What's Baking?: S'mores Brownies

Growing up in the military means a lot of moving, a lot of new homes, and a lot of new friends.  Unfortunately, for me, it also meant that I don't have a lot of attachments to places.  People often ask me my favorite place, and I can't begin to wrap my mind about how to decide that.

The theme for this baking challenge was something that reminded us of a happy place.  The one place in my mind that I keep going back to in my head though is Oregon.  I've only been there a few times and it is always for vacation, but there is something that I love about it.  Every time I go there, we go to the beach and do s'mores while the sun is setting.  It is just such a perfect scene paired with something gooey and finger-licking good that I guess in my mind, it has become my happy place.

Nicole on Prevention, R.D. posted these brownies for a recipe swap that we had not too long ago, and I thought they were perfect for this occasion.  The amazing things about a s'more on a gooey brownie, yes please!

S'mores Brownies
from Prevention, R.D.
Ingredients
1 pack brownie mix (and ingredients called for on the back of the box)
2 cups miniature marshmallows
4 graham crackers, broken into chunks
2 Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars, broken into the individual segments

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray 9×9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2) Prepare the brownie mix according to the directions on the box.
3) After baking, remove the pan from the oven and set the oven to broil.
4) Cool brownies for about a minute then sprinkle the marshmallows over the warm brownies. Make sure to cover most of the area.
5) Sprinkle the graham crackers on top of the marshmallows. Broil about 4-5 inches from the heat for 30 seconds to a minute until the marshmallows are golden brown. Watch carefully so that they don’t burn.
6) Sprinkle with Hershey’s milk chocolate bars.

I had one of these and sent them directly up to work with my husband.  They were absolutely fantastic.  He came home with a completely empty tray and several requests for the recipe.  We had a couple over for dinner last night and the guy said that they were one of the best brownies he had ever had.  These definitely transported me back to the memories of Oregon even though I am nowhere remotely close to Oregon.  Someday I hope that my kids and I can watch a sunset while eating S'mores...or maybe I'll whip up a batch of these S'more brownies instead.