Day 11: S'mores Cookie Bars

Day 11 of my 12 Days of Cookies: Time for a little variation. Who says a cookie has to be round? These are probably on my list of top 3 things that I've EVER baked, believe it or not. They're just that good. I mean, s'mores are delicious as is.. but baking them into a cookie bar? Absolutely genius. They are the best when warm, because everything inside it is still gooey and you really get the whole campfire feeling. You can microwave these for about 10-15 seconds prior to eating them so you melt the chocolate & warm the marshmallow. For those of you that don't know what a s'more is, it's basically a popular campfire treat that consists of a roasted marshmallow and a chunk of chocolate (usually Hershey's) sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker. The roasted marshmallow melts the chocolate when being sandwiched, and voila, you've got yourself one of the most delectable treats known to mankind. Seriously, I can't even begin to tell you how good these are.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
   
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
   
3. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Makes 16 cookie bars.