Graham cracker and brown sugar cookie dough sandwiches a thick layer of marshmallow creme and plenty of chocolate chips in these undeniably delicious s’mores cookie bars. They’re chewy, soft, and gooey and have been one of the most popular dessert recipes on my site. They’re a hit wherever I take them and these days I love using homemade marshmallow creme instead of store-bought.
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips.
It’s like… why not just eat a s’more? Do we really need a cookie bar that’s s’mores flavored? The answer is yes. Real s’mores, in all their sticky, messy, campfire-fresh glory are obviously a special treat. But here we get to enjoy those same exact flavors in convenient travel-friendly form and with a thicker, softer graham cracker base. We don’t even need a crackling campfire to set the ambiance! A win-win-win.
S’mores Cookie Bars Details
- Flavor: S’mores is a very popular “flavor” that isn’t going out of style. From no bake s’mores cake to s’mores brownie cupcakes and s’mores brownie pie, the combination of marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers can be used in many different ways. (Heck, I’ve even served up s’mores chocolate mousse and s’mores rice krispie treats before!) Today’s layered s’mores cookie bars combine the same trio of flavors and while the marshmallow creme and chocolate are obviously irresistible, readers always love the buttery sweet graham cracker cookie enveloping it all.
- Texture: If you haven’t tried them already, be prepared for a medley of textures. The graham cookie portion is soft, chewy, and a little crumbly. The marshmallow creme is gooey and if you use my homemade recipe, it has a slightly crisp meringue-like texture on top. (That’s probably my favorite part of it all!)
- Ease: I do not consider this a challenging recipe, but assembling the bars takes a little bit of effort. The cookie dough is quite sticky, so don’t be afraid to use your hands to spread it evenly into the lined baking pan. The marshmallow creme is equally sticky, but just remember that the layers don’t have to be beautiful or perfect. Do your best and trust the oven to bake it all together nicely for you!
One reader, Michele, says: “These were amazing! I made two batches for an outing this weekend and they both were devoured! Thank you so much for such a perfect s’mores bar, the prep was simple and the bake time was spot on for me. I had several request for the recipe. I love your blog! ★★★★★”
4 Layers to Love in These S’mores Bars
- Graham Cracker Cookie Bar
- Marshmallow Creme (store-bought “Fluff” or homemade)
- Chocolate Chips
- Graham Cracker Cookie Bar
Just so you are extra prepared, let me show and explain how these treats come together. To make these s’mores cookie bars, start with a basic butter-based cookie dough but swap some of the flour with graham cracker crumbs. Spread 2/3 of the graham cracker cookie dough into the bottom of a pan—it will seem like a very thin layer, but the cookie bar portion puffs up in the oven. Top with marshmallow creme, chocolate chips, and then the rest of the graham cracker cookie dough. Have you ever made homemade marshmallow creme before? It’s like making Swiss meringue buttercream only without the butter. Gently cook egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar together before whipping with vanilla extract. It’s similar to traditional “7 minute frosting”, but doesn’t contain corn syrup or water. And it tastes even creamier and fluffier than store-bought Fluff.
One important note about the marshmallow layer: Do not use marshmallows in lieu of the marshmallow creme. The marshmallows will melt into the dough, disappear, and create unpleasant looking “craters” in the finished bars—you won’t really even taste them. Use marshmallow creme because it stands up to the oven’s heat. Save your marshmallows for a batch of rice krispie treats or hot cocoa cookies instead!
Success Tip: There isn’t enough dough to completely cover the marshmallow and chocolate chips, but that’s the charm of it all! For the top cookie layer, grab portions of the remaining cookie dough, flatten out like pancakes and arrange on top of the chocolate chip layer. You get to see the marshmallow and chocolate pop up and peak through all the cracks on top!
This dessert is always fun for summer cookouts and parties, but I’ve served them for birthdays, along side Father’s Day recipes, Mother’s Day recipes, anniversaries, a random Sunday (why not?), you name it. It’s always devoured!
Looking for Summer Desserts?
- Fruit Pizza
- Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
- No Bake Cheesecake Jars
- Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
For even more inspiration, head over to our list of 25+ desserts for a BBQ cookout.
Print
S’mores Cookie Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 16 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Graham cracker and brown sugar cookie dough sandwiches a thick layer of marshmallow creme and plenty of chocolate chips in these undeniably delicious s’mores cookie bars. Feel free to use store-bought or homemade marshmallow creme. See recipe note if using homemade.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature*
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 cup (120g) graham cracker crumbs (about 8 full-sheet graham crackers)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 heaping cup marshmallow creme (store-bought “Fluff” or 1/2 recipe of homemade marshmallow creme)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line an 8-inch square baking pan or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang on the sides to easily remove the bars when they have cooled. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Mixture may appear curdled and that’s ok.
- Whisk the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and then beat on medium speed until combined.
- Press/spread 2/3 of the graham cookie dough into prepared pan. (Doesn’t have to be exact, just eyeball it.) It will be a thin layer and the dough is sticky, so use your hands if needed. Spread the marshmallow creme evenly on top. This will be tricky since the marshmallow creme is sticky, but do the best you can to get an even layer. Layer chocolate chips evenly on top. Mold the remaining cookie dough into flat pieces and layer on top of the chocolate chips, as pictured and shown in the video above. You won’t have enough dough to make one single layer, so some chocolate chips/marshmallow will be exposed.
- Bake the bars for 25-30 minutes or until the top is lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack. Cool bars completely.
- Lift the bars out using the parchment paper overhang on the sides. Cut into squares.
- Cover and store leftover bars at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: To freeze, cool bars completely. Cut into squares and layer between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Baking Pan or 9-inch Square Baking Pan | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Homemade Marshmallow Creme: You can use homemade marshmallow creme for this recipe. You only need a half batch, which yields just under 2 cups. Halve all of the ingredients and follow the same instructions. Use 1 and 1/4 cups in this recipe. (Enjoy the rest!)
- Can I use regular marshmallows? No, do not use marshmallows in lieu of the marshmallow creme. The marshmallows will melt into the dough, disappear, and create unpleasant looking “craters” in the finished bars—you won’t really even taste them. Use marshmallow creme because it stands up to the oven’s heat.
- Can I make these in a 9×13-inch pan? Yes. Double the recipe by doubling each ingredient. Bake time is around 35-38 minutes.
- Non-US Readers: If you can’t find graham crackers where you live, you can substitute ground digestive biscuit crumbs instead.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Our new favorite bars! We love them!
I doubled the recipe for the 9×13 pan and baked for 30 minutes. They had a perfect bake and were delicious. I like them much better than actual S’mores. I can’t stop eating them!
In the ingredients it says 1/2 cup of butter but the Visio shows a cup. Which one is correct?
Hi Sarah, the butter in the mixing bowl in the video was a stick cut in half. So go with the written recipe, for 1/2 cup!
I am not normally a smores person but made this for a party a friend was hosting since she absolutely loves smores, and they were a huge hit! I myself really liked them too and am about to make them again for a BBQ coming up. Instead of making my own fluff, I went a little fancy and got some fluff from Whole Foods – its expensive but it tasted homemade and way less sweet than standard fluff.
Hi Sally!
I wanted to make these for a bake sale, but I wonder…would the homemade fluff be okay? I’m worried that it may weep if left at room temperature. Does the fact that it’s baked eliminate that problem?
Hi Terry, that shouldn’t be a problem if they’re out for a few hours at the bake sale—they can be left at room temperature for up to a week. Hope they’re a hit!
Great recipe ! Easy to make and satisfies that chocolate craving . My grandkids loved them !
I loved this recipe so much!
Oh also, I did a 50/50 mix of peanut butter and chocolate chips and they are absolutely smashing. I love Sally’s recipes so, so much and have for many years.
This recipe yielded amazing results. However, I had some serious difficulty trying to use a hand mixer for creaming the butter and brown sugar together. They just clumped up and scattered all over the place!! I use a pretty nice Cuisinart hand mixer so I hope it wasn’t the tool I was using. When I transferred it all (pieces scattered around my countertops included) to my stand mixer it worked like a charm. Maybe I am the only one having this issue. I used moist brown sugar and room temp butter. Idk?!
Could you use Hershey bars instead of chocolate chips?
Hi Bekah, you could try chopped Hershey’s bars in place of the chocolate chips. Let us know how it goes!
Made these today for Easter and my family was raving! Sally you’ve done it again!
I made these yesterday for my family. Loved them ! I followed the recipe exactly, but I do have to add that when I made the crust it was too dry and crumbly so I added 2 more tablespoons of butter which made it perfect to spread. This is a keeper.
Neighborhood kid approved! The neighborhood children love these bars and often ask for them by name. As we are retired, I love to provide a treat for their basketball and soccer games if for after school.
I’m honestly so surprised with this recipe! I love Sally’s chewy choc chip cookie recipe, but didn’t want to wait for the dough to chill so decided to try these instead! I followed her recipe for marshmallow creme and omg! It was so worth it… although I couldn’t get it to peak properly (my fault, I used lemon juice rather than cream of tartar lol). These are so delicious though, and I’m super surprised with how neat they look after cutting. So much better than traditional s’mores, too! They’ve only been out the oven for 3 hours, and my family had almost finished the lot! Thank you, Sally. You and your baking creations are fab!
This recipe has served me well over the past few years, I add a little salted caramel to the mix and people cant get enough! I have learned so much from Miss Sally…thank you!
Could you use graham flour in place of crushed graham crackers? TIA!
For this particular recipe, you really want to use graham cracker crumbs, and not an additional flour (graham flour).
Would it be a bad idea to ship these? Can they easily be wrapped individually, or are they too sticky?
You could try shipping with a super speedy delivery, but I worry about the sticky marshmallow.
Unbelievably good AND EASY! Made for a dinner party we hosted, and they were all gone by the end of the night. All the nostalgia of campfire s’mores with half the mess. Such a great recipe! We love you, Sally!
Great recipe!
I only recently became aware of the existence of “marshmallow cream” and thought to myself that stuff would be great for baked smores squares. That’s how I ended up here, ironically I ended up using your alternate Swiss meringue as I needed a quadruple batch.
I was using it for work feeding a large group of teenagers and the squares were absolutely delicious and a big hit with the kids! Thanks for the great recipe I will definitely be using it again. Maybe next time with some extra big chunks of chocolate and maybe a variation with Oreo cookie crumbs….
WOW!!! Head over heels in love with this recipe, I can’t stop making it! I brought it to a potluck and it was a huge hit. I used store bought marshmallow fluff and dark chocolate chunks– followed the recipe exactly the first few times, once I got comfortable with it I added a few hefty dashes of cinnamon to the graham cracker dough to make it pop. I also found that roughly crushing the graham crackers (leaving some bigger chunks in there) adds a nice textural variety to the dough, and really helps the flavor come through. Thanks so much for this recipe, I’ve been having so much fun with it!
What fun variations to this recipe, Charles! So glad it’s been a hit for you.
I just made 100 of these for a church function and they are so good! Damping your fingers makes spreading the dough and marshmallow cream easy. Alternatively, refrigerating the dough and then bringing to room temperature makes it not sticky at all.
These were delicious and decadent! I made them for my daughter’s class birthday treat and they were a HUGE hit.
Yes! Yes! Yes! A stand out fan favorite from my first ever bake sale. The only thing I modified was using chocolate CHUNKS instead of the CHIPS. It really makes it look like Hershey bars. I also held back a few to add to the top. Perfection!!! Sally’s Addiction is my newest addiction. LOL.
can I cut these bigger? I kind of want to treat these like a square cookie cake.:)
Sure can!
Can’t wait to make these! If I double the recipe what is the expected baking time?
Hi Beth! You can double the recipe for a 9×13 pan. The bake time will be longer, we’re unsure of the exact time.
Made these last night; they turned out perfectly and were simply scrumptious; I didn’t have semisweet chocolate chips, but did have a semisweet bar so I chopped that up & it turned out great. I will definitely make these again!
Can I use mini marshmallows instead of the fluff?
Hi Pat! Do not use marshmallows in lieu of the marshmallow creme. The marshmallows will melt into the dough, disappear, and create unpleasant looking “craters” in the finished bars– you won’t really even taste them. Use marshmallow creme because it stands up to the oven’s heat.
These are SOOOO good, but can I freeze them?
You bet! See recipe notes for details.
I always love your recipes. I have a bunch of leftover swiss meringue buttercream. Would that work for marshmallow fluff or will the butter make it weird?
Hi Mary, unfortunately, Swiss meringue buttercream wouldn’t work in this recipe as the marshmallow fluff layer. Let us know if you give them a try!
Brought these to work and a coworker gave me a hug. A great offering to friends when they’re feeling down, I’ll hand off a batch sometimes. Pretty fail-safe, I can’t recommend enough!
Amazing. Mine puffed up and had to cook for a bit longer. I used a little more than 1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks. Warm, gooey, and delicious. I thought the flavors were balanced. I use Morton’s Kosher salt so the 1/4 tsp really came through, in a good way! Loved it. My son loved it. Thanks for a great recipe.
I used store bought marshmallow fluff to save time and it all melted into the chocolate. Any tips to prevent this? I cooked it for 25 minutes.
I’d like an answer to this as well 🙂
Hi, we haven’t tested the recipe with store-bought fluff, but some readers have reported having success with it in this recipe. So I’m not sure why it wouldn’t work!