original recipe calls for king-sized Hershey bars and 7 oz. jar of marshmallow fluff.  I had regular Hershey bars and 1/2 of a jar of marshmallow fluff.  And then I saw that the fluff expired in June of 2009.  Who knew that actually expired?  I would have grouped marshmallow fluff into the same group as Twinkies.  And we all know those will withstand a nuclear blast. So, into the trash that went. 

I also thought about melting the marshmallows before layering them on top of the chocolate, but who needs the extra work?  And, we all know that once you melt the marshmallows, everything somehow ends up sticky for days on end.  Or maybe that's just me.  So, I simplified my life and didn't melt them.

Also, adding that top layer of graham dough can get a little sticky.  I had to butter my hands and pull of small pieces of dough, flatten them, put them on top of the marshmallows, and then kind of press them together.  The top of my bars looked a lot bumpier than the pics on the other blogs, but they still tasted great!