S'mores (without the campfire, but just as delicious. Seriously.)

Please don't be mad at me when I tell you how easy these are to make in the comfort of your home when you are far from nature and not actually roughing it in the woods around a campfire where whipping up a batch of S'mores is as natural and necessary as breathing.... You see, we live in an apartment tower and we aren't allowed to use BBQ's on our balcony. This is just as well as:

a) I never go out on the balcony anyway, cuz of being afraid of heights and all.

b) Plus it IS a fire hazard, and if I had to jump from the 12th floor balcony into one of those nets held by the firefighters, it would be a bit of a challenge on account of point a).

c) camping isn't in the cards this year because we're taking a trip to the States for the wedding of a member of the running posse.

In any event, last night we were hosting another lovely evening in which blood and tears are shed in bloody battle playing Settlers of Catan (Best. Board game. EVER.) And now that I've started this blog I feel a sense of responsibility to entertain guests and bake something at least once a week.

I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time between getting home from work and the beginning of the blood bath game, so I went trawling the internets in search of the perfect item that would be big in flavour and small in prep time.

And there it was on The Joy of Baking website - cookies that were actually S'mores without the campfire! Featuring lovely light and summery miniature marshmallows! And chocolate! And a yummy graham wafer crust.

Best of all, they only took about 10 minutes to make (30ish if you include the baking time). 

Preheat the oven to 350 and place the rack in the centre of the oven. Line the bottom and sides of an 8 x 8 pan with tinfoil.

For the crust

6 Tbsp (84 grams) unsalted butter, melted

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups (150 grams) graham wafer crumbs

For the topping

1 cup (170 grams) semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (I used a mixture of both)

2 cups (130 grams) miniature marshmallows

Stir together the graham wafer crumbs and the sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until the crumbs are blended with the butter.  Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes until the marshmallows start to brown and melt together. Remove from oven and cool. Once cooled, lift the squares from the pan by holding the tinfoil. Cut into squares. Devour.