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.

Where was I?

Oh yes, the frosting. It turns out, the nomenclature of frosting is quite complicated. There’s “frosting”, “buttercream”, “icing”, “ganache”,—the list goes on. I can definitively say this is a “frosting”. I can also say it is damn delicious, too.

Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter(or Earth Balance or coconut oil)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt(omit if your peanut butter is salted)

In the microwave or over a stove, melt down the butter and heavy cream and emulsify. Stir in the peanut butter until it’s thin and runny.

Sift in the powdered sugar with the salt little by little and stir until it’s fully absorbed. The frosting should still be loose at this time.

Pour it over whatever you’re working with and spread evenly. Let the dessert cool to room temperature, or put it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to quicken things up. The frosting will be cooled when you can touch it and make an indent without any sticking to your finger.

How did this taste? Flippin’ amazing. Normally I’m against using chunky peanut butter for frosting, but it was all I had at the moment, and the chunky peanuts were a nice contrast from the soft, sweet blondies. I don’t think I have to tell you these didn’t last long…