August is National S'Mores Month- yes it is!!

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We're pretty big S'Mores fans at our house and I may as well just come clean- it's mainly me. Big Un doesn't have much of a sweet tooth and the kid has a sweet tooth but there better be chocolate involved, so S'Mores work. Me- I have a sweet tooth, hide the S'Mores.

by cseward via Creative Commons

I have been collecting S'Mores recipes for years and it's quite amazing the incredible variety of ways you can incorporate chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers into a recipe. I've never come across a low-fat S'Mores based recipe and honestly I'm not so sure I would be interested. Really- isn't half the fun of eating S'Mores that feeling that you are being oh-so-bad and you thrill  over the total decadence and bazillion calories? It's something that is so indulgent and sensual and disgusting in a sexy kind of way that it should lead straight to hell. But it doesn't! It only leads to that sick feeling of being incredibly ashamed of having enjoyed such hedonistic abandon and even though you are totally grossed out and remorseful, swearing you'll never do it again, you know you will.

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You know how when you bite into a S'More that's fresh and hot off the fire you'll sometimes get that drip of scalding marshmallow on your chin? How can anything on earth be that hot? And when you try to peel it off, it takes a layer of chin-skin with it!

Image by kretyen via Flickr

I view that marshmallow branding as my just punishment for eating S'Mores. But even that is part of the total S'Mores Experience and is so awesome. Sick- but I like it.

I've never contemplated a S'Mores tat, but ...

by dr. huxtable via Flickr Creative Commons

So not only is August National S'Mores Month- there's a S'Mores Day as well. August 10th is the day to get your S'Mores Gluttony Groove on. The recipe for S'Mores Bars that I am going to share with you is from the Hershey's website and would be a perfect way to celebrate the day.

You're already salivating, aren't you? OK, let's get to work.

S'Mores Bars

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 (1.55 oz each) Hershey chocolate bars

1 cup marshmallow creme

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well.

Stir together the flour and graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt.

Add this to butter mixture and beat until blended.

Press half the dough into the prepared pan.

Arrange the chocolate bars over the dough, breaking them as needed to fit.

Spread the marshmallow creme on top.

Scatter bits of  the remaining dough over marshmallow and carefully press to form the top layer.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut into bars when completely cool.

Mmm, S'Mores Bars.

How fast do these go when you take them to work? Fifteen minutes.

Before I go, I would like to share a couple other S'Mores delights with you. This is S'Mores season of course and so manufacturers are getting their goods out. Lucky us.

The folks over at Pepperidge Farm really have come a long way from the original fish crackers. Love 'em! Now the S'Mores fish. And not only are they baked, they are made with whole grain. Gotta be good for you, right? These are actually 3 different kinds of crackers- the marshmallow, the graham, and the chocolate, the idea being that you stack them up and make little fish S'Mores sandwiche. Shoving a handful into your mouth all at once gets the same effect. Sadly, I must report, after extensive research, that these are not as yummy as other efforts to capture the S'Mores seasonal market. Like the Ritz crackers S'Mores-- oh, now those were good.

(If you look closely you can see the menacing sky in the pic above. Man, have we ever had some huge storms this summer. But I digress ...)

My kid and I did Sonic the other day and look what I parked right next to! Yea, you better get one too because they're all that and more.

Image via Wikipedia

Check out these links for s'more fun with chocolate and graham crackers:

More S'Mores More Smiles is a page by Kraft that has all kinds of fun little recipes and activities as well as an opportunity to sign up to win some cool prizes.

Baking Bites has a nice S'Mores fudge recipe here (and you thought it couldn't get any more decadent).

It's been fun today. I suspect we'll see more S'Mores this month. Yeah!