Nutella S’mores Bars

Taking a brief break this week from all things pumpkin spice for a nutty twist on one of my favorite S’mores Bar recipes. If you’re a spoon-straight-outta-the-jar Nutella addict, then this recipe is exactly what you’ve been waiting for all your life. Layered in between a sweet graham cracker cookie crust and marshmallow fluff, the Nutella replaces the traditional Hershey’s chocolate bar in classic s’mores for a chocolate hazelnut sweet treat. Nutella lovers will definitely be begging for s’more of this treat after just one taste!

This may come as a surprise to y’all, but I’m actually not much of a Nutella lover. My interest in Nutella is somewhere in between “I tolerate it” and “I’ll rob a bank to get one more sweet taste of that hazelnut spread.” So I was actually surprised that I liked these almost as much as my regular s’mores bars, which are one of my all-time favorite desserts to enjoy. I was planning for a baking night with my client’s 10-year-old daughter who is a big-time Nutella lover, and wanted to test out a few ideas before the baking night.

I’ve modified my traditional s’mores bars a few times, including these Peanut Butter S’mores Bars, so I know it’s a good base recipe to experiment with. I also took this as an opportunity to modify the graham cracker cookie recipe, as I’ve run into it being too dry a few times recently.

After pressing about two-thirds of the dough into the bottom of the baking dish, you should use a spatula or butter knife to evenly spread the Nutella over the dough. One trick I found helped was to put the dough in the oven for a few minutes to warm up, which makes the Nutella easier to spread. I did attempt to microwave the Nutella for a few seconds, but hadn’t fully taken off every speck of the metal liner on the top of the jar, so it sent sparks flying. Woops.

Marshmallow Fluff is a must-have for this recipe. For some reason we could not track down a dang jar of Fluff in Florida last week, so we substituted in a combo of marshmallow topping and mini marshmallows. The recipe still turned out delicious, but I think the traditional Fluff version is the best because it’s a bit thicker so it holds up better. Also, my favorite part of the treat is actually eating the hardened fluff that has baked through the top layer in between the cookie dough, and is crunchy on the outside but still chewy on the inside. So. Dang. Good.

If you’re planning to bring these somewhere, I recommend making them the night before as they are much easier to cut once they have chilled overnight. My favorite way to enjoy this treat is to microwave it for a few seconds until it starts to get all ooey-gooey-melty and then attack it with a fork. So if you are a lover of Nutella and looking for a new way to enjoy the chocolatey treat, bake up a batch of these Nutella S’mores Bars. Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Nutella S'mores Bars

Yield: 12 Bars

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Total Time: 50 Minutes

A sweet twist on a classic S'mores cookie bar using Nutella.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 9 graham cracker sheets)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-7 oz. jar of Marshmallow Fluff
• 1 cup Nutella

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and spray lightly with non-stick spray, making sure to get the sides covered well.
2. Using a stand or hand-mixer, beat the butter and light brown sugar on medium speed until creamy. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding in the dry ingredients.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet batter on a low speed. Add in the graham cracker crumbs and continue to mix just until fully incorporated. Separate the dough so you have about 2/3 to use for the bottom layer and the remaining 1/3 for the top.
4. Spread the 2/3 of dough evenly on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spread the Nutella evenly over the cookie dough.
5. Microwave the fluff for about 10 seconds to make it easier to spread. Use a spatula to evenly spread the marshmallow fluff over the Nutella. It's a bit easier to put dollops of fluff down and then just lightly swirl with a knife.
6. Take pieces of the remaining dough, and crumble it evenly over the marshmallow topping to cover as much as possible. You will have some marshmallow peeking through, that's expected!
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Let the bars cool to room temperature before cutting them. I like to chill the bars in the refrigerator before slicing into them and then microwaving for 10-15 seconds and enjoying with a fork when they are super melty like a s'more! Enjoy!