*As always, scroll down to the bottom for the full recipe w/o non-sense. :)*
So this story begins a few weeks ago. It was the Fourth of July and I was celebrating with a family that I’ve grown to know very well here in Blacksburg.
They invited me and a friend over for a cookout, to watch fireworks, and light off some sparklers. Of course I was in!
After dinner, we decided to light up some s’mores over the grill; because no cookout is complete with out some kind of dessert, right? So when we went back out to the grill, I start toasting up my marshmallows, I’m preparing my graham cracker, and I go in for the Hershey’s Chocolate Bar…
Not so fast there, mister. Have you ever considered trying a s’mores…with a REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUP!?!? MIND. BLOWN.
But, no…really.
After I enjoyed that decadent treat, I decided to check out a way that I could reproduce it. Realizing that I didn’t have that great of a fire to toast my marshmallows, my mind immediately went to marshmallow fluff. I originally was thinking pie. You know, graham cracker crust bottom, peanut butter, chocolate, whipped cream or something. No. Too simple.
As I searched the internet I found numerous recipes, but as always I decided to take what I found online and adapt it to what I think is right. In case you didn’t already know, my baking style is a cross between Paula Deen’s butter, uh, “technique,” and also just being a lazy college student. Quite the combination, eh?
So here’s the ingredients you’ll need:
Dry Ingredients for the batter:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed light (NOT DARK) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1.25 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (not baking soda…well, I think they’re different…)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup of crushed graham crackers
Wet-ish Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
For the finish:
- 16 Reese’s
- 1 large can of Kraft Marshmallow Fluff, Jet-packed kind
And here we go!
Go ahead and preheat the oven to 350 degrees – always make sure the oven is preheated before you toss anything in there to bake. And btw, the measurements of ingredients are real exact and important while you’re baking, obvi.
After your sugars and butter are incorporated, use the hand mixer (or stand mixer) to beat in the egg and the zap of vanilla extract. Once that’s all in, sift in the flour slowly along with the baking powder and salt. Once incorporated, thoroughly incorporate the graham cracker crumbs with the spoonula by pressing them into the batter while stirring. This will ensure the graham crackers and their sugars get throughout the batter.
Next step: Divide the batter into three equal parts. Take two of those parts and spread them at the bottom the baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. I ended up having to use my fingers; the dough was too sticky to get away from utensils, so I just got in there and patted it out with my fingertips. Also, try and work quickly or else the batter will be that much sticker. Yikes.
Bottom layer complete? Start adding on those Reese’s peanut butter cups!
Keep going until the whole pan base is covered…
Then hit it up with a layer of fluff…
Throw that bad boy in the oven! 25 minutes.
I let mine cool overnight before I cut into it. Obviously, the first thing I did the next morning before I even got ready for work was use a sharp knife to get to cutting.
Notes
Overall, I must caution you that this is a pretty sweet dessert. Not anything super crazy but you definitely notice all the sugar that’s going on; and it tastes just like a s’mores, just a little bit sweeter! And obviously less effort, once you’ve made the whole batch! If you like s’mores and you like peanut butter…you’re going to love it. I’m actually about to take this dessert over to this week’s Wine & Dine Wednesday’s, a weekly potluck at a friend’s house. I shared some with my co-workers and they liked them; so I hope they do too!
Also, don’t get the marshmallow fluff anywhere but in that darn baking sheet – it’s so hard to clean off of ANYTHING! It’s impossible. That was the most annoying part of the recipe. Otherwise, it was pretty easy and quick!
Here’s the full recipe:
Dry Ingredients for the batter:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed light (NOT DARK) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1.25 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (not baking soda…well, I think they’re different…)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup of crushed graham crackers
Wet-ish Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
For the finish:
- 16 Reese’s
- 1 large can of Kraft Marshmallow Fluff, Jet-packed kind
Pre-heat oven to 350 and use parchment paper inside of an 8×8 baking sheet, along with come cooking spray on the sides and bottom. Mix the sifted dry ingredients (except the graham cracker crumbs), then incorporate the wet ingredients and continue mixing. Add graham cracker crumbs. Divide into thirds. Use two-thirds on the bottom, place the layer of Reese’s (4×4), cover with fluff, and cover the fluff with the remainder of the batter. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until the top is firm to the touch. Let cool overnight. Wha-la!
Happy eating, my friends!