Bloodshot Eyeball S'mores Bars

This is a sponsored post by Challenge, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

These s'mores bars may very well be the easiest dessert I've ever made. The graham cracker crust requires one bowl and a spoon for mixing; everything else gets layered in an 8-inch square pan.

S'mores bars would be a delicious dessert for any time of year, but they are especially fun to turn into a spooky treat for Halloween. I'm not sure what made me think to turn marshmallows into bloodshot eyes, but I guess that's where my mind is right now.

I used Wilton Red Sparkle Gel to create the squiggly bloodshot lines, and then I stuck colored candy eyeballs on top. If you can't find the gel, use any type of red icing. You can find candy eyeballs in the baking section of most grocery stores this time of year, but if you have issues finding them, use an M&M or a Spree and draw a little black pupil on the candy with an edible marker.

You could also adapt this recipe for winter and draw snowman faces on the marshmallows.

Because this recipe has so few ingredients, it's important to make sure everything you use is of the best quality. For example, I used Challenge butter because they use fresh, hormone-free milk, and they don't add any unnatural additives which results in a superior product.

Bloodshot Eyeball S'mores Bars

Yield: One 8 x 8-inch dish, about 20 bars

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted Challenge butter, melted
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup (150 grams) all-purpose flour 
• 1 cup (100 grams) graham cracker crumbs 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 king size chocolate bars (milk or dark chocolate, 7 ounces each)
• 20 marshmallows or 10 jumbo marshmallows cut in half
• Wilton Red Sparkle Gel or other cookie icing
• Candy eyes

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit; butter 8 x 8-inch pan and line with parchment paper. Butter parchment paper.
2. Mix butter with brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir in flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt.
3. Spread evenly into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes on middle rack.
4. Cover top with chocolate bars and return to oven for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until chocolate just starts to melt.
5. Remove from oven and top with marshmallows.
6. Set oven to low broil. Return pan to oven for 1 to 2 minutes or until marshmallows start to turn golden brown. Watch marshmallows carefully to ensure they don't burn.
7. Remove from oven and cool.
8. Decorate marshmallows with red gel in squiggly lines to resemble bloodshot eyes. Place candy eyes in center. Allow icing to set before removing from pan. 
9. Cut into bars and serve.

Toasted S'mores Cookies

This is a sponsored post by Challenge Butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Nothing says summer quite like s'mores! And these cookies are not only festive and adorable, but they're also so dang delicious! The graham cracker cookie is so sweet and chewy, and the whole thing just melts in your mouth.

There are two important things to remember when making these cookies: 1) Press the half-marshmallow into the cookie immediately after you remove them from the oven so that it sticks 2) Broil your marshmallows so they get a nice golden top, just like when you roast them by a campfire. But be careful! Watch them closely because they burn quickly.

Also, as always, I used Challenge butter when making these cookies. Challenge butter is hormone free and made with real cream. It whips up smoothly when you're creaming it with other ingredients, and the butter flavor really shines through in the cookies.

Toasted S’mores Cookies

Yield: Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup Challenge butter, room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 large marshmallows, cut in half
• 24 chocolate kisses

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar together until creamy.  
4. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.  
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  
6. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto a baking sheet, 1-2″ apart.  
7. Bake for 6 - 8 minutes or until edges are just getting golden brown.  
8. Remove from oven and gently press a half marshmallow, sticky side down, onto each cookie. Let cool completely.
9. Once cookies have cooled, preheat broiler.  
10. Place cookies back in oven and broil for 1-2 minutes. Keep a close eye on them so they don’t burn.  
11. Once marshmallows start to turn golden brown, remove from broiler and press a chocolate kiss on top of each cookie.

Recipe adapted from Six Sisters’ Stuff

LOADED S’MORES COOKIES

Nothing screams summer quite like s'mores! Gooey marshmallow with melted chocolate and a crunchy graham cracker! Mmmm. But for people who don’t go camping (ehemm me) and for people that don’t have a backyard (also me), starting up a campfire to make this delicious treat isn't really feasible. But baking cookies – that I can do! And that was the thought process behind this delicious Loaded S’mores Cookie recipe.

My biggest concern about a s’mores cookie was making sure it had the same gooey marshmallow texture. I didn't want to create a cookie with marshmallows sprinkled throughout it. I wanted the marshmallows to melt into the cookie and ooze out when you bit into it, just like a regular s’more. The solution was creating a base that was equal parts batter, marshmallow, and chocolate chips. That was I could bake the cookies for a shorter period of time without worrying about them being under-baked.

I also added in some coarsely chopped graham crackers, and voila! There you have it – moist and gooey cookies that taste like summer!

LOADED S’MORES COOKIE

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS

·         1 cup light brown sugar, packed

·         1 large egg

·         3/4 cup butter, softened

·         2 teaspoons vanilla extract

·         1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

·         2 teaspoons cornstarch (prevents spreading)

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1 (12 ounce) bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips

·         1 and 1/4 cups mini marshmallows

·         4 full-size graham cracker sheets, crumbled

DIRECTIONS:

1.       Combine the brown sugar, egg, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl and beat on medium-high speed for a few minutes until well-creamed. Set aside.

2.       In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, and baking soda.

3.       Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

4.       Add the chocolate chips, marshmallows, and graham crackers to the batter and fold them in with a spatula until evenly dispersed.

5.       Scoop out the dough, forming 2 tablespoon mounds, roll into a ball, place on baking sheet, and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.

6.       Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.

7.       Chill the dough for at least two hours (or up to two days). Normally I don’t feel like chilling dough is a necessity, but it is in this recipe because otherwise the marshmallows will spread while baking.

8.       After dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

9.       Bake cookies for 8 minutes. No longer than that!

10.   Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

11.   Store cookies for up to 1 week!

The batter before the s'more mix-ins

I like to crumble the graham crackers with my fingers right over the bowl

The s'more mix-ins

The finished batter

Scoop cookie dough onto baking sheet

IMPORTANT: DO NOT PLACE DOUGH ON BAKING SHEET MARSHMALLOW SIDE DOWN. The marshmallow may burn if you do that.

INSTEAD, find a spot on the rolled dough without exposed marshmallow and place that side down on the baking sheet

Baked, soft and pillowy s'mores cookies!

I love that you can see the marshmallow and chocolate exploding from the cookie

Mmmm look at that gooey center!