A homemade S'mores Bar Recipe made with a buttery graham cracker crust, luscious chocolate ganache, and gooey homemade brown sugar marshmallow. Break out the blow torch and enjoy s'mores all year round!
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I'm a burnt marshmallow type of gal. I light that whole sucker on fire, pull off the burnt layer, then shove it back into the fire and repeat. Anyone else??
Regardless of your marshmallow roasting preferences, these bad boys will leave you feeling totally satisfied if you're seeking that camping experience without having any interest in actually camping.
This S'mores Bar Recipe gives you that nice crunchy and buttery graham cracker base, a layer of rich and creamy chocolate ganache, followed by a big ole' cloud of marshmallow. These marshmallows are made with brown sugar to give a slightly more caramelized flavor!
It's a perfect layering and slightly less messy than traditional s'mores (slightly). The best way to eat these, in my opinion, is to nuke one in the microwave for about 5 seconds so your marshmallow gets slightly soft and then blow torch it!
What you need for the S'mores Bars
Equipment
- Food processor or blender. To process the graham crackers into fine crumbs.
- 8x8inch square pan. Preferably one with completely straight sides like the one linked.
- Parchment paper. To easily lift the bars out of the pan & so the marshmallow doesn't stick to the sides.
- Candy thermometer or digital thermometer. Required to get the correct temperature of sugar syrup for the marshmallow.
- Stand mixer with whisk attachment. A handheld mixer will not work here.
- Blow torch. Yes, you need this. No, you cannot broil these (they will melt all over the place).
Ingredients
- Graham crackers. The best brand to use is Nabisco (in the red package). Honey Maid is next (but is not as good), and Aldi brand is a definite no-no (too soft and crumbly).
- Unsalted butter.
- Granulated sugar.
- Salt.
- Chocolate. Dark or semi-sweet chocolate for this recipe. It doesn't taste overly dark or bitter, but provides a lot more depth of flavor than milk chocolate. Dark chocolate is the best chocolate for these s'mores bars.
- Heavy whipping cream. For the ganache.
- Unflavored gelatin. This is necessary for the marshmallow to set and hold shape.
- Water.
- Brown sugar. This gives the marshmallow a slightly caramelized flavor.
- Light corn syrup.
- Vanilla paste or extract. Vanilla paste for life!
Graham Cracker Crust
The base of the S'mores Bar Recipe is a standard graham cracker crust. Simply process the graham crackers into a fine crumb, then combine the sugar, melted butter and salt with a fork until the crumbs are completely moistened.
Press the crumbs into an 8x8 inch pan greased and lined with parchment paper slings. Watch this quick video to see how to do it.
I like to use both an offset spatula and a ⅓ cup measuring cup to get the crumbs completely smooth and compact. You should be bale to run the bottom of the measuring cup across the crust without any areas pulling up.
Bake the crust in a preheated 350℉ oven for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool.
Chocolate Ganache Layer
Once the crust is cool, make the ganache by simmering the heavy cream and pouring it on top of the chopped chocolate. Allow it to stand for one minute, then stir with a rubber spatula until it completely comes together.
It's best to continually stir from the center, very slowly moving outward to incorporate the chocolate and cream. Pour the ganache onto the graham cracker crust, smooth it out, and place in the fridge for about one hour until the ganache is firm and set.
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Homemade Marshmallow Recipe Layer
Are homemade marshmallows worth it? You bet they are!! They just have such a better texture than store bought marshmallows. And because you're making them from scratch, you can give them extra flavor in this S'mores Bar Recipe
This is why I used brown sugar rather than granulated sugar - it provides an extra caramel note and depth of flavor that you aren't able to achieve with homemade marshmallows.
Start by adding the brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, and half of the water to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to 240℉, checking every few minutes with the digital thermometer. Note that the mixture will get to 220℉ rather quickly and will begin bubbling, then will crawl to 240℉.
While the sugar syrup is cooking, add the gelatin and the other half of the water to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Once the sugar syrup hits 240℉, turn the stand mixer on low and very slowly stream in the hot sugar. This should take 2 full minutes.
Turn the mixer to the highest speed and allow it to mix for 10 minutes. The marshmallow will go from runny, to more viscous, to a soft fluff and then a more firm, slow lava consistency.
Add the vanilla in the final minute - the marshmallow will become slightly soupy for a moment and the mixer speed with race, but then will go back to normal. Don't panic!
2 minutes 5 minutes 7 minutes 10 minutes
Pour the marshmallow onto the cooled ganache and use a firm spatula or scraper to get all of the marshmallow out. Gently work the marshmallow to the edges and corners. Allow the bars to sit for 3 hours at room temperature, then transfer to the fridge for at least 8 hours.
Cutting the S'mores Bars
Once the bars are set and ready, remove them from the pan using the parchment paper and place onto a cutting board.
Grease a knife with neutral oil (canola or vegetable) and cut the bars into 16 squares. Rinse, dry, and re-grease the blade in between each slice.
Separate each piece so the marshmallow doesn't stick together. If not eating right away, cut up some pieces of parchment paper to slide in between each slice.
Once ready to eat, allow the bars to stand at room temperature for one hour. Then, torch the marshmallow layer of each piece to the desired color.
Want more chocolate ganache?
📖Recipe
S’mores Bars Recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer with whisk attachment
- Blow torch
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 cup ground graham crackers about 9 crackers (130g)
- 4 T unsalted butter melted (57g)
- 2 T granulated sugar 25g
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Ganache Layer
- 1 cup chocolate chopped chocolate (~60% cacao) 6oz
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream 180ml
Marshmallow
- 1½ packets unflavored gelatin 11g
- ½ cup cold water divided (4oz)
- ¾ cup brown sugar 150g
- ½ cup light corn syrup 175g
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 T vanilla paste or extract
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease and line an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper overhangs.
- Finely grind the graham crackers in a food processor.
- Melt the butter in a sauce pan or in the microwave, then mix the butter, graham crackers, sugar, and salt together with a fork until moistened.
- Press the mixture into the prepared pan. You do not need to push the mixture up the sides of the pan, only the bottom.
- Bake for 10 minutes then remove from oven onto wire rack and allow the crust to cool.
Chocolate Ganache Layer
- Place the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl and set aside. Bring the cream to a simmer, careful not to boil over.
- Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for about 30 seconds. Mix continuously from the center until the chocolate and cream come together into a silky ganache.
Marshmallow
- Add the gelatin and ¼ cup of cold water to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. In a saucepan, add the brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining ¼ cup of water on medium heat until the sugar dissolves, bubbles, and temperature reaches 240℉ on a digital or candy thermometer.
- Once the sugar syrup reaches temperature, turn the stand mixer on low speed stream in the sugar in a slow stream (this should take two minutes).
- Once all sugar mixture has been added, raise the mixer speed speed to high and whisk for 10 minutes. Add the vanilla in the final minute.
- Turn out the marshmallow onto the cooled ganache and smooth it out to the edges. Allow the bars to sit at room temperature for about 3 hours, then transfer (uncovered) to the fridge for at least 8 hours.
- To cut, remove the bars from the pan onto a cutting board and pull down the parchment paper. Grease the blade of a very sharp knife with a netural oil. Cut into 16 squares. Wipe and re-grease the blade in between each cut.
Torching
- Place the blow torch on medium setting and toast each piece of marshmallow until the desired color is reached. Only torch prior to eating.
Megan says
These were so fun to make! I felt so proud that I was able to make marshmallows from scratch. The graham cracker crust was so crumbly and delicious. I can’t wait to try this with a torched marshmallow top next time!
Callan Wenner says
Oh yay!! So much easier than expected to make homemade marshmallows, right?! Definitely go get a kitchen torch for next round. Thanks for trying them!
Preeya says
These were delicious! I’d never made homemade marshmallows so was excited for the challenge. These didn’t disappoint. Thanks for sharing!
The Cozy Plum says
I love that you tackled a new area of baking!! So happy to hear this.