s’mores brownies

S’mores and summertime go hand-in-hand in our family. For the love of chocolate, grahams, toasted marshmallows, and for taking things to another level, I’m sharing this ultimate way to enjoy them: S’mores Brownies!

We’re keeping the flavors and textures of a perfect graham cracker crust bottom, and expertly-toasted, marshmallow top, and switching the typical chocolate bar in the center, for an all out, decadent brownie. I’m sharing the recipes for making both S’mores Brownies and for putting this together for a S’mores Brownie Tart.

The only difference in the brownie versus the tart, is the bakeware we’ll be using, and the bake-time for the brownie, because the size of the batter will differ.

This fairly-simple dessert just takes prep time with a total motivation for enjoying the end result. All of the recipes you need are already right here! Just the other day, I posted my graham cracker crust bottom recipe, and with good reason. I wanted to give you what you needed to make this happen! So let’s make this!

You’ll have a decision to make now, for whether you’d prefer the brownie baked-in to be my recipe for classic, decadent brownie or flourless chocolate brownie . If you are like my husband, and want something really quick and easy, just skip the handcrafted brownie part all together and go with the boxed version! This is up to you and the amount of effort and chocolate you’re willing to give.

Let’s put together the tart first. Refer to the recipe links above and let’s make the graham cracker crust bottom.

You’ll start with preparing tart pans with a parchment paper liner if you wish, and preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Scoop in the crust dough, and and press it down with your fingertips for a nice, even bottom.

Bake the crust at 350 degrees for 5-6 minutes. Once you have that set, you can put together the brownie batter to place on top.

Even though this recipe calls for a bunch of melted chocolate, I made one tart with extra chocolate chips, and one without.

For my nut-free friends, I’m happy to say that here are lots of wonderful options for quality, nut free and soy free chocolate chips. I’m finding more and more on the shelves every time I go to the store. I have been sticking with Enjoy Life brand and Guittard.

Bake the tarts according to either of the brownie recipes I’ve posted and linked on this post. When you test the center to see if it’s baked, the tester/stick/skewer should be a little wet when it’s time to pull the brownie tart out of the oven- not totally baked and clean as it would if this were a cake. There needs to be some moisture inside and because there’s so much chocolate and melted chips, you may think that it’s not done. If it’s black on the outside, it’s over-done and burnt. If it feels good and solid to the touch on top wen you apply a little pressure, you’re golden.

Next, let’s work on perfecting a marshmallow-toasting that will make you look like a pro. You’ll want the brownie portion of the tart to be cool before we stack on the chocolate ganache and the toasted marshmallows. Once you’re ready, set the oven to 325 degrees.

I use parchment paper or a Silpat mat to line a baking sheet before placing marshmallows on top. For the tart, I’m using extra large, pre-made marshmallows. These big ones take a little bit longer to toast in the oven than regular size. I recommend starting at 8 minutes and watch them until they are perfectly golden like these. The exact timing will depend on your oven. Once these are out of the oven, you’ll want to put the tart together. In the mean time, let’s make a super quick, one-cup ganache.

While your marshmallows are toasting, you can prepare the quick-ganache I came up with, just for this recipe. That way, you don’t have a bunch of unused chocolate left over as you would need for making a cake. You’ll have just the right amount to put this together.

If you do want to a whole batch of ganache over the stovetop, please scroll down the flourless chocolate cake post to my full Chocolate Ganache recipe.

I spooned on the ganache and then came the marshmallows.

After the ganache cooled and set, cutting in for a slice of the S’mores Brownie Tart is just as exciting as cutting into a cake. The end result is basically magnificent.

Now that we have the basic idea, I’ll show you how to put S’mores Brownies together. I took these pics as I was preparing a custom catering order.

For mini brownies, I use a silicone “pan.” I prepare and bake the graham cracker crust recipe.

Just like with the tart above, I prepared the decadent brownie recipe and placed chocolate chips at the top before baking.

Because there is less batter, these mini brownies will take a lot less time to bake. I would check the oven at 15 minutes. You should be set. They look (and taste) so good! You’ll be thrilled.

Take the brownies out and allow then to cool before placing the ganache on top.

I toasted standard size/regular marshmallows to top the mini S’mores Brownies. At 325, they should be golden within 5-10 minutes. Check your oven at five, to get them to your definition of perfectly-toasted.

And there you have it! S’mores Brownies and S’mores Brownie Tart.

For more S’mores love, check out my recipe post for Campfire Cookies.