Chocolate Marshmallow S’mores No-bake Squares (vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free)
If there is any dessert that transcends all barriers, generational, geographical, politics and food tastes, it’s S’mores!
A beautiful graham crackery chocolatey carmelly marshmallowy square that sinks warmly in your fingers and melts sweetly in your mouth says so much more than plain old dessert, doesn’t it?
Like maybe also..
picnics,
camping,
beaches,
scouting,
hiking,
fireplaces,
snowstorms,
blackouts,
and mostly..
..gatherings with friends and family
And since the traditional recipe is easy – just squishing toasted marshmallows and chocolate bars between two graham crackers, I decided to make my recipe more complicated😂 and create a no-bake bar since raw desserts are my middle name. Actually, I’m not exactly sure just how perfectly raw this is, so maybe no-bake is a better term.
That’s because I heat up and melt vegan marshmallows in a measuring cup sitting in boiling water for at least 8 minutes or more and it gets pretty hot. To be fully raw, the food cannot be heated above 40 °C (104 °F) and this marshmallow, at least the brand I used (Dandies) had to get pretty hot to melt.
I also ground up graham crackers for my base. I used a GF brand, but Nabisco’s Original Grahams are also accidentally vegan.
Or you could make your own. In fact, I know many food bloggers who even make their own marshmallow!
But that involves a candy thermometer and after using one in this recipe for “faux” tempering a chocolate dip for fudge bricks, I will reserve that even more time-consuming recipe for another life.😂
This recipe is more complicated, of course, than the traditional one, but not that bad. I blitzed the grahams for a crust, added a bit of coconut oil to hold it together, threw on some date paste I had in the freezer (who doesn’t have date paste in the freezer?), poured on the melted gooey marshmallow, and set in the fridge to set. Once the top was solid enough, I melted a ton of dark chocolate squares, let them just cool and poured them on top.
Back in the fridge for at least 4 hours, and ta da! With a blazing hot knife, I cut up the squares and there we have it!
So, who is ready to make S’mores?
Chocolate Marshmallow S'mores No-bake Squares (vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 (10oz) bags marshmallows (vegan, GF) (I used this brand)
- 4 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 1/2 cup graham crackers (vegan, GF) (I used this brand)
- 1 cup date paste (1 cup dates, soaked, blended with 1 cup water)
- 2 (3.5oz) bars dark chocolate
Instructions
Prep
Set the dates to soak overnight, pit them.
- Line a 5x7 loaf pan with parchment
Make Crumb Crust
- Grind up crackers to a crumb, add in 2-3 tbsp of melted coconut oil to make it sticky. Spread on the bottom of the lined loaf pan. Freeze while you make date paste.
Make Date Paste
Use a food processor to soak dates and water until you have a super creamy, almost runny caramel-like texture, date paste mixture. Add water if it is too grainy. (I added more water in my second attempt at this recipe.)
Pour on the cracker crust. Freeze while you make marshmallow cream.
Make Marshmallow Cream
- Put 1 1/2 bags of the Dandies marshmallows (about 2 cups) into a glass bowl in boiling water. (I actually did this twice using a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup.)
- Add a few tablespoons of water into the marshmallows. As the water boils, keep stirring the marshmallows. It took about 9 minutes to melt 2 cups of marshmallows and they were still a bit lumpy but once they set, those lumps turned to air holes which wasn't great so perhaps I should have melted longer.
- I poured the melted marshmallows on the very cold date layer and set it in the refrigerator to set with a piece of parchment loosely sitting on top. I would wait a half hour or so for the marshmallow to set before pouring on chocolate layer.
Make the Melted Chocolate
- Put the chocolate in a bowl, and melt in the microwave for 60-seconds. Stir until melted, and microwave another 30-seconds if need be. Let is cool a bit although not harden.
- Pour the melted chocolate on top of the marshmallow layer and again, refrigerate with a loose layer of parchment on top the pan.
- I left it overnight but I don't think the marshmallow needed that long to set, probably a few hours.
Cut blocks
- To cut clean blocks, I heated a knife in boiling water, wiped it dry, and did that every time I made a slice. The ends were messy, but I got 3 good clean bricks out of that loaf.
- Next time I might double the recipe and use an 8x8 inch pan.
- Hope you enjoy if you try! It's messy, haha!
Wow! These marshmallow smores squares look so incredible, Dee!! Makes me want to make a big batch ASAP! Much love, Ela 🙂
Haha, so love your enthusiasm Ela! Yours would be incredible I’m sure, you are so amazing with chocolate recipes!! Dee xx
Wow Dee, these ingredients are so good! They add such delicious flavor!
Love this recipe❤️
Much love,
Bianca
Aww thank you so much Bianca, so happy you like my ingredients!
Dee xx