This is one of my favorite recipes. I’ve blogged about it several times before and now I’m blogging about it again. It’s worth it though; I promise.

A friend mentioned how much he likes s’mores made with Reese’s peanut butter cups. In the back of my mind popped up my recipe for peanut butter s’mores bars and I promised to make them for July 4th.

After I made them I took fresh-looking photos and updated the recipe page. A few of the commenters who have made this said that their crusts didn’t stick together the way mine has. I think some of the confusion might come from how many graham crackers to use. I use Kinnikinnick 16 graham crackers(3 are pictured above), which would be the same as 4 sheets of graham crackers. It’s also relevant to mention the peanut butter I use for this recipe is always the kind without added oil so it generally mixes easier.

These have all the goodness of s’mores with added peanut butter and put into a portable form. They really are the ultimate Summer dessert. If gluten-free graham crackers didn’t cost an arm and vegetarian marshmallows a leg, I’d probably make these every month. For now they can just be a once in a long-while treat. 

There’s been a recent explosion of s’mores desserts on food blogs lately. Besides making me think “You’re killing me, Smalls,” it’s also made me jealous and hungry for some s’mores(and if you don’t get the quote go out to Blockbuster or Red Box or however people get movies these days and rent The Sandlot). And so I made them my way, with chocolate banana soft serve, original Fluff, and a touch of gluten-free graham cracker crumbs.

These have just the right ratio of chocolate to marshmallow to graham cracker. It’s cool, creamy, and sweet; being from Massachusetts, I wouldn’t recommend anything other than marshmallow Fluff, but you could always use marshmallows or—gasp—an imitation marshmallow crème. Add a scoop of peanut butter, too, for something extra special.

Healthy Frozen S’mores Parfaits

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

• 2 large frozen bananas
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 Tablespoons Fluff OR 1/4 cup miniature marshmallows
• 2 graham crackers

1. Throw the frozen bananas into a food processor and turn it on. Blend until creamy.
2. Add in the cocoa powder and pulse until it’s mixed in.
3. Scoop the chocolate-banana mixture into the glasses. 
4. Finish with a tablespoon of Fluff or marshmallows and graham crackers. Serve immediately.

Technically the recipe is for 2 parfaits but every time I’ve made this I’ve eaten the whole batch by myself. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m extra hungry or this is just extra good—I assume both. It’s (mostly) healthy anyway so dig right in.

I’m usually not an impulse shopper. I always take a list to the grocery store and would rather wait to buy a book on sale at Amazon than pay the full price at a Barnes & Nobles. Hell, I’m so cheap I’m waiting for The Social Network to play on TBS to see it. But I have my weaknesses.

Dandies brand vegan marshmallows were on sale at Whole Foods and I threw them in my cart out of habit. How could I not? They were a dollar off. Never mind that I don’t care for regular marshmallows—it was a bargain.

When I asked Twitter what to do with marshmallows, a resounding number of people said s’mores. Now, I’m not the biggest s’more fan(shocking, I know), but add peanut butter and I wouldn’t complain. Slowly but surely that lead to these bars, which are about as rich and sweet as you can imagine a dessert to be. Besides being incredibly delicious, they’re no-bake and took me about 20 minutes from start to finish. So put on a fire, make some hot cocoa, and start baking(or not).

No-Bake Peanut Butter S’mores Bars

For the crust:

• 16 graham crackers or 8oz graham crackers crumbs
• 3 tablespoons butter(or non-dairy alternative such as Earth Balance)
• 6 tablespoons natural style peanut butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

For the filling:

• 1/3 cup natural style peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons butter(or non-dairy alternative such as Earth Balance)
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup mini-marshmallows, or 1 cup regular marshmallows cut into bite-sized pieces

For the top:

• 6oz(about 3/4 cup) chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon butter(or non-dairy alternative such as Earth Balance)

Melt together the butter and peanut butter until it’s thin and creamy.

Break the graham crackers to coarse crumbs. You might want to use a food process for this. In a large bowl, add the peanut butter mixture to the graham cracker crumbs and sift in the powdered sugar. Work the dough until the ingredients have come together and press it into an 8×8 pan.

To make the filling, melt together the peanut butter and butter again. Sift in the powdered sugar, and pour the mixture over your crust. Spread it out to cover all parts. Next, press in the marshmallows over all parts of the filling.

Lastly, for the top, melt together the chocolate chips and butter. Pour it on top of the dessert in an even layer. The less you have to spread it to cover all parts, the better. Put this in the refrigerator to harden. Cut cold and serve at room temperature for best results.

This is everything a dessert should be: rich, sweet, chocolate and peanut butter. It’s really hard not to want to eat the whole pan. You can use different brands of graham crackers to make it gluten-free and/or vegan depending on who you’re making these for. And no one will leave disappointed.