Easy Baked Smore Bars

I love smores,  but I prefer a/c, comfy beds and bug free environments to camping outdoors and blazing fires in the middle of the summer.  I'm pretty certain I would not have survived life before a/c.  The hubs can confirm this.  ;)

Luckily, I discovered baked smores thanks to Lovin' from the Oven- a super sweet dessert blog.  Now I can enjoy all of that chocolately marshmallow yumminess without breaking a sweat.

I've made these several times now and the main thing that I've learned is that salted butter works better than unsalted butter or margarine.  The batter is much stickier with margarine, puffs up more and is a little drier once baked.  It still tastes good though so don't skip out on the recipe just because you don't have butter on hand.

I know this isn't a healthy recipe, but when you eat nutritiously most of the time, it's OK to indulge now and then.  The trick is to not indulge yourself in the ENTIRE pan.  Take some to a potluck, the office, a neighbor or a sick friend.  You'll friends will love you for it.


Recipe
Adapted from: Lovin' from the Oven
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup 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
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized Hersey Bars
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (I used a small jar of generic fluff)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 pan and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla, beating until combined.  In another bowl combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.  Add the dry ingredients little at a time to the butter mixture, mixing well after each addition.  
3. Spread half of batter into pan.  Lay Hershey bars on top and lightly press into dough.  Spread marshmallow fluff over chocolate bars.  Take small pieces of remaining dough, flatten into discs and place on top.  If you used margarine instead of butter, you can just spread it on top.  
4. Bake 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned.  I like to cut it before it cools completely.  It's easier to get through the marshmallow and chocolate bar if it's still kind of melty. 

Linked to:

Gooseberry Patch Recipe Round Up -