S'mores Brownies two ways

I'm sure it's not a shock to read that I love s'mores (desserts).  Here's the crazy thing, I've never had an actual s'mores. You know,  everyone's fave campfire treat, the kind with the marshmallows roasted over an open fire. I've made toaster oven s'mores and many other s'mores like desserts but never the real deal.

These first S'mores Brownies were pretty good and were made using a boxed brownie mix. Unfortunately I overcooked the brownies and thus the graham cracker crust a bit.  The brownies sit atop a  graham cracker crust and  its crowning glory is a yummy layer of oven melted marshmallows.  Sandwiched between the two (should have been) a gooey fudgy brownie. Sounds good right? So you know I was bummed when I sampled one and found my brownies were not gooey or fudgy. 

I made these for Devon, one of the twins to take to school along with a pan of white chocolate blondies but because they didn't turn out as well as I wanted I didn't send them. Against my better judgement Devon convinced me to send in two for his teacher to try.  (He came back with the message....she liked them!) I didn't follow a recipe just an idea of what I wanted.  

The second S'mores Brownies I made were inspired by the ones I saw on the blog, Joy the Baker.  Being that the Twins had baseball practice and it was moved indoors I figured I would take the brownies to practice but after taking them out of the oven I realized that they would be a bit messing to cut and serve.  I took the recipe's concept of adding marshmallows and graham cracker pieces into the batter to make it "smores" and instead of making homemade brownies I used a box mix.  (Original recipe provided below) I did add a bit more marshmallows and graham cracker pieces which lead to their being a tad difficult to cut.  While I liked these, especially warmed up and topped with vanilla ice cream, I wasn't crazy about them.   I've come to realize while the concept of a s'mores brownies is a good one it doesn't translate well.  In both of these the brownie was the dominant taste. Don't get me wrong some (brownie lovers) might enjoy both of these  but for me s'mores are more about the gooey marshmallows and graham crackers than the chocolate.  If you want something that is reminiscent of those yummy campfire treats give these a S'mores Bars or even these.

S’mores Brownies

     adapted from Bon Appetit, October 1991

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup graham cracker, roughly crushed with your hands
• 12 big marshmallows  (I also diced 6 additional marshmallows and stirred them into the batter. These marshmallows dissolve when baked, so you can leave them out, or throw them in.  Up to you!)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9×13-inch baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Stir butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl over a  heavy  saucepan of simmering water.  Stir chocolate and butter in this double boiler until melted and smooth.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers.  Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 12 large marshmallows.  Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30- 40 minutes minutes.

Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool.  Cool for at least 20 minutes than slice with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife with hot water if it gets too messy and sticky.  Serve or wrap individually in wax paper for storing.

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