Oven Baked S'mores Bars

My family just celebrated the special 80th birthday of my sweet mom at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. My parents stayed in a beautiful room facing the gorgeous ocean on the edge of the green golf course which had a deck with a wonderful fire pit. After our dinner, we anticipated returning to their room to make s'mores in the fire pit, but after slices of delicious red velvet birthday cake, we were too full of sweets for any s'more (pun intended!)

Since I had all the fixings for s'mores and remember the many times the ingredients have become stale in the cupboard after bringing them home from summers in Lake Tahoe, I was eager to find a way to use them immediately.  I found this recipe with the exact ingredients I had on hand, so made them tonight to my family's delight. They are ooey gooey just out of the oven (ie. scoop into a bowl and eat with a spoon), but cut more cleanly after cooling completely. Enjoy!

Oven-Baked S'Mores Bars

Crust
18 graham crackers
1/4 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
Topping
7 regular sized Hershey Bars (one more than was in the bag-thankfully I had an extra on hand)
24 Jumbo Marshmallows

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 9x13" baking pan with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides.

Make the crust- crush graham crackers until fine in zip lock bag (or food processor if you have one). Put in medium bowl and combine with sugar and salt. Stir in melted butter until crumbs are moistened. Press crumb mixture into prepared pan and press with hands or bottom of measuring cup into even layer.

Bake crust for 8-10 minutes, unto edges are golden. Let crust cool 5-10 minutes.

Arrange chocolate bars evenly on slightly cooled crust, leaving about 1/4" of crust uncovered around edges. Arrange marshmallows on the top of chocolate, leaving some space between each one as they expand slightly.

Bake until chocolate is soft and marshmallows are evenly toasted on top, 10-12 minutes.

Scoop and serve immediately in bowls with a spoon or wait until they cool and slice them into pieces. You can pop them into the microwave for a few seconds after they have cooled if you want them soft again~

~ Happiest 80th Birthday to my dear Mom ~