Genius Golden Grahams Smore Bars

A couple housekeeping items before we get to the deliciousness here. Notice the new watermark gracing the corners of my photos? Isn’t it lovely? Hopefully it will help keep people (who are not me) from passing off my stuff as theirs. Sometimes I’m so disappointed in humanity. Also, just above the actual recipe details, you’ll find a link to print a pdf of my deliciousness. Hooray! No more highlighting text to print it! Now, on to something that makes me very happy. Camping food.

(happy sigh) I love camping food. It’s the best. I’ve shared my smore bars before, with a graham cracker crust, chocolate middle and mallow topper. They’re quite delicious. But, they aren’t very camping friendly. It’s hard to broil the top of a layered dessert when hanging out around an open campfire. Leave it to Betty Crocker to have a solution. Crunchy graham cracker cereal tossed with buttery marshmallow goodness, with chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows sprinkled throughout. Like a delicious graham cracker rice crispy treat. With all the flavors of smores mixed in. Genius! These gorgeous bars take just minutes to put together and require no baking!

I (gasp) altered Betty’s recipe by not melting the chocolate with everything else, and adding a little more buttery/mallow goodness. And, for some reason Crocker’s version had corn syrup in it, which didn’t really make sense to me…so I left it out. Mine turned out gorgeously.

These are beautifully inclusive. There’s room for all your favorite flavors inside one delightful square. When the recipe says press firmly with buttered hands (yes, butter your hands), it means hard enough to hear the cereal cracking beneath you as it all settles together. It’s ok if some of it breaks a little as you press down – that’s how you make it all get cozy enough to stay smooshed into bars when you cut it up.

I took these camping recently and I’d like to offer a piece of advice. If there will be teenage boys on your trip, take a double batch. My nephews demolished the whole tray in a matter of minutes. Three of them sought me out for giant bear hugs in their post-smore-haze. It’s easy to see why. Doesn’t looking at them make you want to hug someone too?

Print Recipe for Genius Golden Grahams Smore Bars

Genius Golden Grahams Smore Bars:
Adapted from Betty Crocker

8 cups Golden Grahams cereal
7 cups miniature marshmallows (divided)
1 cup chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet)
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal. Butter 13×9-inch pan. In large microwavable bowl, microwave melt 6 tablespoons of butter stirring every 15 seconds until just melted. Add 6 cups marshmallows to melted butter and melt on high 2 minutes to 3 minutes 30 seconds, stirring after every minute, until melted and smooth when stirred. Stir in vanilla.

2. Pour over cereal; quickly toss until completely coated. Stir in 1 cup marshmallows and 1 cup chocolate chips.

3. Press mixture evenly in pan, firmly, using buttered hands. Let stand uncovered at least 1 hour, or refrigerate if you prefer a firmer bar. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store loosely covered at room temperature up to 2 days.

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