Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed S'mores Brownies

Excuse the messiness of these photos. I'm just trying to show real life here...I mean...s'mores and melty peanut butter cups are messy. Any of you who have children (or remember being children) should be plenty aware of this fact. All things considered I think I did the best that could have been expected. Plus....I mean....messy and gooey looks kinda yummy, ya know?

Now...before I get into the transcendent experience that is eating one of these brownies...I need to give you guys a heads up! I'm going to be out in Texas Wednesday-Monday to go to my brother's graduation from basic training for the airforce. Sooo I'm not going to be able to post this Wednesday or next Monday. I KNOW-I'm sorry! But I figured...at least I'm leaving you with something completely over the top amazing to keep you all satisfied until I get back. So, hopefully these brownies will help me earn your forgiveness. I mean-look at these photos. We're cool.

When I made these delicious brownies I instagrammed them. And was told by one of my husband's coworkers that she needed one. And I thought to myself "These are really rich, and this did make a huge pan of brownies...I could probably share." So I told her I'd send some in with Michael the next day. And apparently she told everyone because I shortly thereafter got a text from him saying, "So I guess I'm bringing dessert tomorrow?"

They were excited :D And I sent the brownies. And they were devoured. But poor Jess (the original coworker who commented) wasn't there the rest of the week and got no brownies! So she's been pouty about it. I can't really blame her. These are DARNED GOOD.

Allow me to e'splain to you these magical brownies. They have a thick and buttery graham cracker crust. Nomnom. Then they have a very dense and very chocolate brownie layer. Mmmhmm. THEN they have peanut butter cups and melty dark chocolate barks layered on top of that. OMIGOSH. And theeen there are toasted marshmallows on top. YESYESFORREALSIESYES.

In summation-these are insanely gooey and decadent and rich and pretty much what dreams are made of. You need them. I need them. We all need them.

Brown Butter Gooey S'mores Bars

 Ugh. It's like...officially fall and stuff.

I feel like a toddler throwing a tantrum, "I DON'T WANNA I DON'T WANNA I DOOON'T WAAANNNAAA NOOOOO" but I just...I just want summer to stay a bit longer. So, I'm going to just be in denial (much like a child thinking if they cover their eyes you can't see them) and have s'mores bars and pretend it's still summer. *le sigh* 

Seriously, though, I just love s'mores. Just thinking of them makes me happy. Literally, in the days prior to baking these I was just giddy at the thought. Michael had a sore throat and had read marshmallows helped...so he asked me to go buy marshmallows. And I was STOKED! Buying marshmallows means I'll have to use up whatever is leftover (which in this case meant the whole bag, minus 2), which means I have a valid reason to make some S'MORES DESSERTS! Yessss!

These are so good that, after a tiny bite of 5 day old bar, my cousin Emily said, "It's a good thing you're not my girlfriend because you'd definitely make me fat." (this was in reference to Michael's earlier claim of getting fat-which he's not, for the record) I'll take that praise.

Now, I browned the butter in the super soft, chewy blondie base for these s'mores bars (because if I see melted butter, I'm gonna brown it) BUT you can totally skip that step. Honestly, you could barely detect a difference: there are pretty much more mix ins (graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows) than batter, so they definitely are the prevailing flavors. Regardless, you end up with wonderful soft cookies loaded with DELICIOUS pieces of graham cracker (prob. my fave part, I highly recommend homemade graham crackers), marshmallows that are gooey and have been toasted to a pretty golden brown in the oven, and gorgeous chunks of oozing chocolate. Oh and you just mix em up in one bowl-minimal dishes and no mixer needed, just a whisk and spatula!

S'mores are heaven. And they (almost) can make me forget that it's fall.