Name: S'mores Skillet Brownie with Toasted Marshmallow Topping
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 10 tbsp butter; 1¼ cups sugar; ¾ cup cocoa powder; ½ tsp salt; 2 large eggs; 1 tsp vanilla; ½ cup all-purpose flour; ½ cup chocolate chunks; 3 cups mini marshmallows; 4 graham crackers, broken into shards; 2 tbsp chocolate, melted (for the drizzle)

How to make it

All ingredients for this recipe, labeled — 🧺 Everything you need, all in one look

🧂 Ingredient notes & easy swaps

Use good cocoa AND real chocolate — the cocoa builds the fudge, the melted chocolate builds the shine. Underbake slightly; a hot skillet keeps cooking after the oven. The broiler toasts marshmallows in seconds — this is a stand-there-and-watch job.

🍳 What you actually need (equipment)

A 9- or 10-inch cast-iron or oven-safe skillet (a 9-inch bakes a minute or two longer), a small microwave bowl for melting the drizzle chocolate, and the broiler for the marshmallow finale.

Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Melt the butter in a 9- or 10-inch cast-iron skillet, then take it off the heat.
Stir the sugar, cocoa, and salt straight into the skillet butter until it looks like wet sand.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, stirring until glossy. Fold in the flour, then the chocolate chunks.
Smooth the batter in the skillet and bake 20 to 22 minutes — the center should still wobble slightly. Underbaked is the correct amount of baked.
Pile the marshmallows over the top and broil 60 to 90 seconds, door open, eyes locked on, until torched golden.
Stab in the graham shards and drizzle the melted chocolate. Let the skillet sit 10 minutes — the middle is molten straight from the broiler and firms to fudge as the cast iron cools — then bring it to the table with a spoon for everyone.

✅ How to know it's done

The brownie edges are set and pull slightly from the pan while the center keeps a gentle wobble — it firms as it cools. The marshmallows are done at golden-with-dark-tips, which takes 60–90 seconds under the broiler — check at 45 seconds, because they go from golden to black in the time it takes to close the oven door.

💡 Practical tips (and what not to do)

Underbake the brownie base slightly. The skillet's stored heat finishes the middle to fudge, not cake.
Broil with the oven light on and eyes open. Marshmallows go from golden to flambé in seconds.
Graham shards go on AFTER broiling so they stay crunchy against the gooey top instead of scorching under the element.
Serve warm, not hot. Ten minutes of patience turns lava into perfect fudge.
Vanilla ice cream on the warm skillet is especially good. The cold cream balances the warm brownie.

🔁 Easy variations (budget · lighter · kids · extra flavor)

💸 Budget: boxed brownie mix in the skillet plus the marshmallow-graham top — 90% of the glory. 🥦 Lighter: a smaller skillet and smaller portions, same joy. 🧒 Kids: let them place the marshmallow grid — architectural pride included. ✨ Extra flavor: a swirl of peanut butter in the batter and flaky salt at the end.

💛 Flavor boost

Brown the butter instead of just melting it. Keep the skillet over medium heat after the butter melts, swirling, for 3–4 minutes until it foams, the milk solids at the bottom turn toffee-brown and it smells nutty; then pull it off the heat and stir in the sugar and cocoa as usual. Browned butter adds a toasted, caramel note that reads like the charred edge of a campfire marshmallow, and it costs nothing but four minutes.

🍓 What Goes Well With It

Vanilla ice cream melting into the warm skillet — the lava effect
Fresh strawberries for dipping into the gooey middle
Raspberries scattered on top to cut the sweetness
Cold milk. Lots of cold milk.

📦 Storage & Freezer Notes

Counter: covered, 2 days — the marshmallow top goes sticky by day two, so it is best the day it is made.
Fridge: up to 4 days; freezer: plain brownie squares (before marshmallows) freeze up to 2 months.
Reheat: 5 minutes at 300°F (150°C) in the skillet re-melts the chocolate chunks and softens the middle; a microwave (20 seconds a square) works too but turns the marshmallows chewy.

🧒 Serving Ideas for Kids

Give each child a spoon and a small bowl, and let an adult scoop from the hot skillet; cast iron stays hot for a long time and a table-side skillet is a burn waiting to happen for small hands.
Let children lay out the marshmallows in a grid over the baked base before it goes under the broiler; the skillet should be out of the oven and set on a trivet for this, with an adult handling the pan.
A scoop of vanilla ice cream on a warm portion cools it enough for children to eat straight away.

❓ Quick answers

Can I use a baking pan instead of a skillet?

Yes — an 8×8 metal pan works; broil the marshmallows the same way, watching closely.

How do I get clean scoops?

Warm, you cannot; it is meant to be eaten with spoons from the pan. If you want tidy squares for a lunchbox, let the skillet cool completely, chill it 30 minutes, and cut with a knife wiped between cuts; the marshmallow layer will be sticky rather than crisp, but it holds.

Can I make it ahead?

Bake the brownie base early, then add marshmallows and broil just before serving so the top is warm and gooey. The base can be baked up to a day ahead and kept covered at room temperature; warm it 5 minutes at 300°F (150°C) before the marshmallows go on so the middle is soft again.

Why did my marshmallows burn?

Broilers run much hotter than most people expect and marshmallows are mostly sugar — they toast in 60–90 seconds and burn in the next 15. Keep the oven door open, stay in front of it, and pull the pan the moment the tops are golden.

🥗 Nutrition, roughly: about 480 calories per serving. Estimates only; brands, cuts and portion sizes change the numbers.

Published by MommyCooking.org. This AI-assisted recipe passed automated checks for page consistency and required image files. The publisher confirms this recipe was tested before publication. The food images are AI-generated illustrations, not photographs of a cooking session. Cooking temperatures should be checked with a food thermometer; nutrition figures are estimates. How we make recipes · Report a problem with this recipe

🍽️ You might also like

🍪 Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Chewy Centers 🥧 Apple Pie with Cinnamon Apples and an All-Butter Crust 🥞 Buttermilk Pancakes with Golden Edges and Fluffy Centers

← Every recipe