S’mores Blondies

My husband’s family has a cabin in the middle of PA in this beautiful secluded area called Ricketts Glen State Park. We try to make a trip to the cabin a few times a year, and really try to disconnect from our busy, sometimes stressful lives in the busy city. One of my favorite things to do there is to raid the cabinets and bake using whatever ingredients I can find. I must say some pretty delicious desserts have been created over the years, sadly many of which I will never be able to recreate. This past fall we went down with some friends and one evening while playing some board games I had a craving for a little something sweet…as per usual. Some of the group wanted traditional S’mores and some wanted cookies, so I decided to create the perfect happy medium…S’mores Blondies. I used all the ingredients you’d find in a s’more including the marshmallows which were rather large to be baked into a cookie bar. I decided to cut them up and to my surprise, the inner sticky centers of the marshmallows actually melted and caramelized from the heat. They turned into a toffee like consistency and flavor which is so stinkin delicious. I also didn’t have brown sugar so I used regular white sugar and maple syrup which to my surprise worked perfectly. Our friends loved the Blondies and everyone I’ve made them for since seems to be at a loss for words the second they touch their mouth. These are truly unique and special, a must try!

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour

• 1 ½ Cup Coarsely Crushed Original (plain) Graham Crackers

• ¼ Teaspoon Baking Powder

• 3/4 Teaspoon Fine Table Salt

• ½ lb (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened

• 1 1/2 Cups White Granulated Sugar

• 1/4 Cup Real Maple Syrup 

• 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon 

• 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

• 2 Large Eggs

• 1 1/2 Cups semi sweet chocolate chunks (bittersweet or milk also work here)

• 1 1/4 Cups of cut up big (standard size) Marshmallows (cut up into 4-6 pieces each) ( use clean kitchen scissors to cut them more easily)

  
  

  Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 Pyrex dish or pan with parchment paper leaving an inch of paper above the edge of the pan and grease with butter or nonstick cooking spray. (For thicker Blondies use an 8x8 inch square pan however it will take 10-15 more mins to bake).

• Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand beater, beat the butter, sugar and maple surely until light and fluffy about 4 minutes.

• Add each egg one at a time and beat until fully incorporated. Beat in the vanilla extract.

• In a separate bowl stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and crushed graham cracker crumbs.

• Slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture just until fully incorporated.
  Stir in the chocolate chunks and the marshmallow pieces.

• Stir the batter evenly into the prepared pan and place into the preheated oven Bake for 30-40 minutes or until it is golden brown and set. The center may be slightly gooey due to the marshmallows but you don’t want the batter to be raw.

• Allow the Blondies to cool slightly, cut and enjoy! You can enjoy these hot as well, however I find they’re even better when room temperature.