S'more please!

Ever get stuck with a special occasion and realize you're supposed to provide a dessert?

It can't be the same old same old thing either! I was cooking for family and they'll say something if it's not up to their standards.

I found myself in this position on Valentine's Day.

So I chose these! They're a brownie with a smore styled topping. It's a basic assembly line style dessert.

First off you need a hot pan of brownies! May I recommend the recipes provided by Pillsbury and Duncan Hines? They make lovely mixes . . .

So just imagine me making up a nice pan of brownies. A 9X13 pan of brownies. You're going to have to rely on your imagination because I was cooking like five different things at once and I forgot to take a picture of my hot pan of brownies in their naked glory. Okay? I mean you HAVE made brownies before right? . . .

Really you've got to get out more.

They're dark brown, they have that lovely steamy chocolate aroma. You've got to use hot mitts because the pan would burn you otherwise. Take 'em out of the oven and put them on a heat safe surface. Got the picture?

You need a 10 oz. bag of mini marshmallows ready.

NOW! Right NOW! Dump the marshmallows on the brownies and cover them up. The steam from the brownies is going to make them all swollen and moist and sticky. The way marshmallows should be! I've got a lid for my pan but if you need to use a little tin foil or a platter that's just fine.

Now you're going to need some graham crackers. Who'd a thunk it? Graham crackers on a s'more brownie? I like to use 3 large crackers. 

You're going to want to melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a nice 10 inch pan.  Mmmm, melted butter and chocolate, how could things go wrong?

Break up your graham crackers into bite size pieces and throw the crumbs in the melted butter. You want to toast them until they taste good. Like a good graham cracker pie crust tastes.

Toasting in butter wasn't enough though. My graham crackers just didn't taste graham crackery enough. How can graham cracker's not taste graham crackery? It's a mystery to me.  But, I had to FIX the situation.

Sugar to the rescue! I thought that nice molasses taste that brown sugar has would enhance the taste of graham crackers. It did.

Stir it all up. Your nose will tell you when you're getting done. The butter will slowly brown and turn all nutty and delicious. The graham crackers will get nice and crispy too!

I decided they needed a little salt too. I wanted a little contrast to the pure unadulterated sweetness of the marshmallow and the bittersweetness of the brownies. 

When you've reached tasty goodness go ahead and throw them in a bowl to cool!  Some of the tiny crumbs got extra brown and extra buttery!

Uncover your brownies! See how the marshmallows melted? You'll learn to trust me eventually!

Sprinkle the tasty goodness on.

Mmmm, S'more brownies! If you get to them shortly after the sprinkling you have a rich moist chocolate brownie as your base. A creamy puffy layer in the middle. The crispy, salty, sweet layer of graham crackers on top is just the "icing on the cake!"

Pure yumminess!

S'more Brownies

9 X 13 pan of brownies, hot
10 oz. mini marshmallows
3 large graham crackers, broken into bite size pieces
3 Tbsp butter
1-3 teaspoons brown sugar
dash of salt if necessary

Spread marshmallows over warm brownies and cover until melted, about 10 minutes. Melt butter in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Toss graham crackers in butter until well coated with butter. Continue to toast over medium heat until you can smell the graham crackers. Taste one. Sprinkle salt and sugar as necessary, tossing after each addition. Let graham crackers cool until you can touch them safely.  Sprinkle over marshmallow topping. Enjoy!