S'more Granola Bars

Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, these wonderfully delicious cookie bars really are just like eating a s'more. There is no graham crackers to be found in the recipe, instead of mixture of oats and Rice Krispies cereal are combined together with a mixture of hot sugar and butter. They're sturdy enough to survive the day in the bottom of a backpack, which makes them perfect for kids. The recipe makes about four dozen bars and is so quick and easy that it's perfect for a bake sale too. My husband devoured them within the week!!

What You Need:

4 cups rolled oats
4 cups Rice Krispies cereal
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp salt
4 cups mini marshmallows
1cup chocolate chips

What To Do:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. On a half sheet pan, (or two 13x9 pans) spread the oats out and toast them in the preheated oven for about 6 minutes. They should smell toasty but not brown. You might need to stir them to keep the outer edges from burning. Remove from oven and place into a large bowl. Stir in the rice cereal.

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, water, corn syrup and salt over high heat. Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for 5 minutes or until a candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees. If you don't have a candy thermometer, don't worry. The 5 minute boil time is pretty accurate and won't effect your bars if you only reach 240.

Remove the syrup from the heat and pour it over the oats and cereal, stirring to combined. Add in 2 cups of marshmallows and stir well until they're incorporated into the mix. Press into the bottom of a lightly greased half sheet pan (or two 13x9 pans), patting it flat. Using another pan to press the mixture works really well.

Sprinkle the top with the remaining 2 cups of marshmallows and the chocolate chips. Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the marshmallows are puffy and slightly browned. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and cut into squares while still warm. I found the easiest way was to take my pastry scraper and cut them into long strips, then cut each strip into squares.