S’mores Brownie Bites

It’s nearly S’mores season.  What I like best about S’mores is the chocolate.  I will sneak pieces of the chocolate as we’re making them.  Isn’t it always about the chocolate?

I like to make S’mores brownies more than the real thing.  I suppose that’s because there is a brownie involved and that means a higher ratio of chocolate.  I decided I needed to try out my new silicone brownie bite pan and what better way than S’mores brownies?  Especially since I had recently purchased everything that I needed for them to come together.

Here’s the rundown on the ingredients and how they fit into my kitchen plan:

Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Brownie Mix

This is TJs version of the No Pudge brownie mixes that you simply combine with a container of fat free yogurt.  According to the ingredient label there’s nothing funky in this mix.  It’s all stuff you’d put in brownies if you were making them from scratch.

Trader Joe’s Fat Free Chocolate Yogurt

The brownie mix calls for fat free vanilla yogurt but I saw the chocolate and decided it would possibly add more chocolate flavor to the brownies.  As far as I am aware, TJs dairy products are produced with milk that has not been treated with hormones. 

New Morning Organic Graham Crackers

I purchased these earlier this week at Whole Foods because they were on sale.  I’d never bought organic graham crackers before; I usually just buy whatever is least expensive when I go to buy a box of them.  The price seemed fair and although there are fewer crackers in this pack than the conventional brands, I felt it was worth it to try them while they were on sale to see if this was something I’d be willing to make the change to.

Kraft Jet Puffed Stackermallows

I am guessing I really don’t need to say much about these!  They are what they are.  I have a hard time resisting marshmallows because there are always so many flavor and shape variations.  This gets me thinking of how I can incorporate them into my baking and I buy anything new that I see so I can come home and play with it.  When I took a look at the size and shape of these, I knew they’d work well with what I had been brainstorming about for my brownie bites.

All in all, I feel pretty decent about this recipe.  I know it's a lot of sugar but I was able to pull together some ingredients from each of my areas of focus to make something that turned out well.  It’s got organic ingredients in it and also, as Trader Joe’s puts it, some “reduced guilt” ingredients!

 

Here’s the recipe.

S’mores Brownie Bites

1 box of No Pudge or Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt brownie mix

1 container of yogurt (as required for the brownies)

about 3 to 4 sheets of graham crackers

24 Stackermallows of 12 regular marshmallows, halved

Get your pan prepared.  I used a brownie bite pan that I found at Christmas Tree Shop.  If you do not have something similar to this, you may use an 8x8 pan and just cut your brownies up after they are done.  In either case, grease your pan.  I used cooking spray and with the bite pan and to make sure all edges were coated, I took my finger and spread the spray around inside eat “bite”. 

After pan is greased, line each “bite” opening, or the bottom of your 8x8 pan, with graham crackers.  The perforation lines on these graham crackers were practically non-existent and that’s why mine look so very uneven.  For the “bite” pan, I broke each sheet into 4 pieces.  Then, I took each of the 4 pieces and broke them in half.  For the 8x8 pan, just line it the best you can by breaking the pieces to fit the pan.  It doesn’t have to be perfectly covered.

Prepare brownies as directed on package with the container of yogurt.  If you’ve never used this kind of brownie mix before don’t worry as you see it not coming together.  Persist with your mixing and it will eventually transform into a nice, thick brownie batter.

Drop 1 tbsp of batter into each of the “bites” or pour all the batter over the graham crackers and evenly spread it out.

Time to bake them. 

“Bite” pan:  I baked them at 350 for about 12-15 minutes.  I was quite sure that I should not use the broiler with the silicone pan so I took the pan out of the oven when they were done.  I let them cool a little bit until I was able to successfully pop them out of the pan in one piece.  I then laid them out on a cookie sheet.  I topped each brownie with a Stackermallow (or, 1 half of a regular marshmallow) and put the pan under the broiler.  BE CAREFUL!  Marshmallows brown extremely fast.  I used the middle rack in my oven, had the broiler on high and kept a very close eye on it the entire time.  I maneuvered the pan around as they broiled so that the marshmallows would evenly brown.

8x8 pan:  Bake as indicated on the brownie package.  A few minutes before the brownies are due to be done, pull the pan out and evenly top the brownies with the marshmallows.  Put the pan back in the oven and continue to bake for the last few minutes.  If the marshmallows are not brown to your liking, turn the broiler on.  As with the bites, BE CAREFUL!  Broil the marshmallows until they are your desired brown-ness.  I would recommend using the middle rack as I did with the “bite” pan and also maneuvering it around so that the marshmallows brown evenly, if needed.