Soft and Gooey Loaded S’mores Bars — No campfire required for these soft, gooey, rich s’mores 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.
Table of Contents
The batter for these easy s’mores bars is a stir-together, one bowl recipe that comes together in less than 5 minutes before turning it out into a pan and baking. It takes me longer to roast one perfect marshmallow over a campfire than it does to make this s’mores recipe!
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 summer dessert menu — including Memorial Day, Father’s Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day — 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 are definitely a hit here!
I made the s’more bars for Memorial Day, the 4 th of July and a few times in between. My husband is so excited when I make them and so happy when I put them in his lunchbox. He does share and his coworkers love them too. They are so easy to make. Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
Maureen B.
Ingredients in Loaded S’mores Bars
To make the bars, 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 make this easy s’mores dessert, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Graham crackers
- Mini marshmallows
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make S’mores Bars
These very gooey s’mores bars are a cinch to make! Follow these basic instructions:
- First, you’ll need to melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl.
- Let it cool for a minute or two before adding in the egg, brown sugar, and vanilla.
- Stir the flour into the butter mixture and whisk until just combined.
- Then, add the mix-ins.
- Turn the batter into a greased and lined 8×8-inch baking dish. Bake the bars until they have firmed up in the center and the edges have set.
- Don’t forget to cool them well before serving them!
When adding the smores components to the batter, it’ll appear that there are 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 s’mores rather than eating a blondie that has a few marshmallows or chocolate chips added.
A Note on the Consistency of These Bars
These bars really ARE gooey as their name suggests! Over the past decade, I have had readers complain their bars don’t set up. To be honest, I don’t know why since I wasn’t in their kitchen.
As I always tell people, make sure you read the recipe twice before beginning, measure carefully, and bake correctly. However, I’ve had hundreds and hundreds more who have had great success and they leave glowing comments!
But, if you’re not ready for really gooey on the verge of potentially falling apart type of bars that are messy – but oh-so-good – then this may not be the dessert for you.
Baking FAQs
Yes, you may double the recipe and bake the bars in a 9×13-inch pan. However, readers have said that doubling the recipe results in less ooey gooey bars (I’m assuming because they require extra time in the oven).
I prefer using semi-sweet chocolate chips to offset some of the sweetness from the dough and marshmallows. However, you’re welcome to chop up a Hershey’s chocolate bar and throw that in instead.
I used small marshmallows in this recipe, but you can also chop large marshmallows if that’s all you have on hand. Mini marshmallows are also fine but you won’t get as much gooey factor with those.
Storage Instructions
At room temperature: Leftover bars should be stored in an airtight container. They’ll last up to 1 week.
In the freezer: Let the bars cool completely before storing in an airtight container or freezer bag. They’ll last up to 6 months.
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Soft and Gooey Loaded Smores Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ 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
Instructions
- 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More S’mores Dessert Ideas:
Chocolate Chip S’mores Cookie Bars — Between layers of super soft chocolate chip cookie dough there’s chocolate, marshmallows, and graham cracker crumbs for the most DECADENT smores ever!! So EASY and just 4 main ingredients!!
S’mores Bars — SO EASY, NO-BAKE, just FOUR ingredients, and ready in FIVE minutes!! It doesn’t get any better than that and no campfire required! A hit with kids and adults at parties, potlucks, and picnics!!
Smores Cake — A three-layer, show-stopping cake that everyone will ADORE! Moist and tender layers of chocolate cake along with crunchy graham cracker crusts, sweet marshmallow buttercream frosting, toasted marshmallows, and chocolate bars for a true smores experience!
S’mores Cake — Chocolate cake gets poked all over and soaked in a marshmallow creme mixture before being topped with crushed graham crackers, toasted marshmallows, and hot fudge sauce.
S’mores Brownie Pie — Each bite of the pie is so satisfying and starts with a base of dense, fudgy, rich brownies, topped with melted chocolate chips, fluffy gooey marshmallows, and sprinkled with crunchy bits of graham crackers!
Soft and Chewy S’mores Cookies — Loaded with chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers!! The best smores you’ll ever eat and no campfire required!
Peanut Butter S’mores Cookie Pie — A peanut butter and graham cracker cookie underneath gooey marshmallows and melted chocolate!! You don’t need a campfire for these easy and AMAZING smores! Grab a spoon and dig in!
Originally posted August 25, 2013 and reposted July 7, 2023 with updated text.
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.
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…
Oh I just found these on Pinterest and I want, want, want!!
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!
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 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 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 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 :)
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.
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 https://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!
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 :)
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 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.
These totally trump normal smores!
This is probably the fifth or sixth time I’ve made these bars but I made a little variation of it. I add a little extra butter to my mixture and cinnamon. (cinnamon makes it literally out of this world good!) Also instead of using marshmallows I used FLUFF because when you cook it, it remains gooey even when they cool. And I use a combination of Hersheys and Chiradelli baking chocolate and nestle’s white chocolate. They come out super super gooey because I layer everything too. I quadruple the recipe. First layer is about 1 inch thick of the graham cracker cookie mixture (don’t forget cinnamon!), then comes a layer of fluff (if you can’t get it to spread, take some butter in your hands and let it melt and then when you go to spread the fluff your hands won’t stick!). Then on top of the fluff, I evenly layer all of the different types of chocolate. On top of the chocolate I do another 1 inch layer of the graham cracker mixture, layer of fluff and then top it with all three chocolates. It fills a huge ziti pan but I’m usually baking for a lot of people. None of it is ever wasted :)
Wow, sounds like you have really taken these bars to new levels! Love all the variations, ideas, and the fact that you 4x the recipe is awesome. Very lucky friends and family you have :) Thanks for sharing this and trying the recipe and putting your own spin on it!
Your original recipe is so amazing that I’ve kept using it because not only did I love it, but all of my friends and family begged me to make it for every occasion :) It’s funny because it all started when I tried to find the original Hershey’s S’more’s candy bar but they stopped being manufactured like 6 or 7 years ago so I decided to try and make my own. That’s when I found your recipe and gave it a shot! They came out wayyy better than the candy bar!
I love the backstory of how and why you came to love this recipe – all in search of a candy bar! I have some cookies that you may like if you like this idea!
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/07/soft-and-chewy-smores-cookies.html
Thanks for sharing with all your friends and writing to tell me about all your experiments!
Hi Averie! Finally I’m back home (just for a few days) so that I can make some of your recipes! :) I made these yesterday and they taste just like a piece of heaven! I absolutely love them! I have used digestive biscuits as we don’t have graham crackers in the UK, but they still turned out amazing! I will mke this recipe over and over, that’s for sure! Also, I have some of your wholewheat rolls waiting to be baked! ;) Hope you are getting used to your new oven and enjoy the rest of your day! :)
Thanks for saying hi Monica and glad you loved these! Yes, they were so good. I loved these things & glad the digestive biscuits were able to fit the bill for these.
And the whole wheat rolls that are waiting – mmmm, sounds wonderful & hope you enjoy those! (they can’t really compete with Smores Bars…haha…but as wheat rolls go, I love em!)