Gooey Cloud Bars

This month's weather has been unusually abnormal for late September, including the presence of spontaneous monsoons and midday heatwaves admist the overcast sky. However, we have had many days filled with blue sky and puffy white clouds, which offers a nice change of scenery when faced with grey, sticky weather. 

I am typically a dark chocolate kind of person, and when I usually make these bars, dark chocolate is one of the main ingredients. However, today I was feeling a bit adventurous and wanted to step into the realm of white chocolate and marshmallow to echo the puffy white cloud-filled skies. Introducing: the gooey cloud bar of love. These little monsters were purely experimental but were a hit among everyone. 

To celebrate the ending of summer (yes, I am aware the first day of fall was last week, read my roasted veggie post below), I wanted to take a little bit of my favorite summer treat and introduce it into these bars. Making s'mores and roasting marshmallows are probably one of best ways to experience the beauty of summer nights; for a change of pace, this recipe toasts the mini mallows in the oven, but they still ooze together and have a faint taste of what was left of summer. Moving on...

They are so toasty! My mini mallows puffed up so much in the oven I was worried I went a bit overboard, but really, could there be such thing?

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GOOEY CLOUD BARS

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Each bar has a sturdy graham cracker crust and is layered with goodness that was essentially reminiscent of a cloud. To be blunt, all of the toppings were white and sweet. I've never tasted a cloud and doubt that it's possible, but I would imagine they might taste marshmallow-ey....just humor me and bake these up.

Keep an eye on the oven because you don't want the little marshmallows to charcoal up and give the house a nice burnt aroma; while that is my favorite way to roast a marshmallow for a s'more, that is definitely a minority opinion, and you will want all the people snatching these up or else you might just goo-ify yourself and eat them all.

Totally your choice.

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INGREDIENTS​

• 3/4 box of graham cracker crumbs (enough to cover the bottom of a pan)
• 1 cup of coconut oil
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 bag of sweetened, shredded coconut (there's a sweet theme here)
• 2 cups of white chocolate chips
• Enough mini marshmallows to cover the top

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​instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. 
2. In a square or rectangular pan (depending how thick you want your bars), place parchment paper down, so you can easily remove the bars and cut them when you are done. It's easier to lift them up and out, rather than cutting inside the pan itself.
3. In a food processor, combine graham cracker crumbs and coconut oil until somewhat dense. Pour into the bottom of the pan and press down on the crumbs to create an even crust. This is layer #1!
4. Sprinkle the shredded coconut and white chocolate chips right on top until you cannot see the graham cracker crust. Be generous with these....
5. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top of layer #2, so every nook and cranny has a nice film over it. 
6. Place bars in oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until the top starts to bubble and get golden brown.
7. Take bars out and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then layer the mini marshmallows over all of them, so there are no spaces whatsoever - we want them lined up marshmallow to marshmallow. 
8. Place back in oven for another 7 minutes, but check on the bars every so often to avoid "over-toasting" AKA charcoal-mallows.
9. They marshmallows will be super puffy, so allow to cool completely before cutting.
10. Eat all of them. By yourself. Just kidding, you should share because sharing is great.