By Rachel Riesgraf for Modern Farmhouse Eats
Summer brings with it some of the best things: lots of sun, lake days and nighttime campfires with s’mores. It doesn’t get better than that. Throw in some friends, family, and beer, and I’m one happy girl.
Being that I grew up in a small town in Minnesota, we always found an open space in the middle of nowhere to have the best bonfires with lots of friends. Some of the best memories are created around a bonfire with a beer in hand.
Have you had peanut butter on your s’mores? A friend of mine actually just showed me this clever little trick a month ago when we were sitting around a campfire at my parent’s farm.
Combining fudgy brownies, peanut butter, and s’mores into one, just seems pretty genius to me. Not to toot my own horn here. But soon you’ll understand.
These are easy to make and are so delicious served warm just as you would with a s’mores. And, you know what goes oh so perfectly with a fudgy brownie? I’ll give you a second to think about it… well, if you guessed a tall glass of ice-cold milk, then we’re definitely on the same page here.
My absolute favorite way to eat a brownie is in a bowl full of milk with a spoon! If you eat your brownies the same way, you have to let me know because we should be friends.
I’m pretty confident you now understand how these delicious and gooey Peanut Butter S’more Brownies should be devoured, so go get your oven preheated and cows milked. Just kidding, unless you’re me, and you actually milk cows because your parents are organic dairy farmers. Which means an endless supply of farm fresh raw milk! Cheers!
Recipe
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook:35 minutes
Total: 55 minutes
Yield: 15 large brownies
Ingredients
Graham cracker crust:
- 3 cups crushed graham crackers
- 3/4 cup butter (1½ sticks), melted
Brownies:
- 3/4 cup butter (1½ sticks), melted
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cup crunchy (or smooth) peanut butter
- 1 ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Marshmallows:
- 10 ounces miniature marshmallows
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper (the grease helps the paper hold tight to the pan. Or you can grease the pan and skip the paper*). Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan and press firmly into the pan in an even layer. Bake 10-12 minutes until set and beginning to lightly brown.
Brownies:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, vegetable oil, and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla extract to mixture and whisk again until combined and lighter in color.
- Gently mix dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined (do not overmix).
- Lightly fold 1 cup peanut butter and 1 cup chocolate chips into brownie batter. There should be streaks of peanut butter.
- Pour brownie batter over graham cracker crust in pan. Drizzle the remaining peanut butter over the brownie mixture and use a butter knife to lightly drag and swirl the peanut butter into the brownie mixture. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes until brownies are set and not jiggly but still soft and fudgy in the center. If testing with a toothpick, the toothpick will come out dirty (brownies will continue to cook as they sit in the hot pan).
- Remove from oven and cover brownies with marshmallows. Return to oven and broil on low for 1-2 minutes until marshmallows are golden brown. Keep a VERY close eye on your marshmallows as they brown quickly!
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes (they will be very gooey when warm). Remove from pan, slice, and serve warm with a tall glass of milk!
Notes
- This recipe makes a large pan of thick brownies, which is perfect for a party or a family! But, if you would like to cut the recipe in half, you can certainly do so! Here are some tips:
- Use an 8×8″ square baking pan
- Instead of 1½ sticks of butter, use 6 tablespoons of butter
- Instead of 1/4 cup of oil, you would use 2 tablespoons of oil
- Instead of 3 eggs, I recommend using 2 eggs (because you can’t exactly cut an egg in half)
- Bake graham cracker crust for 8-10 minutes until golden
- Bake brownies for 20-22 minutes
- *Using parchment paper allows you to lift the brownies out of the pan. If you don’t need or want to do that, you can simply grease the pan and skip the parchment paper.
- Tip for storing the brownies: Grease the inside of a sheet of tinfoil before placing it over the brownies; this will prevent the tinfoil from sticking to the marshmallows.
