These dairy free s'mores cookie bars are full of mini marshmallows, dark chocolate and graham crackers crumbs. They have all the delicious tastes of a s'more, but in an easy bar form. All you need is pantry staple ingredients and 10 minutes to prep!
WHY YOU'LL LOVE THIS RECIPE
Easy to Make. If you have been here before, you know I love simple and quick desserts. These s'more cookie bars are not different - they are an easy recipe that take less than 10 minutes to prep and require very little steps making them the perfect dessert!
No Chill Time - Unlike many traditional cookies, these cookie bars require no time in the fridge, which makes them that much more desirable. Your cookies will be made, baked, and possibly eaten within an hour. If you enjoy no-chill recipes, try my chocolate chip cookies or my biscoff cookies.
Nostalgia Feeling - What makes you think of your childhood more than a s’more? Well, if its not that time of the year for a firepit or even if it is, a classic s’more may not be possible. Hence, these cookie bars that have graham cracker cookie dough and are full of chocolate chunks. They are a great summer treat.
INGREDIENTS
- Flour. All purpose flour is almost always a safe choice in baking and is the best flour to use when making these vegan s'mores cookie bars. If you are gluten free, you can substitute Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour.
- Light Brown Sugar. Light brown sugar works best for this recipe. If you are in a crunch, you can use dark brown sugar but adjust the amount of maple syrup so the cookie bars are not overly sweet. Because this dough is vegan, you can eat the cookie dough try it before baking!
- Graham Crackers. You cannot have s'more without graham crackers! We will use it to make graham cracker crumbs to place in the batter, as well as graham cracker chunks on top! Traditional graham crackers usually contain honey, so if you are vegan, be sure to check the ingredients list. Nabisco is vegan safe.
- Chocolate. I prefer to cut up vegan chocolate bars to make dark chocolate chunks, but use any chocolate you prefer. If you are not vegan or dairy free, you can use milk chocolate, such as hershey’s chocolate bars or even semi-sweet chocolate chips. If you have a sweet tooth, you can also sprinkle extra chocolate on top!
- Marshmallows. Dandies' mini marshmallows are vegan and sold at most grocery stores or on Amazon. If you are not vegan, any mini marshmallow brand will work - just make sure they are higher quality or they will melt.
- Maple Syrup. Naturally sweetens up these recipe instead of using traditional white sugar. You can also use honey if you are not vegan.
- Vegan Butter. Any dairy free butter will work here, but dairy free butter that comes in a block is best to bake with. My favorite to use is Miyoko's Creamery or Country Crock. Make sure to warm your butter to room temperature before starting the recipe or your dough will be hard to cream together.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a baking pan using cooking spray or butter or line it with parchment paper. Run whole graham crackers through a food processor or blender to crush them into fine dust or crumbs. You can also add them to a bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
Step 2: Using a large bowl, beat the room temperature vegan butter until it is fluffy. Then, add in the vegan brown sugar and cream until combined. It will be gritty. The paddle attachment for an electric mixer works best for this.
Step 3: Add in the wet ingredients, including the milk, vanilla and maple syrup, and mix on a low speed until it is combined. It will be very wet.
Step 4: Slowly add in the dry ingredients, including the flour, brown sugar, graham cracker crumbs, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder and mix. The flour mixture will be soft and resemble chocolate chip cookie dough.
Step 5: Slowly add in the chocolate chunks and marshmallows and mix until both are combined into the mixture.
Step 6: Add the mixture into the baking pan, pressing it to the bottom of the pan. Make sure it is an even layer. Sprinkle marshmallows on top. Then, add pieces of graham cracker on top. Finally sprinkle chocolate chips or chunks on top.
Step 7: Place the baking tray in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until they are golden brown on top.
STORAGE
These easy s’mores cookie bars store well in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Store them in a cool, dry place. If you plan to eat them the same day you are baking them, you can also add aluminum foil to the top of the baking tray and pull it off before eating.
You can also place the raw dough in your freezer in an air-tight container for up to 30 days or freeze the baked s'mores cookie bars for 2 weeks - just let them thaw on the counter before eating.
REHEATING TIPS
If you enjoy eating your cookie bars like they just came out of the oven, place them in the microwave and gently heat for 10-20 seconds until they are warmed. You can also add ice cream on top for the ultimate sundae!
RECIPE FAQ
It is likely the brand of the marshmallow you are using. I suggest Dandies brand or jiffy if you are not vegan. If you continue to run into this issue, freeze your marshmallows for 15 minutes before placing them in your batter and baking.
Absolutely. It will last up to 30 days in your freezer in an air-tight container. You can also freeze the bars for 30 days.
Be sure to not cook these cookie bars at a higher temperature than suggested. This can cause them to become flat. Also, it might be because you used vegan margarine instead of vegan stick butter.
EXPERT TIPS
- Use high quality marshmallows. To ensure these bars have classic s'more flavors, use high quality marshmallows like dandies or jiffy if you are not vegan. Lower quality marshmallows will melt in your dough and not be like the gooey marshmallows' in classic s'mores.
- Insert a toothpick to the center of the bars. The center of these bars bakes slower than the edges, To ensure these bars are fully baked, insert the tooth pick to the center of the tray.
S'mores Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour or sub GF 1-1
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup graham crackers crushed finely (approx 6 crackers)
- ½ cup graham crackers broken into pieces for topping
- 1 cup mini marshmallows* plus 3-4 tbsp extra for toppings
- ½ cup dairy free chocolate chunks or chips plus 3-4 tbsp extra for toppings
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp plant based milk
- ½ cup butter softened, DF
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a brownie tray with parchment paper or grease it.
- Make the graham cracker crumbs by processing ½ cup of graham crackers in a food processor, or smash them within a bag with a rolling pin. Once done, place to the side.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter until it is fluffy using an electric mixer. Add in the brown sugar and beat again. It will be gritty.
- Add the maple syrup, plant based milk and vanilla extract into the bowl and mix. It will be very wet.
- Mix in the graham cracker crumbs (from the food processor), flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. A soft dough will form.
- Gently fold in the chocolate chip then your marshmallows. Mix until all are equally disbursed.
- Pour the mixture into baking tray, pressing into the tray and using your hand or a spoon to create an even layer on the top.
- Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs on top and any extra marshmallows and chocolate chips on top.
- Bake in the middle rack for 35-40 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick into the center of the cookie bars and it comes out cleanly.
- Let cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting into it.
These look absolutely delicious, and I can’t wait to try them!
Thank you so much, Sara!!