S'mores bars

It's been a dicey baking week for me. I've come out on top, but battered and bruised. I tried three new recipes this week, and two might never make it back in the baking rotation. The s'mores bar recipe is one of them.

It seemed so promising - easy, quick and s'mores-y. But alas, things went downhill. It started when I melted the chocolate chips in the microwave ... and the bag melted with them. Then, when I tried to use a different bag, the chocolate burned my hand. And then it didn't even "drizzle." It was more of a plop, plop, plop (see photo below). If I ever make these again, I think I will just use Hershey's syrup - it will be cleaner, yummy and not burn me or make a mess of my microwave.

After the melted chocolate fiasco, I followed the instructions and put the bars in the fridge. Then I made the colossal mistake of trying to cut them. Have you ever tried to cut melted marshmallow? The top, marshmallow-y portion kept separating from the bottom cookie-dough-and-graham-crackers part. The only thing I can think that caused this might be the fact that I didn't feel that 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs was really going to provide enough graham cracker taste to the s'mores bars. So I doubled it. And maybe the extra 1/4 cup prevented the marshmallow adhering to the cookie dough layer, so that the marshmallow simply stuck to the graham cracker crumbs and peeled away from the cookie dough. Or maybe melted marshmallow is just not meant to be cut. But back to the recipe ...

Ingredients:
1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used about 1/2 cup, which might have been problematic)
3 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips
2 teaspoons shortening

Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 13X9-inch baking pan. Press dough into prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with graham cracker crumbs.


2. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Sprinkle with marshmallows. Bake 2 to 3 minutes or until marshmallows are puffed. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.


3. Combine chocolate chips and shortening in small resealable food storage bag; seal. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute; knead bag lightly. Microwave on HIGH for additional 30-second intervals until chips and shortening are completely melted and smooth, kneading bag after each 30-second interval. Cut off small corner of bag. Drizzle over bars. Refrigerate 5 to 10 minutes or until chocolate is set. Cut into bars.

Source: Favorite Brand Name 3 Books in 1: Cookies, Bars, Muffins