Oatmeal S'mores Bars

If for some reason melted chocolate and marshmallows don't appeal to you, stick with this post anyways just for the life hack included. That's right, we're life-hacking butter, very important. Summer isn't complete without a s'more...or three. I successfully did the fire-building (okay, my brother did the fire building) and the marshmallow roasting and melty chocolate making.

I know you could technically roast marshmallows over a gas stove flame but you could also make these s'mores bars to capture the camp roasting goodness in the city. Or your home. Or in the winter. For-e-ver. These are basically chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with marshmallows in a bar. Totally acceptable for breakfast.

Are you ready for the life hack? I never remember to take butter out to soften. This means I stick it in the microwave and melt the stick instead. It works, clearly, but it's not the best way to get creamy butter and sugar base. So instead, I saw this video on how to quickly soften your butter while also taking out some aggression. Use a rolling pin and smoosh the butter! And by smoosh, I mean whack. It doesn't make the butter ooze everywhere, you could put it in a bag if you're concerned, but I rotated the stick as I hit the butter so it didn't get completely flat and evenly softened. Success!

Once you have your butter ready, cream it with the sugars using a hand mixer. The dry ingredients (excluding oats) are mixed in a separate bowl and then added to the sugar-butter goodness. It's gettin' thick! Once the dry and wet ingredients are well incorporated, fold in the oats. This is where your biceps go to work.

In a square pan, dump half of the oats mixture and flatten. Next, add a layer of chocolate chips. Be generous! Then, add a layer of marshmallows.

The second half of the oats mixture goes on top of the chocolate and mallow layer. This makes icing a cake look so darn easy. I found it easiest to just throw down a blob of batter and flatten rather than try and spread it. Top with another layer of chocolate, because we can.

Bake for awhile. Okay, not forever, just until everything is cooked through. It's hard to tell because this is so dense but use a chopstick to test the middle.

I let these cool and set overnight before trying to slice and share, the gooey warm marshmallow could get messy but oh so delicious. Like I said, completely acceptable for breakfast.

Recipe
from Spoon Fork Bacon

• 1 2/3 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened (or beaten with a rolling pin)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups oats
• 8 ounces of chocolate, divided
• 6 ounces mini marshmallows (okay, I didn't measure this)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until they are smooth. Add the eggs one at a time. Top off with the vanilla.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time, mixing with an electric mixer on low. This will prevent a dust storm.
5. Fold in the oats using a rubber spatula.
6. Press half of the oats mixture into the square pan. Use the rubber spatula to press it into the pan to fill the square shape.
7. Top with a layer of chocolate chips (I didn't measure this either). Add your layer of marshmallows.
8. The next part is tricky. Add the remaining oat mixture to the pan. I found this was best achieved by taking a spatula-full at a time and pressing it on top of the marshmallow layer instead of trying to spread it. 
9. Once that's done, top with another layer of chocolate chips.
10. Bake for 30 minutes or until firm. Allow to cool before cutting and serving. Totally a breakfast food.