The classic summer treat gets a low carb makeover! These keto s’mores bars are like your best childhood memory in a delicious sugar-free package. This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill.
These keto friendly S’mores Bars were first posted back in July of 2016. In honor of National S’mores Day, I decided to give them a bit of an update with some brand new photos. Now they’re gooier and better than ever!
Do you remember your first time? I can remember mine clear as day. It was a beautiful sunny day in rural Ontario and I just knew it would a momentous, life-changing experience. Wait, what? What are you talking about? Why are you squirming in discomfort?
Oh, you thought I was referring to THAT “first time”. Goodness no, that would just be weird. And kind of inappropriate to discuss on a food blog, wouldn’t you say?
I am just referring to the first time you ever had the gooey deliciousness known as S’mores. Come to think of it, having a s’more for the first time was probably as memorable, and possibly more so, than that other “first time”. You know, just between you and me…
Keto S’mores Inspiration
I saw a recipe for sheet pan s’mores in Cooking Light a few weeks ago and it had meringue on top in place of the marshmallows. It wasn’t my magazine so I quickly snapped a photo of the recipe for reference and started scheming on how to make them with low carb ingredients.
The graham cracker crust was easy with the help of my trusty sidekick, Bob’s Red Mill Super-Fine Almond Flour. I already have a great keto graham crackers recipe, and I always make them with Bob’s. But you don’t have to make the full crackers first, you simply use many of the same ingredients.
The filling was simple as well, as I just made a rich chocolate ganache, similar to my keto fudge crumb bars.
It was the topping that gave me a bit of a hard time. I tried the magazine’s method of broiling the meringue and that was a bad, bad, BAD idea. I had it under there for barely a minute when it caught on fire and burned the whole mess. I didn’t eve have it that close to the broiler. I guess sugar-free meringue simply isn’t made to be broiled.
Thankfully, I was able to scrape off the burned meringue topping as one big gloopy piece and I rescued the filling and crust. Phew, because I think I would have cried to see all that glorious stuff go into the garbage.
The next day, I tried again, using the meringue topping from my keto lemon meringue pie. And ended up with lovely light browned peaks and swirls reminiscent of the most perfectly toasted marshmallow.
A delicious childhood memory in a low carb and sugar-free package. What could be better?
Tips for the best keto s’mores bars
These bars are quite easy, as long as you don’t set your meringue on fire as I did. Now that you know what to watch for, here are some other great tips on getting it right:
- As I said above, you don’t have to go to the trouble of fully making your own keto graham crackers. The basic ingredients are the same, but this is a simple press-in almond flour crust that you bake for 12 to 15 minutes before adding the chocolate filling and the topping.
- When making a chocolate ganache filling, be sure to bring your cream to a full simmer. You want to see bubbles around the edges and a few breaking the surface in the center. Then quickly remove it from heat and add the chocolate.
- The chocolate you use should be chopped in advance, or you can use keto chocolate chips. The smaller particles melt more quickly in the hot cream.
- The meringue topping for these keto smores bars is the same as it was before except for one thing: I used both Swerve and BochaSweet. The BochaSweet allows the meringue to stay softer and gooier without getting gritty – more marshmallow-like, to be honest. However, you can use all Swerve if you need to.
- Do not attempt to broil this topping, unless you want to set off your smoke alarm! Simply bake for 20 minutes and you should get some beautiful browned peaks and swirls, just like toasted marshmallows.
Ready to make some delicious Keto Smores Bars?
More tasty keto summer recipes
- Keto Lemon Curd Ice Cream
- Keto Peanut Butter Pie – no bake!
- Easy Keto Cheesecake Bites
- Keto Root Beer Floats
- Keto Blueberry Coconut Popsicles
- Keto Berry Cheesecake Salad
Keto S’mores Bars
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup granulated Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
Filling:
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 4 ounces dark chocolate chips, sugar-free, ChocZero or Lily's recommended
Topping:
- 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- Pinch salt
- 3 tbsp BochaSweet
- 3 tbsp powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line a 9x9 square baking pan with parchment, leaving an overhang for easy removal.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, sweetener, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until well combined.
- Press into the bottom of prepared baking pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until just beginning to brown on the edges. Remove and let cool while preparing topping.
Filling:
- In a small saucepan, bring the cream to just a simmer. Remove from heat.
- Add the chocolate chips and let sit 5 minutes to melt, then whisk in until smooth. Spread over the cooled crust and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Topping:
- Preheat oven to 300F.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar and salt until frothy. With beaters going, slowly add the sweeteners and vanilla extract and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
- Spread over the cooled filling, swirling with a spoon to make peaks. Bake 20 minutes or until topping is golden and just barely firm to the touch.
- Refrigerate at least another hour to firm up, then gently lift out by parchment paper edges and cut into squares.
Video
Nutrition
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First of all…I literally love EVERYTHING that I have made from your website and cook books…NEVER disappointed! I am thinking I will make this for Memorial Day! I do have a question…since it is looking to be a pretty hot sunny day here in NY on Memorial Day, I think the meringue would not hold up well. I did see a previous comment asking if your keto marshmallow recipe could replace the meringue in this recipe and I did see that you responded that the marshmallow recipe should be halved and then browned with a kitchen torch (but obviously not baked). SO…would you suggest making the first two layers, let it cool completely, then make the marshmallow on top of this? OR should the marshmallow be made separately and then simply placed on top after they have set?
Thank you SO MUCH for your time, Carolyn!
Your first option. Make the first two layers and let cool. Make some marshmallow and pour on top while still soft enough.
Wonderful! Thank you SO much for your response! I can hardly wait! I’m currently talking myself out of a test run ????
Can you make these ahead of time and freeze them?
Nope. The topping won’t fare well.
Would this meringue work as a substitute for marshmallow fluff in a recipe? Or perhaps some variation of your regular marshmallow recipe?
If I would want to just meet graham crackers could I use your crust recipe for the gram crackers
I already have a recipe for graham crackers. https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/homemade-graham-crackers-low-carb-and-gluten-free-and-environmentally-responsible-companies/
Could I use your marshmallow recipe for the topping? I have a GI intolerance to egg whites so eating meringue is not an option for me.
Okay so you could, but you’d really have to change things around. First of all, you would only want half of the marshmallow recipe, otherwise it will be too thick. Secondly, you wouldn’t want to bake it to make it brown, as it would be a mess. You could try taking a kitchen torch to it if you want to brown the top a bit.
Because you won’t be baking it a second time, you want to bake the crust a little longer to make it golden brown and more firm. Maybe 5 to 7 minutes more.
I made these a couple of days ago, they look wonderful in the pictures. I made a minor tweak to the base to add in some golden milled flaxseed for texture. The base and the ganache layer are really very good, great taste and texture, the only flaw is the marshmallow layer it just doesn’t really do justice to the s’mores as its too light, a more substantial.substitute is needed. Regardless, these are really lovely, next time I’m going to find a keto marshmallow recipe to try on the top to see if that makes a difference. Love your channel and make lots of your recipes.
Have a camping trip coming up and thought I would have to just go with the regular, full of sugar s’mores but thought I’d check and see if by some miracle you had a s’mores recipe. Not really surprised to see this recipe. I am so thankful for all you do! This is my go to site when I’m looking for a remake of something I used to eat. You are amazing!
Bocha sweet is worth the money , I have not been sorr for my purchase of it. Now to my question. Do you have any idea how long these last ? I am the only person eating them.
If you keep them in the fridge, they should be fine for a week, possible even two.
My kids love these! They are also AMAZING with your gingerbread cutout cookie recipe as the base!
Just made these for the second time – this time with Bocha Sweet – and the topping was much better. Our new favorite!
These bars are fantastic. Thanks for another great recipe.
Should the meringue cool to room temperature from the oven before going into the refrigerator?
Yes, the whole thing should cool until room temperature.
Is there a substitute for Bocha sweet?
The best subs are allulose or xylitol
Can I use the swerve granular instead of the bocha if I don’t have it thank you so much
Yes but the topping may recrystallize and get a bit gritty after being in the fridge.
was searching for a good keto dessert for a friend and made these. They were great!
Awesome idea turning this beloved treat into a keto version!! So amazing! 🙂
I wanted to love this as I love all your recipes. But it just did not work..the only difference was I used allulose as second sweetener instead of Boca sweet. So that could be the difference. The merengue was no bueno and essentially dissolved on top into a gritty mess. The first two layers were perfect…
That is exactly why, actually. You cannot just sub in a different sweetener and expect the same results. Allulose makes things like meringue too soft.
3/4 cup whipping cream is this the same as Heavy Whipping cream?
Yes… because they are only different in label, not really in use, function, or even nutritional content. Whipping cream *might* be slightly lower in fat, but totally depends on the brand and how they decide to label theirs. Heavy whipping cream covers both.
Mine also came out like soup after resting in the fridge for over an hour. Something liquified in between the last bake and the fridge. IDK! Everything was set up and looking so great until the last step. Any ideas?
What sweetener did you use?
Compliment: KID APPROVED!! Now on to my 2 questions: 1. do you think I could use the topping recipe to make “Marshmallows”? And 2. I made the recipe but when I took it out of the oven, I could see runny egg whites in two corners (I couldn’t bake it longer because the top would have burned). Should I have blended the eggs longer? My daughter and I make it a point to make your recipes weekly…..she wouldn’t mind making this one again ????????❤️❤️
No, this topping won’t really work as marshmallows but I do have a proper marshmallow recipe. https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/sugar-free-marshmallows/
Not sure about the runny egg whites, that’s strange. You can always cover it with foil for a bit if you want to bake it longer.
Made these a few weeks ago for a bbq at my parents’ house and they were a hit. Making them again tonight for a book club I’m hosting later this week! My husband couldn’t keep his hands off the last batch and he wasn’t even anticipating liking them! We were thinking the squares were too small when we cut them, but after having them they’re so rich, the tiny portions are perfect!
Glad to hear it!