No Bake S'Mores Brownies

So, now that I have gone on the record and named my favorite cookbooks of all time (click here if you missed that post!) I can now start telling you about my new favorites.  Because life is better with more cookbooks.

But first, because I am me, I need to give you a little back-story.  While I spend the majority of my time photographing cookies and spaghetti and bacon cinnamon rolls, I do venture out of the kitchen from time to time to take pictures of other delicious things.  Like puppies.  A little while back I was lucky enough to photograph this dynamic due of adorableness:

Can you STAND the cuteness???

Anyway, their owners are almost as sweet as they are, and on the day of our shoot they brought me a delicious box of Fat Witch Brownies.  Which in case you haven't had one, are the Most Delicious Brownies On Earth.    And just for the record, the Fat Witch people have never heard of me, did not pay me either in brownies or anything else to say this, this is purely my own love and adoration speaking.   This is why I was so excited to hear that the Fat Witch Bakery Cookbook had just been published, full of recipes for unbelievable brownies of every kind...I couldn't get my hands on it fast enough.  And now that I have a copy, let's just say that there will be a steady stream of brownie making in my house, and I started out with the incredibly easy, amazingly scrumptious recipe for No-Bake S'Mores Brownies.

That's right...no bake.  I had my doubts, but I promise you, it's really true!  You crush some graham crackers into tiny crumbs, and mix in some mini-marshmallows and chocolate chips.  Then you melt some butter with some beaten egg, sugar and vanilla, stirring over low heat until it thickens just a bit.  Cool it down a little, then pour it over your graham cracker mixture.  Toss in a few more chips and marshmallows.  Mixmixmix.  Now spoon the whole thing into a pan that you have lined with foil and pop the whole thing in the fridge.  (I love using a fridge in place of an oven!).  30 minutes later it will have set into a pan full of s'more brownie wonderfulness.

Fat Witch Cookbook!  I have my eye on the Molasses Brownies next....

No Bake S'Mores Brownies, from Fat Witch Brownies Cookbook

• 10 graham crackers, crushed (about 2 1/4 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
• 3/4 cups chocolate chips
• 1 stick butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line a 9 inch square pan with foil, leaving some hanging over the sides, 
and grease the foil with butter.

2. Mix graham crumbs, 3/4 cup marshmallows and 1/2 cup chocolate chips together 
in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

3. Melt the butter in small pot and stir in sugar, egg and vanilla. 
Stir over medium low heat until slightly thickened. Cool slightly.

4. Add sugar mixture to graham mixture and stir well. Fold in remaining marshmallows 
and chips.

5. Press mixture into pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove from pan using foil 
overhang, cut and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

S'Mores Refrigerator Cookies

I am such a sucker when it comes to anything featuring the word "s'mores." I was pretty sure I had hit the Holy Grail of s'mores cookies when I made this delicious little cookie recipe, and that version is definitely near and dear to my heart. And of course there is nothing like the real thing: gen-yew-ine s'mores made around a campfire with best friends on a warm summer night.

But that doesn't mean I won't jump at the chance to try yet another version, and so when I saw this new approach at Joy The Baker I couldn't resist. This recipe does not involve an oven, a campfire or anything else hot...as a matter of fact, it takes the opposite approach. It's all about the refrigerator. Otherwise known in my house as the source of all information. I have the left side for my papers. The teenager has the right side for her papers. The Southern husband manages to keep all his information in his head. The dog doesn't plan ahead at all, and is way more interested in the inside of the fridge.

Yikes. It looks a lot better from farther away.

Sort of.

Anyway, here's what you do. Get yourself a box of graham crackers. Yes, the whole box. Break them up into nice bite-size chunks, say about an inch or so. It's a good way to work out all your stress. Take 2 cups of mini-marshmallows. Test a couple of them to make sure they are okay. It's your responsibility as the chef to make sure all the ingredients are in order. Toss them in there with the graham cracker pieces. If you have a nice shallow bowl to hold all this it will make the next step much easier....I have one that is for serving pasta and it worked perfectly for this.

Next you melt three sticks of butter, some cocoa powder and some corn syrup in a saucepan (okay, so there is some heat involved) until it is all nice and melted together. Cool it for a few minutes and then pour it over your graham cracker marshmallow pile. Stir it around until it is all one big chocolate bowl of happiness. Now line a pan with parchment paper (which I discovered will behave MUCH better if you spray the pan with cooking spray first) and dump the whole thing into the lined pan. Take about another cup or so of the marshmallows and sprinkle them on top and press them in lightly with the back of a spoon. Take another piece of parchment paper and lay it on the top and press down so the whole thing is nicely mushed together.

Now leave it on your counter for 30 minutes, and then pop it in the fridge for a few hours. You want to get it good and chilled down. Then you are ready to cut it into bars. I have a big pizza cutter that worked perfectly for this, but I am sure a big knife would also do the trick. The original recipe called for cutting them into 15 bars...I did that at first, and they were 15 Big Bars...so I went back and cut most of them in half again so they look like this.

This way you can eat two of them in a row and still feel kind of virtuous.

If there are any left after you cut them out and show them around, you need to wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store them in the fridge. They are called refrigerator cookies for a reason...if they stay outside too long they get soft and falling apart-ish. But they are a little piece of heaven when they are cold, and that is well worth the 10 minutes it will take you to wrap them up.

So there you have it, the latest in my line of s'mores cookies. It won't be the last...

S'MORES REFRIGERATOR COOKIES, from Joy The Baker (love her!!)

3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup light corn syrup

pinch of salt

1 14-ounce box graham crackers, lightly crumbled

2 cups of mini marshmallows, plus a handful more for sprinkling on top

1. Line a 9x13-inch baking sheep with parchment paper, set aside.

2. In a large bowl, crumble the graham crackers into large chunks. Add two cups of mini marshmallows and set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter together butter, cocoa, corn syrup and a pinch of salt. Stir and heat until smooth. Once melted, let chocolate mixture cool for 5 minutes.

4. Pour chocolate mixture over graham crackers and marshmallows. Stir so that all of the graham crackers are moistened by the chocolate mixture. Dump into lined baking pan, and a few more marshmallows on top and press down with the back of a spoon. Cover the top with another sheet of parchment and press with your fingers.

5. Let cool on the counter for 30 minutes, then place in the fridge to solidify for a few hours or overnight. Cut into bars. Wrap individually and store in the fridge.

Click here for printable recipe