Best Raspberry Smores Bars Recipes

RASPBERRY STREUSEL BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300°F (149°C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang on all sides. Set aside.
• Stir the melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir until everything is combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove the crust from the oven, and turn the oven up to 350°F (177°C).
• Spread preserves over warm crust. Dot the preserves with raspberries on top.
• Whisk the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender or two forks (or even with your hands) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the filling with streusel and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown. The raspberry filling should be bubbling on the edges.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or overnight). Lift the foil or parchment out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into bars. I usually cut them into 16 smaller bars, but you can cut them into 12 larger bars. Drizzle the bars with vanilla icing, if using. These raspberry bars can be enjoyed at room temperature or cold. I personally like them cold.

LEMON RASPBERRY S'MORES

Steps:

• Heat a grill to medium-low heat. (The heat coming from a dying charcoal grill or a gas grill cooling down will also work well.)
• Halve each graham cracker sheet crosswise into 2 squares. Dollop about 1 teaspoon of the jam on one half and top with 4 raspberries. Dollop about 1 teaspoon of the lemon curd on the other half. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
• Take the graham cracker squares and chocolate to your grill (as the marshmallows toast they will become soft and start to droop off the skewer). Working with a few at a time, skewer a marshmallow on a long fork or metal skewer and hold over the heat about 2 inches above the grates. Toast, turning occasionally, until the marshmallow puffs and turns golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Place the marshmallow on top of the graham square with the fresh raspberries and gently press the graham half with the lemon curd on top of the marshmallow. Pull the skewer out the marshmallow while pressing down so it is sandwiched between the lemon and raspberry halves, and squeeze the curd and jam toward the edge of the graham. Enjoy immediately while warm and gooey.
• Cook's Note: If you love apple pie, try making these s'mores using cinnamon graham crackers and substituting apple butter for the lemon curd.

SPICY SMOKY S'MORES BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with foil. You want to leave about 4 inches of overhang on the 2 opposite sides. These are going to serve as your handles to remove the bars from the pan in 1 piece, so make sure that there is enough of the overhang for you to have a solid grip. Grease the foil well with the softened butter.
• In your food processor, grind the graham crackers into a fine meal (you need 2 cups). In a large bowl, combine your crumbs with the sugar, sea salt and melted butter. The mixture should look and feel like wet sand. Set aside a heaping 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture for the topping. Evenly press the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom the foil-lined pan. Pop your crust into the oven and bake until it is golden brown and your kitchen smells of graham crackers, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and allow it to cool on a rack or on a dishtowel on your counter.
• Melt the milk chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring continuously until fully melted. Do not turn up the heat to hurry this process, you must keep it on low. Alternately, you can microwave the chocolate on low power, stirring after 2 minutes. Once the chocolate is fully melted, it's time to add the chipotle pepper powder, if using, and stir it in completely.
• Preheat the broiler.
• Pour the melted chocolate over the cooled graham cracker crust. Spread the chocolate evenly over the crust with a butter knife. Sprinkle the marshmallows over the chocolate and press them lightly into the chocolate. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over and in between the marshmallows so that you cannot see the chocolate peaking through the marshmallows. Broil the bars 6 inches from the flame until the marshmallows are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Refrigerate the bars until the chocolate is hard, 2 hours or so. Grab the ends of the foil liner and lift the bars out of the pan in 1 piece. Move to a cutting board and cut into 24 squares.