smores bars

These are addictive.

Highly addictive.

Eating them was descirbed to me as “floating down a chocolate river in a graham wafer boat with marshmallow sails” … I kinda totally agree!

I have loved smores … since … well … since forever.

Who doesn’t love an ooey-gooey bite of delight?

Because that’s what graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows are … bites of delight.

Especially when you add a little momofuku twist to the recipe.

Actually … I should call these twisted smores.

You’ll see that these are easy to make … as easy as making them on a campfire … you start with the graham cracker base …

then you make the chocolate layer … melted chocolate and milk … stirring in mini marshmallows and the cornflake crunch (flaked coconut is a supurb susbstitute as well) …  

Finishing it off by spreading even more mini-marshamllows on top; then broil for 3 minutes.

That’s it.  Simple eh?

Oh wait!!!!

I do recommend that if you line the pan with parchment paper … don’t place the rack too close to the broiler … otherwise … a fire might ensue.

True story … it happened to me ;0)

I guess I really wanted to make smores by the campfire!

twisted smores bars

ingredients:

the base:

2 c. graham cracker crumbs

7 tbsp butter, melted

2 tbsp sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Line a rectangular pan with parchment paper, and then spray it with non-stick spray.  Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter; stirring with a wooden spoon.  Press the crumbs into the base of the pan; make sure that the base is spread out evenly.

Bake for 12 minutes.  Remove from heat, turn off your oven and set the pan aside to cool slightly.

chocolate mini-marshmallow-crunch filling:

ingredients:

1 c. milk

16 oz chocolate, chopped into small chunks (or chips)

4 c. mini marshmallows, divided

2 c. momofuku cornflake crunch (or flaked coconut)

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stir the chocolate and milk together; slowly melting the chocolate.  The mixture should never get to a boiling point.  Remove the pan from heat and pour the mixture into a medium sized bowl (this will allow the mixture to cool immediately).

Add 2 cups of the mini marshmallows and the 2 cups cornflake crunch.  Stir in … and then pour the mixture over the graham cracker base.

Top with the remaining 2 cups of mini marshmallows.

Turn the broiler on in your oven … move a rack close(ish) to the broiler and toast the marhsmallows… this takes about 3 minutes.  I do tend to move the pan around to ensure that they are all evenly toasted.

Remove from the oven and allow the pan to cool in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours (or over night).  I don’t cover the pan right away … but once firm, I do cut the smores into squares and store in an airtight container.

I’d say they will last up to 1 week in the fridge … only they won’t.  Because you’re gonna want to eat them … pretty much immediately.

No lies.

I can’t stop eating them! 

momofuku milk bar inspired scones

Mother of pearl …

I am OBSESSED with the momofuku milk bar cookbook.

Actually … obsessed doesn’t begin to describe how I feel about this book.

It makes me laugh (seriously laugh)… read Christina Tosi’s description of ingredients and you’ll understand … especially her blurb on powdered milk …

It inspires me … every page and recipe just as original as the last; chocolate chip layer cake, birthday cake, crack pie, compost cookies … and finally … but most importantly for this blog the cornflake – chocolate chip – mini marshmallow cookies.

Mother of pearl.

Those cookies are GOOD.  And I mean GOOD.

If you try the momofuku milk bar version they are that perfect balance of chewy and dense and full of flavour.

If you try my version of the same recipe, it’s thin, crispy, with a more intensely packed flavour (I think mine turn out that way because my cookie balls are smaller but get baked for the same amount of time as Christina’s).

I have to admit … I love both versions.

But the thing I love the most about the cookbook and Christina’s baking … is how inventive and original and FUN everything looks!

So I decided to get inspired.

And I turned her cornflake – chocolate chip – mini marshmallow cookies into scones.

Light and fluffy scones.

With a kick. 

A kick of crunch and sweetness … that’s perfectly balanced with butter and cream and flour.

THESE ARE MY FAVOURITE SCONES EVER!

I used my go-to scone recipe (from the cheese board) and tossed in the necessary cornflake crunch, mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips.

The result … insanely, rock-your-world, delicious scones.

And I have momofuku milk bar to thank for that.

If you think scones aren’t your thing … try these.  I promise you’ll love them too … and probably become a little obsessed with momofuku milk bar too :0)

cornflake – chocolate chip – mini marshmallow scones

ingredients:

3 1/2 c. flours

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c. sugar

1 c. butter, cold, cut into cubes

1 c. heavy cream

1 c. buttermilk

3 c. cornflake crunch

2/3 c. mini chocolate chips

1 1/4 c. mini marshmallows

Preheat your oven to 375 F.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar.  And I mean … use your hands to just mix it all up (no fancy gadgets required for this recipe).

Toss in the cubes of butter, and then, using your hands, gently massage them into the dry mixture.

Yep … I said massage.  You basically just want squeeze the butter between your fingers into the flour.  You can use a pastry cutter for this … but I don’t do that.  I use my fingers.

It takes a couple of minutes … I should have taken a picture of what the dough looks like – but you basically want to rub the cubes of butter into the flour … until it kinda holds … but doesn’t totally.

I think that was the worst explanation EVER!

Once that happens … toss in the cornflake crunch, the mini marshmallows and the mini chocolate chips.

Mix them into the flour / butter mixture.

Make a well in the centre and pour in the heavy cream and buttermilk.

I normally grab my wooden spoon at this point (but feel free to keep using your hands) and mix briefly.  You’ll notice that it will gather together pretty quickly – and that some of the flour remains on the bottom of the bowl.  No biggie.

I decided not to roll these scones out … instead I used my ice cream scoop and I scooped out balls of dough.

Place the scones on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper - leaving about an inch between each scone – brush with egg wash and sprinkle with some sugar.

Bake for about 17 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let stand on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes – then cool completely on a wire rack.

Just the smell of these babies are gonna make you want to dig right in … the smell of toasted marshmallows and then cornflake crunch will fill your kitchen and leave you with a happy little smile on your face.

So although you might try to resist … just do it.  Dig in and enjoy all the goodness these scones have to offer :0)

You do end up with about 3 dozen scones – perfect for baking some and freezing the rest … the best way to do that is to freeze them shaped and on a cookie sheet, then storing in an air-tight container.  Bake straight from frozen (and don’t forget the egg wash and sprinkled sugar).

extreme rocky road brownies

Sometimes all you want is a bite of gooey brownie goodness. 

But then again …

Sometimes mini marshmallows are exactly what you’re craving.

Or maybe it’s pecans you’re after?

Wait.  I think we just added some toasted coconut to the mix.

And don’t forget tart dried cherries.

When you’re craving all of those things … make my extreme rocky road brownies. 

Oh yeah … and don’t forget the oreo cookie base.

HA!

That was a surprise eh?  You probably weren’t expecting me to add an oreo cookie base to brownies that are already chock full of chocolate, marshmallows, coconut, pecans and dried cherries?

Well … sometimes you just need to go all the way … and these brownies are all about being extreme.

I have to admit.  These are pretty stellar.  I’d been craving a rocky road brownie for a while … but wanted something a little different.

That’s when I came across Lisa Yockelson’s original rocky road mud bars in chocolate chocolate.  

It looked good.

Oreo base.  Chocolate chips.  Walnuts.  Mini marshmallows.

Only … I like pecans.  And I heart toasted coconut.  And I’m a little obsessive about dried cherries.  Add those things to the chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and oreo cookie base and I figured I had a real winner of a brownie.

I was right.

It’s a pretty easy recipe to follow.  Mostly it’s all about melting, whisking and then stirring.  

You can skip the oreo base if you want … but really … I wouldn’t recommend it.  These brownies are good.  Really good.  Trust me.  Once you make these … you might never go back to a regular brownie.

oreo chocolate cookie base

ingredients:

8 tbsp butter, melted and cooled to tepid

half a package oreo cookies, processed to crumbs

extreme rocky road brownie layer

ingredients:

1 1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 lb. butter, melted and cooled to tepid

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid

5 eggs, room temperature

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 c. chopped pecans

1/3 c. mini marshmallows

3/4 c. dried cherries

1 c. toasted shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 325 F.  Line a rectangle baking pan with foil or parchment paper, then spray with nonstick spray.

While your oven is preheating, make the oreo cookie base.

Pour the melted butter into the bowl of your food processor (after you have turned your oreo cookies into crumbs), and pulse until well incorporated.  Spread and press the cookie mixture evenly over the base of the pan. 

Bake the crust for about 5 minutes.  Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the melted butter and melted chocolate until smooth.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs for 1 minute.  Add the sugar, and whisk for a further minute.  Blend in the melted butter – chocolate, mixing thoroughly.  Stir in the vanilla extract.

Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into your chocolate ingredients.  Once the flour is just incorporated, fold in the chocolate chips, marshmallows, pecans, shredded coconut, and dried cherries.

Spoon the batter over the oreo cookie crumb base.  Spread the batter evenly using an offset spatula.

Bake for about 40 minutes – or until set.  Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.  Then I like to cover the pan and put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes.  It gets the brownies to firm up just enough that you can then lift the entire batch of brownies out of the pan and then cut into little cubes of goodness … seriously … you can get 60 cubes out of the pan.

These freeze well and should be stored in an airtight container.