Brown Butter S’more Bars

These s’mores bars are dangerously good — the kind you keep cutting “just one more little piece” of until somehow half the pan is gone.

They have everything I love about a classic s’more: buttery graham crackers, gooey toasted marshmallows, and plenty of chocolate. But instead of waiting for a campfire, we’re baking all of it into one thick, chewy bar and adding brown butter because, well, brown butter makes almost everything better.

The brown butter gives the bars this warm, nutty flavor that works so well with the graham crackers and keeps them from feeling like they’re just sweet. I also like using dark chocolate because the slight bitterness balances the marshmallows, but milk chocolate would be delicious if that’s your perfect s’more.

And the best part? No campfire required. Make them in July. Make them in January. S’mores deserve to be a year-round dessert.

Brown Butter S’mores Bars

Makes: One 9×13-inch pan
Oven: 350°F

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, browned

• 1½ cups packed brown sugar

• ¼ cup granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 large egg yolk

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon molasses

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup finely crushed graham crackers, about 8 full graham cracker sheets

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2½ cups mini marshmallows

• 2 dark chocolate bars (3.5–4 ounces each), roughly chopped

For topping:

• ½ cup mini marshmallows, or 8-10 large marshmallows

• Additional chopped chocolate

• 2 graham cracker sheets, roughly crushed

• Flaky sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang on the sides to easily lift the bars from the pan.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. It will melt, foam, and then begin to develop golden-brown bits along the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking, stirring or swirling frequently, until it smells nutty and is deeply golden, about 5–7 minutes. Immediately pour the brown butter, including all those flavorful browned bits, into a large mixing bowl. Let cool for about 10 minutes.

3. Whisk the brown sugar and granulated sugar into the slightly cooled brown butter. Add the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla, and molasses and whisk until the mixture is smooth and glossy.

4. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt.

5. Fold the dry ingredients into the brown butter mixture just until combined. Fold in the chopped chocolate and 2½ cups mini marshmallows. Be careful not to overmix.

6. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the roughly crushed graham crackers over the top. Bake for 22 minutes.

7. Remove the pan from the oven and quickly scatter marshmallows and additional chopped chocolate over the top. Return to the oven and bake for another 6–10 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the center is just set.

8. For those golden, campfire-style marshmallows, switch the oven to broil and broil the bars for 2–3 minutes. Watch them very closely — marshmallows can go from perfectly toasted to burned quickly.

9. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Let the bars cool completely before slicing. For especially clean cuts, refrigerate the cooled bars for about an hour before cutting.

A Few Tips

Don’t skip the brown butter. It adds a nutty, almost caramel-like flavor that balances all the sweetness from the marshmallows and chocolate.

Use whichever chocolate you love. Dark chocolate is my favorite here because it cuts through the sweetness, but milk or semisweet chocolate works beautifully too.

Don’t overbake them. You want the center just set when they come out of the oven. They’ll continue to firm up as they cool.

Broil carefully. Stay right by the oven for this part. Those beautifully toasted marshmallows happen fast!