Joy the Baker

Thick S’mores Brownies

by 38 Comments

I’ve spent a lot of time this summer trying to do things better.  Right now most of that energy goes into learning how to make beautiful flowers out of paper (more on that soon!), but sometimes those energies are directed towards chocolate.  

These are brownies I’ve made before. Years ago, and it’s been too long since they’ve been revisited.  This time around I’m making the brownies thicker, more gooey, adding more chocolate and slicing generously.  This is me trying to make things better, with more chocolate. That’s usually the answer, right?

I hope you’ll consider these for your weekend.  Get that marshmallow off a stick and onto a brownie, ya know?

There’s debate in the brownie world.  First of all… there’s a brownie world.  Amen to that. 

The debate in brownie world is this:  unsweetened chocolate bar OR unsweetened cocoa powder.  I always choose chocolate bar for it’s fat and richness.  It makes for a much for fudge-y brownie than the cocoa powder.  I also have a soft spot in my heart because the first thing I ever baked was the brownie recipe on the back of the Baker’s Chocolate box.  This, of course, was after trying to eat the chocolate as it was not realizing that unsweetened chocolate, pre-brownie, is one of god’s cruel jokes. 

In a double boiler – that’s a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water – I melted an ample amount of butter with an almost equally ample amount of unsweetened chocolate. Stir until glossy and completely melted.  

Right over here, in another bowl, I whisked together brown sugar, not brown sugar, and plenty of large eggs (5 to be exact).  

Brownies don’t have a lot of flour in them.  What we lack in gluten structure is supported by the large amount of eggs, creating structure and moisture, and a damn fudgey brownie thankyouverymuch! 

The melted chocolate is mixed with the whipped up eggs and sugar.  The batter will be loose and glossy, just like my heart. 

In with a modest amount of flour, a kick of baking powder, and what might seem like too much salt but is in fact not too much salt. 

Here’s where we get s’mores-y.  Graham crackers , crumbled, go straight into the batter.  

Chocolate chips too. A good handful to melt into the batter as it bakes. This will have you feeling very full of good ideas. 

Into the pan, graham and all, and topped with large marshmallows before baking.  They’ll brown and puff, melt and spread just slightly and it will feel like all is right in the world for a few fine moments. 

The brownies need some time to cool and settle before they’re sliced.  I even like to put them in the refrigerator to set before slicing.  The brownies are stellar at room temperature. They’re also very good when individually wrapped and frozen.  A thick chocolate frozen brownie is absolutely fantastic and the marshmallow, when frozen, turns to a taffy consistency. It’s dreams any way you slice it.  

You’ll make these, wontcha!?

Print

Thick S’mores Brownies

  • Author: Joy the Baker
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 40
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 9

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks, 16 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 heaping cup coarsely crushed graham crackers
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 12 large marshmallows

Instructions

  1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×9-inch baking pan with 2.5-inch-high sides. Line with parchment paper so it hangs over the edges on two sides and lightly grease the paper. The parchment will make the brownies easy to remove from the pan. Set aside. (This recipe can also be made in a 9×13-inch pan for a thinner brownie, cooking for 30 to 35 minutes.)
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Create a double boiler and melt butter and unsweetened chocolate over simmering water. Stir chocolate and butter in this double boiler until melted and smooth.
  3. In a medium bowl beat together eggs, sugars and vanilla. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then the dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers and chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 12 large marshmallows. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 45-50 minutes.
  4. Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool. Cool for at least 20 minutes than slice with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife with hot water if it gets too messy and sticky. Serve or wrap individually in wax paper for storing.

Photos by Jon Melendez!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I just made these for a neighborhood bbq this evening. I baked them for about an hour and my toothpick is still coming out pretty gooey, but I had to pull them because the marshmallows were starting to burn. Might be because my only 9×9 is glass pyrex? If anyone else is using that kind of pan maybe plan for extra baking time and put your marshmallows on a few minutes into the bake time. The house smells heavenly and I’m sure they will taste awesome even if the middle is a little gooey. We’ll call it “molten” :)

    Reply

  4. Wow!! I love that the crumbled graham crackers go straight into the batter! These are a must try. Love you, Joy, but…why do you want to make flowers out of paper? Well I know you said there would be more on that later so I will just have to wait in anticipation…

    Reply

  7. I am in camp cocoa powder because I replace part of the flour in my recipe with cocoa for darker chocolate.
    I make a version of this, using miniature marshmallows or cut-up big ones, PLUS walnuts and minus graham crackers, which technically makes them Rocky Road Brownies (like rocky road ice cream) rather than S’Mores Brownies. Insanity, right?

    Reply

  12. Do you think marshmallow fluff would work in place of the marshmallows? Oddly enough, marshmallows are not vegetarian friendly (contain gelatin) but marshmallow fluff is!

    Reply

    • If you have a Trader Joe’s around you, their marshmallows are vegetarian friendly! I found that out the hard way when trying to make rice krispie treats (they melted at a much higher temperature)

      Reply

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