peanut butter cup s’mores bars

So I’ve seen these peanut butter cup s’mores bars on Pinterest a million times, and have gotten texts from friends attesting to their amazingness. When Geoff finished his school semester a couple of weeks ago, I figured it was the perfect time to splurge and make them as a treat for him. The result: I was a little underwhelmed. Sure, they were good. But I was expecting fireworks to go off and the national anthem to play and to become teary with the joy of eating them, and that didn’t happen. The peanut butter cups kind of overcame the s’mores flavor, so it was just like eating a peanut butter cup with a few extra things on the outside of it. Don’t get me wrong, I love peanut butter cups. And s’mores. I even love making s’mores with peanut butter cups. But these bars just didn’t do it for me. I should add that Geoff loved them and thought they were the greatest dessert ever, and thus I am including them on the blog. And because I’m an equal opportunity eater, I did eat two of the sixteen bars I made (yes, that does mean that Geoff ate roughly fourteen of them). I don’t like to hurt my baked goods’ feelings, so I always make sure to sample at least one of everything I make. 🙂

Peanut Butter Cup S’mores Bars
The Sweet Life

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
16 peanut butter cups, regular size
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 baking dishing with parchment paper; coat lightly with cooking spray. In a large bowl of the bowl of stand mixer, beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Scrape down the sides. With the mixer on low, stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, and graham cracker crumbs until mixed. Spread 2/3 of the dough on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Lightly press the peanut butter cups into the dough, then spread marshmallow fluff on top. Press the remaining dough on a non-stick surface into the shape of an 8×8 square. Place the square on top of the fluff and press down lightly. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown. Allow to cool for at least two hours to give the bars a chance to set, then remove from the pan and cut into squares with a large, sharp knife.