Danielle's Smore Bars

Max and I made these last night. We made quite a few alterations, but we really like how they came out. The only complaint I have is that the crust calls for way too much butter. I may not have used enough graham crackers, but I think I will use a lot less butter next time. Butter was pooling at the top when it cooked. Did that happen to anyone else? I dabbed a bunch off the top, but I think it was still way too much.

I thought it was odd that the recipe didn't specify whether to use large or small marshmallows. Even if it seems obvious, you should still be specific. Anyway, we used small ones and just poured them in till we thought it was a good amount. We didn't put any nuts in our bars, and we added more marshmallows to make up for it.

And based on what Melissa and Cami said about melty marshmallows, we put the pan of bars in the oven for a little while after we put it all together so the marshmallows would melt a little. We also threw some extra marshmallows on top before putting it in the oven so the ones on top would get puffy and browned (just like a perfect smore marshmallow). After pulling it out of the oven, I ran a butter knife through it to swirl the marshmallows a little. Putting it in the oven worked out really well.

And finally, we drizzled some caramel on top after we pulled it out of the oven. We both would rather have caramel on top of our smore bars than nuts. We let it cool in the fridge for a couple of hours before trying it. I wanted to try it before we went to bed and it was too late to wait the full three hours. I'm glad we tried it when we did. It was slightly warm and the marshmallows were still melty, although the chocolate wasn't set. I tried a little this morning, and I liked it both ways -- warm and cooled.